Horrible way to lose a cow

[TCRanch]

I'm still trying to wrap my head around a horrific accident. Few days ago my husband & I were putting out bales. I was making sure our newest calf didn't run near the tractor (he's a maniac) when I heard a horrible bellow. Turned around and realized my husband had run over a cow - she was literally under the tractor. He had stopped & I yelled at him to back up. Couldn't believe she was actually alive. Missing strips of hide all over her body but I'll be darned if she didn't get up. She was limping & in shock but nothing appeared to be broken although I suspected internal damage and she was due late March. I was able to walk her about 500 yards down to the barnyard and called the vet who agreed we would most likely have to put her down but to watch her a few days, anticipate an abortion & see how she does. My husband was devastated - he was going up an incline so didn't have the bale raised very high, the sun was directly in his eyes and he just didn't see her.

So the next couple days I gave her Banamine and aspirin, she wasn't eating much but drinking a lot and every time I checked she had moved and wasn't grinding her teeth, didn't show any obvious signs of pain, didn't abort. We were at a funeral all afternoon yesterday so I wasn't able to check her until late and when I went down, she was bloating. Time to end it.

Tough lesson to learn.

 

[Caustic Burno]

I'm still trying to wrap my head around a horrific accident. Few days ago my husband & I were putting out bales. I was making sure our newest calf didn't run near the tractor (he's a maniac) when I heard a horrible bellow. Turned around and realized my husband had run over a cow - she was literally under the tractor. He had stopped & I yelled at him to back up. Couldn't believe she was actually alive. Missing strips of hide all over her body but I'll be darned if she didn't get up. She was limping & in shock but nothing appeared to be broken although I suspected internal damage and she was due late March. I was able to walk her about 500 yards down to the barnyard and called the vet who agreed we would most likely have to put her down but to watch her a few days, anticipate an abortion & see how she does. My husband was devastated - he was going up an incline so didn't have the bale raised very high, the sun was directly in his eyes and he just didn't see her.

So the next couple days I gave her Banamine and aspirin, she wasn't eating much but drinking a lot and every time I checked she had moved and wasn't grinding her teeth, didn't show any obvious signs of pain, didn't abort. We were at a funeral all afternoon yesterday so I wasn't able to check her until late and when I went down, she was bloating. Time to end it.

Tough lesson to learn.

My running buddy that passed away last year took a job with the INS after he retired.
I fed his livestock when he was working on the border.
I ran over his donkey putting out hay.
Thought my tractor was blowing up the old Jenny was on her back kicking the crap out of the tractor and braying.
It got real tight on that tractor for a minute or two.
My neighbor swore that old Jenny
died years later due to injuries sustained that day.

 

[NonTypicalCPA]

That's too bad, sorry for your loss. I moved my feeders this year so I could drop the bales in over the fence from the outside.

 

[TCRanch]

CB as horrible as that must have been, I needed a laugh today. And I'll let hubby know he's not the only one.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

Sorry to hear that... But the stupid things are bad to follow you along to the hay'ing area.. Trying to grab a bite in mid air..I've knocked them down with bales before,,so I'm looking underneath .the majority of the time..

 

[Caustic Burno]

CB as horrible as that must have been, I needed a laugh today. And I'll let hubby know he's not the only one.

It's actually pretty easy to do.

 

[TCRanch]

That's too bad, sorry for your loss. I moved my feeders this year so I could drop the bales in over the fence from the outside.

Thanks. We don't have that option. The bales & feeders are in a low, protected part (from the elements) of the central pasture - no fencing.

 

[Silver]

Sorry for your loss, that's never easy to come to terms with. If you feed enough cows you'll have a story though. I ran over a bred yearling once, and picked a cow up with the loader and grapple that was up tight to the far side of a bale I was picking up.
Drives me crazy unrolling bales on the feed ground for the pairs at calving time.

 

[farmerjan]

My son set a bale right on a month old calf that had gotten in the round bale feeder and curled up to sleep. It was dark, he'd just gotten home from work and wanted to get it done because they were calling on snow the next day, and he works 12's when snowplowing. The cow spent 2 days mooing and looking and we figured it had been gotten by coyotes or something. What a horrible surprise when he went to move the bale feeder and the cows were poking through the left over hay and he saw the legs. You try your best, but accidents happen.

 

[Workinonit Farm]

CB as horrible as that must have been, I needed a laugh today. And I'll let hubby know he's not the only one.

So sorry that it happened. Husband, no doubt, feels awful. Its just one of those freaky things that happen. Sorry to hear of the loss.

A friend of ours, was putting hay out for his goats. As he turned the tractor to leave, he realized that he dropped the bale on 2 of them, and killed them instantly. Both of them were about 2 weeks away from kidding. Last week, his BIL was helping out and did the same thing, dropped a bale on one of the does. :frowns:

 

[ALACOWMAN]

My son set a bale right on a month old calf that had gotten in the round bale feeder and curled up to sleep. It was dark, he'd just gotten home from work and wanted to get it done because they were calling on snow the next day, and he works 12's when snowplowing. The cow spent 2 days mooing and looking and we figured it had been gotten by coyotes or something. What a horrible surprise when he went to move the bale feeder and the cows were poking through the left over hay and he saw the legs. You try your best, but accidents happen.

ran over a new born a couple years ago,, with a batwing... mama had hid it in tall grass and was off grazing with the others... Seen it out the corner of my eye, was running at a pretty good clip..it was to late when I got stopped...

 

[True Grit Farms]

I've felt like running a couple over more than once. That's a bad deal right there.

 

[Bright Raven]

Unfortunate accident. I watch that all the time because I take my hay into the feed area. I think I will put in an over the fence feeder.

 

[farmerjan]

My son set a bale right on a month old calf that had gotten in the round bale feeder and curled up to sleep. It was dark, he'd just gotten home from work and wanted to get it done because they were calling on snow the next day, and he works 12's when snowplowing. The cow spent 2 days mooing and looking and we figured it had been gotten by coyotes or something. What a horrible surprise when he went to move the bale feeder and the cows were poking through the left over hay and he saw the legs. You try your best, but accidents happen.

ran over a new born a couple years ago,, with a batwing... mama had hid it in tall grass and was off grazing with the others... Seen it out the corner of my eye, was running at a pretty good clip..it was to late when I got stopped...

Yeah, he ran over a calf with the bushhog a couple years ago. Same thing, momma hid it in a pile of tall grass/weeds, was off grazing with the other cows. It never moved a muscle, killed it instantly and had never even gotten up to run.
We have gotten a few fawns over the years in the hayfields that way. Got a turkey setting on a nest one time, she never flew off the nest and never saw her until there were feathers flying. Took the intact eggs home and put in the incubator and hatched a couple. Since then we try to watch careful and have been known to leave a patch of hay if he has seen a turkey come out of it or saw a fawn run into it. Not that we don't have boocoodles of both turkeys and deer, but just because it seems kinder. When they become adults then they are fair game.

 

[gizmom]

Man I hate hearing things like this I know your husband is beating himself up, remind him that is why they call them accidents.

Gizmom

 

[TCRanch]

Thanks for the encouragement and acknowledgement that ours is not an isolated incident. Bless his heart, in addition to losing a friend in a tragic accident, health issues and other drama, this was the last thing he needed.

 

[bird dog]

One of my biggest fears is stabbing one with the hay forks when unrolling a bale. I've come close a couple times. I usually keep them up high, but sometimes they are low when unrolling over rough ground. You make mistake sometimes like this mornings feed when it was 28 degrees and raining. Not snow, a cold blowing rain.

 

[Nesikep]

I know a guy who drove over his St Bernard with his backhoe.. needed a bunch of work done to him but he survived it.
My bull was bad at my friends place.. you couldn't run him over with a bale, he'd just be there fighting the heck out of it.

I have never hit a live deer or fawn in my hay fields, on two occasions I've hit fawns that were already dead.. One of them was near a fence, no idea why it was dead.. second one was really young too, a few rounds later I found momma eaten up.. I'm guessing she had twins and one wasn't positioned correctly and it killed her.. had I hayed a day or two earlier I'd probably have had a bottle baby.
We have a lot of grouse here, don't hit the adults often but you can't get around hitting some of the chicks.. same with meadowlarks

 

[boondocks]

Newbie haying question: I've read about the dangers of snakes (poisonous ones) in hay bales. If you get an animal baled up (birds, rodents, small fawn or such) and don't realize it, can it hurt the cows? Would assume it could spoil a bale but what if it's just a bird, mouse etc? Toxic? Would they just eat around any bad parts?

 

[wbvs58]

Newbie haying question: I've read about the dangers of snakes (poisonous ones) in hay bales. If you get an animal baled up (birds, rodents, small fawn or such) and don't realize it, can it hurt the cows? Would assume it could spoil a bale but what if it's just a bird, mouse etc? Toxic? Would they just eat around any bad parts?

Always the possibility of botulism.

Ken