Cattle are Tough!!

[TN Cattle Man]

So a neighbor calls me up to tell me that he has a couple of heifers that are out (600-700wt)... My initial reaction was to think that they would eventually want to come back to the herd and everything would be fine in a couple of days.

So I ask him how long have they been out?? He says about a month or so!! What? And not only that, but a few weeks back, one of the heifers wandered out on his road and got hit by a car. I ask him if he knows where they are at and if the injured calf is still mobile. He stated that he "thinks" they are across the road and hanging out near a pretty large hayfield (he sees them every couple of days or so).

For those of you not familiar with the terrain in my part of Tennessee, It can get pretty nasty in spots with woods that would rival the best of them! I agree to bring the horses and dogs out (people call me to come rope their wild cattle) with a good buddy of mine. After a couple of hours, we locate the pair near a pond and we get to work. What I noticed was the injured heifer had a compound fracture of her right front leg that looked nasty but also starting to heal. The bone was still exposed but I was amazed at good she could still run and get around. I was a little hesitant about roping her but I treated her just like any other cow and we got her to the ground and tied her back legs together. Luckily we were in an area that I could back the trailer too fairly easy so getting her loaded wasn't a problem.

Once in the trailer, she stood right up and never favored the broken leg. Got her back to the neighbors holding pen and she unloaded well. I asked the neighbor what he planned to do with her and he indicated that she was going to the butcher in a couple of days.

I am just amazed at how tough these cattle are! Wish I had a camera with me so you could actually see the broken leg.

Brian

 

[greybeard]

Sounds like you and your friends (help-horses-dogs) all did a good job. Yeah, they're tough, sometimes able to heal pretty good on their own then next thing you know, the littlest thing will take one down.
Used to be lots of people around here like you, that would/could go out into the woods and gather cattle for people like me that don't have horses/dogs, but they're about all gone now. It's a constant worry for me. Some people's cattle get "out" and it just means they are in a neighbor's pasture. Mine get out, and they are in 120,000 acres of US National Thicket, stretching over 3 counties. Thick--they could be 50' outside my fence and I'd not see them any time except now when all the brush has lost leaves..

One of my neigbors from a couple miles away came by a couple nights ago and asked me to "keep look out for a 4 mo old black calf"--said his trailer door had come open on one of the back roads and he figured the calf would find it's way here. That calf could be anywhere.

 

[Nesikep]

greybeard, better put momma in a godo tight pen and let her beller.. that might help the calf find his way