Cattle can be dangerous

[Saltydawg]

Given the number of new people who post here with dreams of having cattle of their own just thought I'd post a reminder as to what can happen even with the most experienced farmers.

There was a 45 y/o Dairy farmer found dead in his pasture near me this last week. (dairy farmer his entire life)
Authorities say it was a bull attack although details are sketchy as the farmer was alone and just doing the normal farm work as far as anybody knows.
He managed to drag himself to the fenceline but the damage was already done and he passed away.

His wife shipped all the animals and is understandably very traumatized by the event so public information is pretty sparse.

Just a reminder that any animal that weighs over 1000lb's is very dangerous to work around even if the animal isn't aggresive.

They can hurt you without even intending too and a bull who decides to challenge you is exceptionally dangerous.

 

[sidney411]

Your absolutely right - but don't limit it to animals over 1000 lbs. Small animals can do just as much damage.

 

[warpaint]

Good point sid.
Had a 300 lb. heifer kick me the other day. Thought my dang leg was busted for a while.

 

[IluvABbeef]

I ditto that warpaint. Worst "small animal" accident (if you can call it an accident) I had happen to me was when I was bit by my uncle's no-account dog in the face. Dog probably only weighed 60 lbs, but he sure did a lot of damage to that little girl (me), and put her in the hospital for a few days.


But I'm alright now! Other than having a close call with a crazy steer when I was about the same age... :roll:

 

[Saltydawg]

You guys are certainly right it's not just the big ones that are dangerous.

Just thought I'd post a reminder that even the best of us(not that im in this group) can find ourselves in a bad situation.

Be careful and always respectful of what could potentially happen....even the little guys are dangerous if they catch you off guard.

 

[somn]

You guys are certainly right it's not just the big ones that are dangerous.

Just thought I'd post a reminder that even the best of us(not that im in this group) can find ourselves in a bad situation.

Be careful and always respectful of what could potentially happen....even the little guys are dangerous if they catch you off guard.

Boy you couldn't be more right about the little ones hurting a person. The worst I've ever been hurt by livestock was by a little 5 weight angus steer. Half tame he was too. I had just got 8 of them down in the nose they went in real easy walked right down and in. I got careless instead of slamming the counter balance down I started to just push it down well one of those little fellas decided he didn't like being down in that hole at he was coming out. The ramp was about a third of the way up and he jump on it with all his weight, the counter balance flew out of my hand and smacked me just below my right eyebrow. The next thing I can remember was waking up in the Huron Regional Medical Center ER room swinging my fists at the nurses. I usually loaded in the middle of the night without the yardman being around but thankfully that night my cattle had been moved from the pen number on the load out ticket to a different pen so I called the on call load out guy to find the right ones and he got to witness it all. And call 911.

 

[C HOLLAND]

Salty, I have been re-thinking the way I walk among my cattle and take it for granted they will always move the way you want them to.

I was reading a post earlier this week about if a large cow or bull decided to sling their head to get the flies off their back and you were close enough, they could put your lights out in a heartbeat.

I was out this morning sorting mine from some corrals and to different pastures and I made it a point to let them know who was in charge and not let them walk right up to me. I am never cruel in the way I deal with them, but I think a firm response to one getting to close is a good thing.

I do walk around them alot lately,,,,Babies due any day now. :lol:

 

[mtncows]

I have had an experiance with the neighbor's bull using my left thigh to scrub his head on while I was caught against the loa
ding chute fence.Could feel it for a long time.Also,always keep your face well back from acow's head when she is caught in a squeeze chute.Never hit but I've felt the wind go by

 

[IL Rancher]

Yep... Had a cow in the headgate once and was retagging he ear.. Got my head to close and she swung that head up and "pop" I went flying backwords.. The vet was their, pregging I think, and she said she saw my eyes roll back.. Thought I was knocked cold.. All I remember is hitting the ground, getting back up, brushing myself off and having a terrible headache/jaw ache for the rest of the day.. She rang my bell could, I would imagine I had a slight concusion.

The worst experiences have mostly been calving ones but I even had a 400 pound calf come after me once, repeatedly... Something was wrong with that stinker.. needed an attitude adjustment.

 

[Proverbs 12:10]

A couple of weeks ago I was at the brahman cattle show at Texas State Fair and saw an elderly gentleman showing a 800 lbs. heifer. She looked fairly passive coming into the ring...as they were lining them up for the judge the heifer spun around and kicked him in the back. The first thing to hit the ground was his face. Fortunately, he was later able to walk out of the ring.

 

[msscamp]

Yep... Had a cow in the headgate once and was retagging he ear.. Got my head to close and she swung that head up and "pop" I went flying backwords..

You know, a halter would have fixed that little problem - and it takes about a minute to put one on a cow (with a little practice), and snag her down. Consider yourself lucky she didn't kill you - that has been known to happen, as well.

I don't mean to be a smarty pants here but, with regard to this thread, what happened to common sense? Why would anyone think they can come out on top in any kind of a confrontation with an animal that outweighs them 8 or 9 times over? I'm definitely missing something.

 

[Limomike]

Yes, I always figure anything that outweighs me is in danger of kicking my butt. With that said, I give them plenty of room, especially if I see a change in demeanor. Always gotta remember they are always JUST animals, unpredictable, and no matter how tame, they can still just run flat over you.
( I know because I had a 500lb calf do that to me in a pen once)

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Our 4 year old Macho bull is as gentle a giant as there can be - BUT - I respect his ability to hurt me/anyone without trying to. He is in about 4 acres of ground. I never enter his field on foot other than in a close proximity to the fenceline. I have seen him jumping & bucking & challenging the tractor - just playing - rocking me inside the tractor. :shock: Even if they are the nicest, gentlest animal - they don't know their strenth.

Also, I have 16 open weaned heifers that I have on grain now. One stepped on the back of my boot, with me carrying two buckets of grain & all the others crowding around to get the grain. Scared me - if I had gone down, I know I would have been stepped on - not stomped on purpose - but it hurts just as much!! I lock the gate to the feeding area now, until the feed is put out.

 

[IL Rancher]

Oh a lot of things would have fixed that problem (But she only outweighed me by 6 times :lol: ).. It was dumb, we were in a hurry and yes, she could have nailed me right in the nose and driven it up into my skull and it would have been game over for me or I could have landed on something behind me and cracked my skull open or worse. I more consider myself lucky she didn't knock me cold because that was a much more likely thing to happen.

Rope halters are at the chute now for days like that and I don't even think it takes a minute to get it on and tied off, I learnd my lesson in more than one way. Also, keep your stinking head out of the cows reach would have been a smart one to consider too, don't always be in such a hurry and you better be in right frame of mind to work cattle.

I tend to give a nasty cow or bull a large amount of space.. I just need to get close enough to read the eartag and than they get sent to the cull market when the year is over... I'm not as limber and spry as I once was so jumping into the truck when a cow comes running is becoming less and less appealing.

 

[hillbilly beef man]

One of the worst injuries I have gotten from cattle was from a 250 lb calf. Me and my grandfather were trying to band a calf in the barn stall that we had missed when it was young. We couldn't hold it, so being a teenager I figured that the calf only outweighed me by 50 lbs, I could wrestle it to the ground and lay on it until he could band it :idea: . The only problem is that I forgot to tell the calf what was going on. I grabbed it around the neck, and the calf took off with me in tow. It is amazing how fast a calf can run in an 8'x8' stall. My ride ended when my head hit a 6x6 support post, which is much much harder than my head, even though my fiancé would beg to differ. We ended up waiting until my dad got home and put a rope on it (I know we should have done this to start with) and both of us held it.

 

[somn]

Yep... Had a cow in the headgate once and was retagging he ear.. Got my head to close and she swung that head up and "pop" I went flying backwords..

You know, a halter would have fixed that little problem - and it takes about a minute to put one on a cow (with a little practice), and snag her down. Consider yourself lucky she didn't kill you - that has been known to happen, as well.

I don't mean to be a smarty pants here but, with regard to this thread, what happened to common sense? Why would anyone think they can come out on top in any kind of a confrontation with an animal that outweighs them 8 or 9 times over? I'm definitely missing something.

I've never thought of that, it takes one minute to put a halter on so I could snag them down. If I did that 3000 times for each steer I implant that would only add 50 hours to the already time consuming job of working them. I suppose after I got the halter on their head I could stand there for a minute or two and let them get used to it rather than trying to get them to conform to my schedule huh? If things worked as well everywhere as they do at your little ranch everybody would be a smarty pants like you rather than ignorant like you seem to think everyone else is.

And yes you are definitely missing something CATTLE KNOWLEDGE. I've been reading alot of your posts you sure have got real smart since Aug 2004 you are the expert on everything now and a little over two years ago by reading your posts by your own admission you didn't know very much. My hats off to you all this cattle knowledge learned in 2 years.

 

[Susie David]

When we work the chute I keep a short doubled loop hanging on the post. Just hook it over an ear, a strand each around the opposite ear and a couple of loops around the muzzle, pull the head around and tie the off on the upright. easy to install and easy to remove and hold the head tight.
For the little ones we just use the chin and top bars.
Just my two bits worth....DMc

 

[L Weir]

I should get my husband to read this thread sometime. We have a Simmental bull that we showed and is gentle. My husband still clips him in the spring and rubs him on the back. I won't go in the pen when he is in there and my husband thinks he won't hurt me. I just roll my eyes and hope that for my hubbys sake the bull stays nice and gentle.

 

[Bullbuyer]

Halter? I don't know about that - we keep a set of what I all bull pliers buy the head gate. In the nose, pull the head sideways and I don't worry about gettin' a George Foreman type uppercut!!!

 

[Bama]

Halter? I don't know about that - we keep a set of what I all bull pliers buy the head gate. In the nose, pull the head sideways and I don't worry about gettin' a George Foreman type uppercut!!!

I've used these as well on a real onery ones. My method is a chain looped over the head and hooked on the other side. It wont prevent them moving totally but its quick and they cant get their head up. I use neck extenders on my headgate. Between the two they can't move much. If I have to stop all movement I normally just take a rope with a loop in it and put it around the neck and do a half hitch around the nose and pull to one side. Since I started doing it this way I rarely use the tongs.