I hope this little guy makes it bale twine dinner

[mind235]

The farmer that lets me use his land etc is not what I would call clean , the vet said something like PPM. Anyway he uses round bales with the orange waxy type twine.
Seems he can't bend over to pick up the twine after cutting a bale open. I have picked it up everywhere from the pastures and even my lawnmower. Anyways last week I see little hefier with somem hanging out her mouth and she got lucky and spit it. Last night wouldn't ya know out of 27 head of cattle 1 of my 2 and I might add the one I just PAID FOR 4 HOURS EARLIER shows me a big pile of it hanging out of his mouth. Looked llike a pretty good size birds nest and then 2 -12 inch strings hanging out. AS I watched and tried to chase him down (3 months old pasture) I ended up following him around and last site he had maybe 8 inches hanging out and I assume the rest down his throat. The farmer was with me and said he would step on it and pull it or would go through. The vet said could be dead cow walking. If it passes through the rueimen bad news if it stays in probally be oK.

I asked about xray but DMV said would no show up.

So anyone with any such bad experience like this and out come? DMV said some are bio but seems to me that finding pieces of it that I know for sure have been half in the dirt and half out since at least last fall I would assume it is not bio.

Anyone with good news? What a terrible feeling to wake with and to go to bed with trying to see him to see if he is feeding and not down when the rest of the gang is up.
Only savintg grace if there is any got to see this big old longhorn someone stuck in the pasture 6-7 years ago give birth to the cutest looking thing seen. White body with real red spots hald face white half red spilt right down the center. She was cleaning and nursing for 2 days now which is great been told she has had 4 and only nursed one. The bull is at Mcdonalds but I guess he was suppsoed to be half herford and half what ever got over the gate. Real tall and lanky like milk cow not beef calf. Already taller than the spring calves



Please someone give me some incouring words or tellm it to me straight. I do know if he starts going off feed or moving off on his own or layig down most time he won't be doing it long.

A dumb question now if and I pray he does make it either having caught it with hoof and pulled out but if he did eat it and it stays in the ruemin will that effect his sterility and or over all health or will things just gone on with it stuck in there.

 

[dun]

If it was a big enough ball and it stays in it may slowly starve to death because of the space it occulies not allowing enough food eintake. If it survives that it will probably never be very thrifty. Or you could get lucky and not have a problem. My money is on the others

 

[auctionboy]

If be could have gotten this calf penned could he have gave it something to make it puke up the twine?

 

[msscamp]

The farmer that lets me use his land etc is not what I would call clean , the vet said something like PPM. Anyway he uses round bales with the orange waxy type twine.

Based on the color and description, it's plastic.

Seems he can't bend over to pick up the twine after cutting a bale open. I have picked it up everywhere from the pastures and even my lawnmower.

That particular habit is very widespread, I'm afraid. I don't understand it - not only is it an eyesore, but it also poses a very real health hazard to the cattle.

Anyways last week I see little hefier with somem hanging out her mouth and she got lucky and spit it. Last night wouldn't ya know out of 27 head of cattle 1 of my 2 and I might add the one I just PAID FOR 4 HOURS EARLIER shows me a big pile of it hanging out of his mouth. Looked llike a pretty good size birds nest and then 2 -12 inch strings hanging out. AS I watched and tried to chase him down (3 months old pasture) I ended up following him around and last site he had maybe 8 inches hanging out and I assume the rest down his throat. The farmer was with me and said he would step on it and pull it or would go through. The vet said could be dead cow walking. If it passes through the rueimen bad news if it stays in probally be oK.

I asked about xray but DMV said would no show up.

So anyone with any such bad experience like this and out come? DMV said some are bio but seems to me that finding pieces of it that I know for sure have been half in the dirt and half out since at least last fall I would assume it is not bio.

Anyone with good news? What a terrible feeling to wake with and to go to bed with trying to see him to see if he is feeding and not down when the rest of the gang is up.

It could pass through, and be ok. It could also get hung up, and cause a problem. Unfortunately, all you an do is wait and see. We use plastic twine, and we fed ground hay - which means that one string of twine had to remain on each bale that was to be ground in order to be able to pick the bale up and feed it into the grinder. We had no problems with the cows/calves and the twine, but we also made it a point to pick out the twine when we saw it in the feedbunks.

Please someone give me some incouring words or tellm it to me straight. I do know if he starts going off feed or moving off on his own or layig down most time he won't be doing it long.

Hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst. I know that isn't much, but I'm not sure what else to tell you. I'm sure not going to tell you it will be ok, when a chance exists it won't be.

A dumb question now if and I pray he does make it either having caught it with hoof and pulled out but if he did eat it and it stays in the ruemin will that effect his sterility and or over all health or will things just gone on with it stuck in there.

It shouldn't affect his virility but, since it is not digestable, the possibility exists the twine could cause an obstruction, or possibly become wound around part of his intestines and kill him.

 

[KNERSIE]

it often comes out with the cud, but I have seen cattle slowly starve to death as dun mentioned. I have never seen it passed with the manure.

 

[Jogeephus]

I feed all hay in a designated area and make every attempt to collect all string. However, it amazes me where this stuff comes from cause I'm always finding it on the ground and am continuously picking it up. Occasionally, I'll see a calf chewing on it and sometimes can get it out of their mouths but most times not.

To date I haven't had any problems with it (knock on wood) but have at times found chewed up balls of twine laying on the ground which might be explained by what Knersie wrote.

 

[Arnold Ziffle]

Quote: "DMV? Department of Motor Vehicles? Since when have they been able to diagnose cattle"


TNMBP, remember that comment the next time you get bent out of shape thinking that MikeC or somebody else makes a snide, cryptic or smartass comment about one of your posts. Have a nice day. ;-)

 

[AngusLimoX]

However, it amazes me where this stuff comes from cause I'm always finding it on the ground and am continuously picking it up. Occasionally, I'll see a calf chewing on it and sometimes can get it out of their mouths but most times not.

I go over each bale twice looking for twine I've missed and just as often as not when I hop up in the cab there is a piece in plain view. Have had the blue stuff and the orange, doesn't seem to matter.

Never had bales where I mow grass - guess what - twine always in the bearing guards on the mower. Always walk head down looking for twine and nails, always finding stuff.

But I also have never had a problem that I know of with the cattle ( doesn't do me any good to knock on wood ).
Have had the odd tug of war with one of the girls if they get a length of it down their throat.

Hey Master Beef in Teneesse, you know a fool named Turn That Cow Loose Ma ? He was a spelling wizard as well. Not much else to offer but a wizard with spelling.

ALX

 

[Running Arrow Bill]

"Ranchers"??? that don't pick up string, net wrap, junk, trash, etc., out of their pastures shold be sterilized so they can't breed anymore. ;-) Some people are either (a) Lazy, (b) Unaware, (c) Naive, (d) Could Care Less, (e) Some of the Above, (f) All of the above...

 

[gabby]

That's one of the reasons why net wrap is worth the extra cost. It's easy to strip it conpletely off the bale. With strings, even if you're careful to cut it all off and dispose of it there's often some hidden inside the bale.

 

[rockridgecattle]

The farm used to use plastic and it was everywhere. My guess is the farm would spread the maure on the pastures and there it ended up. We spread manure in our yard and garden and i'm still finding it wrapped on the blade of the lawn mower. Since we moved back to the farm, my husband would go around the fields and pick it up. Since we took over we now use sisal. It's more costly but in the long run it's cheaper. We put the pencil to the paper and did the math.

Any how back to your question

We have had some who spit it out when chewing there cud, we have also almost lost a cow.
It was major work. We actually should have done away with her. She got skin and bones and could not raise her calf. But two or three months later she spit it out. HOw i do not know. We just found this wad in her pen. She regained her weight and has a nice calf in the field.
But it easily could have gone the other way and we should not realy have let her suffer that long.
But i think she must still have a chunk inside becasue every once in a while she gets almost but not quite bloaty and down right sick. If we don't have enough hay she is on the list.

If i understand correctly you said calf ate twine...my response is "oh boy".

But on the other side of the coin,someone has to clean up the pasture of this menace. If it's your cows you have choice, pasture there or find somewhere else or clean it up.My apologies for being blunt in this matter.


I also think people who use plastic twine, bags, wrap or what ever should so their part and clean it up .

 

[mind235]

Thanks all for your great wisdom.I am watching him like a hawk I keep a pair of binoculars on the picnic table to see things when they are in the main pasture and am not with them.The times I move them around get fairly close to him. Boy I sure wish this place had tried to get the stock more person friendly since you can't catch them now.I almost had him in the creek until I ended up face first in the creek...felt good was a hot day. Get close with the 4 wheeler but don't want to stress him out bad. I need to learn how to rope or something.It's almost impossible to bait him in with some hay or anything when there are 12 other little ones will want the same thing so no creep.He is funny he just stares me down and stomps his foot while doing it, sure can tell he is a bull. It is a real shame and hope things turn out alright evertone in the area said he is as good a looking bull at his age they have seen around here. He won't get the chance to become "skin and bones", won't let that happen. He seems fine today so no need for any tums or rolaids today hanging with rest of the kids. Vet says as long as it stays in the ruemin it may be OK and the guy at the DMV agrees .
With so much pasture would be like winning the lotto to find any ball he chocked up. Thats like the landlord has a thing with his son about finding things in the field. He told him if he found a pair of nuts from banding he would give him $500
I rent the farm but only do some of the chores like pasture change and yes every piece I see i pick up. The owner provides all the feed for mine since I help him around the place. So I did not have the choice what to use. I have been in the place about 4 months and you could pick it up for 2 years and not get it all.Good pasture management has not been used. I am grateful for the free pasture and food for my animals but I also want to keep my stock in good shape. Real nice guy couldn't ask for a nicer person to deal with but for the last 25 years running a farm and a cattle operation he has never had any vacs done, wormers no, no pre breeding testing or preg tests etc and as far as I know never had a vet out . Got a 1 year old "borrowed bull" in the pasture now, never been checked for STD or sperm quality/quanity so seems like taking a chance with a unproven, untested bull to cover his herd.I hope we got 16 on the ground next spring buit he may have none????He just lets nature take it's course.He has never had to pull one or lost any to stillborn. I think he has only lost one to somethng unknown(My wife thinks ate bad weeds since they are all over the pasture, take your choice she says she has seen at least 3 that will kill one) but that was what he said just found it dead.. just laying dead in pasture and one to a mini van in all those years.
There is not even a chute or head gate.Barn is an old milk parlor and looks like the manure has not been taken out in 6-7 years since the milk business stopped. I have cleaned out the small barn where there are 3 stalls so I can bring mine in if needed. Seems like he is happy doing it the way it always has been done and it works to a degree for him yes he loses weight to things like worms and horn flies etc but .

I don't think he is very happy that I am going to have a vet out for vacs etc. I think he is concerned about what the vet might say about everythng.

Now with this twine thing I want to wait a bit for the vet to come out to make sure he is going to make it. What is the latest I should wait to get him vacs and everything?

I guess all I can do is keep close eye on him and watch his weight gain and HOPE.
Thanks again.

 

[TheBullLady]

From the sounds of it there are worse things than baling twine in that pasture. It's hard enough raising healthy cattle without having to worry about what they're eating they shouldn't. And cattle, especially calves, are horribly nosy.

We lost a full grown cow years ago that had ingested a piece of plastic twine. We also never cut the strings on a bale without picking them up afterwards. And no matter how diligent you are, you can't get them all.

The problem is you may not know for months if the twine is going to impact your calf. Keeping close watch on him hour after hour is only going to drive you nuts.

 

[mind235]

Your right on that one. If I picked up all the metal just in and around the old milk barn and sold it probally could take the wife out for a nice weekend out of town. Maybe I will do that.

If you had these options which would you take with the knowledge the bull will ay worst be better than average.
1) Get my cash back now.
2) keep him and take my chances
3)Work out deal where if he is fine in 2 months everything stays same ot if he is starting to show signs of healthissues then get my cash back

As far as watching him I see him close when they walk by when I open the gate for morning pasture from barn. Then I see them in the pasture close to where I sit most of the day (have had 6 back surgeries) So I really get to see them a lot which is nice and I enjoy it but frankly I would rather be working but as they say you got to play the hand you were dealt.
so can see them then and then when they go to night pasture they go by me on the way out. I also usually take a walk out before I head for the house each evening. So everyone gets a good look a few times a day at min. This little one is fun to watch we have a leased bull in herd now and little one struts and holds that tail high and really looks funny when the 2 are together. Of course there is the occasional head butt to ge him out of the way. Just thought about why the man who ownes the bull worth 3-4 K lets it stay here this long.
Seems like a lot of positive feedback giving me some hope. I hate anything to suffer and will make sure that won't happen but this one is a special one that would really allow me to upgrade our herd. If all would go with him as we hope I should have enough going for me then too be able to decide a couple offers and get out of this pasture. There is an offer if he ends up being like everyone expects here then one fellow wants me to breed his herd which of course I would do hefiers only pretty sure he has not had his cows tested. That would get me some cash and calves in return. I have another deal that could do if he ends up OK there is a piece of land used to have 100+ head on it until the man got ill, not sure exactly how big but I would guess at least 85 acres. Some fence work and few other things need some work. Anyway he wants to lease it to me (get out of the pasture in now) with a couple different options from straight cash (worst option), half cash/half beef, or 2 head one for his kid to show them eat and one hanging already which would require me to have some quality cattle to sell back rather than just culling. But all being said and done will be happy just to see him make it with no problems!!!

 

[dcara]

An old Caustic quote (or close to it) " Darn cows, they'll eat anything."

 

[AngusLimoX]

Since we took over we now use sisal. It's more costly but in the long run it's cheaper. We put the pencil to the paper and did the math.

I'd like to see your figures on that.
Which sisal in what type baler?

ALX

 

[rockridgecattle]

We use 16000 treated sisal for 36.95 canadian
850 baler and get about 30 bales per ball
the plastic is i think when i figured it out 2 years ago was around 20 something a ball for 28000 and could do 40 bales

When i figured it out i included

-use of the tractor
hour rate of tractor to take off the twine this was important because we live in a climate where you can not shut off your tractor when unwrapping 6 - 10 bales (feed 5-6 bales and if we need bedding more)
It atakes a minimum of 10-15 minutes per bale to unwrap because you are fighting the ice and snow which has buried the twine needing an axe and brute strength to cut it out. you could cover the bales but there is a cost to that as well. not to ecomonical.

-also included was hour rate for operator-we might not get paid for what we do but it needs to be figured in

-cost per bale of twine alone for baling. did not include the cost of actual making hay becasue they were the same for sisal and plastic just included the actual cost of the twine

-we usually get a company in to haul and spread our manure becasue they are faster and cheaper than us they charge close to depending on the company 300- 500/hr for three trucks and a trac hoe. this cost is included becasue they charge you for the time it takes to cut all the plastic of the beaters of each truck and trac hoe. Sisal has minimum labour on this becasue mostly broken down

-not inlcuded were bearings that go in equipment becasue plastic gets wrapped around equipment

-not inlcuded were vet visits of cows ingesting twine or death of cow

-not include was your time of cleaning plastic off the yard in the summer- the stuff you missed when unwrpapping the bales

-not included was disposal of the twine

now if memory serves it was around 2 a bale for sisal...even if it cost more to buy
it was around 5.50 for plastic even if it was cheaper to buy
reason...time and labour and tractor usage of taking plastic off rather that sisal which you just dump the bale out. no or very little cost in the manure spreading clean up cause sisal rarerly gets caught on the beaters due to break down and plastic gets just wrapped up tighter than well tight.
that coupled mess of plastic, well the choice was clear for us.

 

[Jogeephus]

Rockridge, I have a friend who uses sisal twine. He speaks very highly of it as long as you are not going to be moving it a round a lot. Does say it costs a bit more per roll as you stated but he agrees with you and says it saves in the long run. I have considered going to it as well, especially for barn stored hay. Its normally darkthirty when I hay the cows and there is always some string that gets by me. He said it would work fine in the John Deere and the New Holland round balers. He also suggested that running a rasp file across the knife a few times would help cut it better. What's your opinion on this?

 

[rockridgecattle]

I forgot the sisal 2 years ago which is when we compared prices was 28.00. 36.95 was this years price apples to apples

Rockridge, I have a friend who uses sisal twine. He speaks very highly of it as long as you are not going to be moving it a round a lot. Does say it costs a bit more per roll as you stated but he agrees with you and says it saves in the long run. I have considered going to it as well, especially for barn stored hay. Its normally darkthirty when I hay the cows and there is always some string that gets by me. He said it would work fine in the John Deere and the New Holland round balers. He also suggested that running a rasp file across the knife a few times would help cut it better. What's your opinion on this?

if you move it alot yes it can break apart. But we haul hay from where the baler dropped the bale direct to the hayyard. We now rent a balemover and that has help save the twine compared to the stackmover. dark thirthy i do not understand.
Rasp over the knife i assume you mean the baler cuter, yes we keep it sharp. Cause sometimes it does not cut very well. I do the math and operate the baler, my husband does the repairs on what i break and used the haybine. So what else he does to the baler to make it cut better i do not know. But if i can bale with it anyone can. our baler is the chain 850 baler

 

[AngusLimoX]

We hour rate of tractor to take off the twine this was important because we live in a climate where you can not shut off your tractor when unwrapping 6 - 10 bales (feed 5-6 bales and if we need bedding more)
It atakes a minimum of 10-15 minutes per bale to unwrap because you are fighting the ice and snow which has buried the twine needing an axe and brute strength to cut it out. you could cover the bales but there is a cost to that as well. not to ecomonical.

Cold Canuck winters, ya gotta love em! :lol: ( Was a 100F in the shade here yesterday ).Have you ever cut yourself almost to the bone pulling on that nylon crap trying to get it off a frozen bale??

Well I am gonna give the lighter sisal a shot in my round baler. Using the 7200 kicker twine in the square baler right now, and that stuff is pricey.

I Thank You rockridge for sharing your work with us. I am gonna give it a shot.

ALX