Gotta love the cattle business

[gizmom]

We had the vet scheduled for calfhood vaccination of the heifers tomorrow morning at 6:30 a.m. when his office called this evening I figured it was to reschedule since we are currently under Hurricane watch. But I was wrong they just wanted to make it 7:30 a.m. so I get to sleep a little later. I have no doubt we are going to be a soggy bunch by 8:15. Has anyone else ever noticed that a cow tends to lose its mind when it's back gets wet? Or is it just that I hate working them in the rain so their normal crap just gets on my nerves more.

Gizmom

 

[1982vett]

Probably was hoping you would offer to cancel...

 

[Silver]

Just curious as to why the vet is involved with vaccinations?

 

[elkwc]

I assume you are talking about bangs vaccinations? Went to check the last 2 bunches I hadn't seen this last weekend after noon yesterday. Told Judy I thought we had better check them before it rained. It waited until we got in the pasture and down by the windmill near the creek to pour. But the cattle weren't going to leave without some cake. Wanted to check that bunch as I had used the Zip Bands on the bulls last weekend. Very impressed. A couple of the bags were hanging by a thread. By next weekend I think all 12 of them will be off. Then headed to the 2nd bunch and it hadn't rained there until we fed and then had to hurry out before it got too wet. Hope the rains slacks off while you are working cattle. The vets left here hardly cancel as they are booked full for several weeks out. With many of the older vets retiring and not many young vets coming in it is getting increasingly hard to get a vet. And one large animal clinic does no rural visits. All work is at the clinic. That makes it hard if you have a lot to work. We do most of the work ourselves if we can. At least we have a hydrualic chute and a cover over it. So it is dry underneath it.

 

[gizmom]

I was talking about the bangs vaccination, our vet doesn't come to the farm often. He comes for the Bangs we have 35 heifers to vaccinate so easier for him to come to us than for us to haul that many to them. We semen test all the long yearlings in February so he comes to the farm for that as well. Other than those two visits we do the majority of the vet work. We are blessed to have an excellent large animal vet and we have a great working relationship with him. We haul to him anything that we can't handle, and he does all of our tric testing as well. It is still storming here, we may end up rescheduling the rain is one thing but lighting is another at this point our mud is muddy.

Edit the boss just sent a text to give the vet an option to reschedule he said no he's good to go :banana: :roll: heck it is only a tropical storm at this point we have had over 5 inches of rain and we are expecting another 6 inches. Flash flood warnings in effect.

Gizmom

 

[True Grit Farms]

You have really nice covered cattle handling facilities. How do you transfer all the info to your laptop in the rain? I think the boss needs to build you an air conditioned office

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Fun little story:
We moved from Kansas to NY back in 1978. We had horses, then got into cattle. Never did our own castrations. Vets in Kansas had facilities at office - or - had portable ones they hauled with their truck. Everyone had vet castrate. Vets always had a "nut fry" at a local diner for all his customers.
Anyway, when we moved here, my daughter had a cow that had a bull calf, which was her cow/calf pair for 4-H. when show season was over, we called the local vet that had talked at one of the 4-H meetings and made an appointment to bring a bull calf in for castration. We had a stock-rack on our pickup. I drove to the vet's office. Hmmmm Drove all the way around. No unloading dock? So, I went inside and asked where I was supposed to unload this calf. Office said, we can't do that, vet will come out & do it on the truck. I said "OK. You do realize this "calf" weighs 700#????" Vet ended up giving "Rompum" (sp?) and my daughter & I snugged him up against the side of stock rack & he cut him.
"NO" vets here (other that at Cornell Univ) has facilities (portable or in-house). Totally new world for us. Ken learned quickly how to cut our own.