Cattle theft.

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kenny thomas said:
I remember stacking square bales in an old house. And barn lofts. Everything else was used for tobacco.
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Bought one of those hay monsters in 1974. Sure made stacking hay in the old houses easier cause you could run the snout in a door or window and cut out a lot of walking! Didn’t make it any cooler though
 
504RP said:
Also I don’t think Arkansas produced near as many cattle as it does now. I can’t remember anyone owning a round bailer in the early 70’s. Most cattle farmers which there were fewer of also during those days used square balers to put up hay and most used old houses to store there hay in.
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I ran all over the west in the 70's chasing rodeos. I never saw a round baler or a round bale until '74. I remember where and which rodeo I was coming from so I know it had to be '74. Before that it was all either little squares or loose hay. There are still some areas where hay is put up loose using beaver slides in western Montana. The little squares are made to sell to horse people or small backyard owners. Vastly more big square bales now than round bales.
 
I remember driving through Montana years ago. They had big long narrow pole barns in the pastures with giant wooden Vs down the center full of loose hay. That's how they got through them through the winter.
 
When my calf was smaller, cattle rustling was a very real fear of mine. Now that she is 500 lbs, it’s subsided a little bit. But my neighbor is building a very big house next door and the workers that are there could shoot my calf and drag her off. That house will take another two years to be finished so until then, I’m probably going to worry. The workers brought a long table and they eat their lunch right next to my electric fence. Hopefully they are all nice people but it just takes one.
 
AmandaQ said:
When my calf was smaller, cattle rustling was a very real fear of mine. Now that she is 500 lbs, it’s subsided a little bit. But my neighbor is building a very big house next door and the workers that are there could shoot my calf and drag her off. That house will take another two years to be finished so until then, I’m probably going to worry. The workers brought a long table and they eat their lunch right next to my electric fence. Hopefully they are all nice people but it just takes one.
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Why would you worry about the workers shooting and dragging off a calf? People seldom do that in an area where they could easily be caught? Blood trail right to them?
Cattle are stolen in the more remote areas where they are less likely to get caught. It is done is as fast and quiet a manner as possible... Not where people are in and out, off and on, at different times of the day....
Cattle that get shot and left are usually stupid idiots that get joy out of hurting another animal... joy/thrill seekers...most are done from cars along the road, where they can drive off in a hurry.... and the ones that shoot and gut quickly for the meat aren't going to do it where there are people around most of the time. Working on the house being built next door is probably better for you as they are more than likely to be watching out for you in a way... if they like sitting and eating next to the electric fence, they are more than likely to notice if something is different .

If I remember from your early posts, you are not out in a remote area. Sure, it can happen anywhere, but I think you are causing yourself undue worry.
 
farmerjan said:
Why would you worry about the workers shooting and dragging off a calf? People seldom do that in an area where they could easily be caught? Blood trail right to them?
Cattle are stolen in the more remote areas where they are less likely to get caught. It is done is as fast and quiet a manner as possible... Not where people are in and out, off and on, at different times of the day....
Cattle that get shot and left are usually stupid idiots that get joy out of hurting another animal... joy/thrill seekers...most are done from cars along the road, where they can drive off in a hurry.... and the ones that shoot and gut quickly for the meat aren't going to do it where there are people around most of the time. Working on the house being built next door is probably better for you as they are more than likely to be watching out for you in a way... if they like sitting and eating next to the electric fence, they are more than likely to notice if something is different .

If I remember from your early posts, you are not out in a remote area. Sure, it can happen anywhere, but I think you are causing yourself undue worry.
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I'm surely causing myself undue worry. I love my big cows but my calf means the world to me. And to someone else she is meat. I don't have to worry about someone convincing her to leave here, she's skittish of strangers. But if someone wanted her for food, they could take her. I don't normally leave my prized possessions out for the picking. Just another problem with loving your livestock.
 
AmandaQ said:
I'm surely causing myself undue worry. I love my big cows but my calf means the world to me. And to someone else she is meat. I don't have to worry about someone convincing her to leave here, she's skittish of strangers. But if someone wanted her for food, they could take her. I don't normally leave my prized possessions out for the picking. Just another problem with loving your livestock.
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She is considered meat to most of us on this board.
 
I don't think anyone is trying to make someone else feel bad about a pet cow... he//, lots of "cattle" people tried to give her help when @AmandaQ first got started. Teasing her about naming them... and yeah, I've named several over the years.... especially the ones that are destined for the freezer, is just the "gang" teasing her.......
BUT, you can't make yourself SICK over a "what if, maybe" situation. Thinking that the neighbor guys working construction next door might come and kill and drag her 500 lb calf off is just creating a scenario in her mind that doesn't have to be.....
Caution, yes.....; concern...yes.... creating such "what if" scenarios is just adding to one's anxiety for no good reason.
I buried my first Guernsey cow, Tammy... I was her 2nd owner.... I buried my first beef/dairy cross cow, start to my herd...
We just took a bull that we had for 10 YEARS... as a breeder... figure he was at least 4 when we bought him... we took a 2 1/2 hr ride to meet a buyer who was putting him directly on the truck to go to the slaughter plant... rather than have him go through the auction, get penned with who knows what, get beat up or hurt, and/or loaded and unloaded on and off a couple trucks in the process... He served us well, and it was something we could do for his last ride. Got a little less for him than we might have going through the auction, but he will go a long way towards us buying a new bull to replace him. And we felt that he deserved that little bit of extra respect for being such a reliable bull for all those years.
 

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