Infected Cut?

[watso059]

watso059,

$250 for a house call! Man, I hope our vet doesn't hear about that. He might raise his $20 fee.

Yeah....high...he is the only one in the area that does house calls...so i guess he can charge what he wants :shock: though the higher end is only if you need some surgery, or something serious...to give the two sick calves shots i think it was like 100-130...been a while so cant remember...but i figure this will cost more, especially if he has to remove the membrane if it is an abcess...

 

[msscamp]

watso059,

Don't mention the "P" word, you'll jinx me.

Only if you let youself talk you into it! ;-) Can you tell I talk to self a lot? :???:

From now on i will quarantine for at least a week if at all possible...thanks for the help.... :cboy:

When buying from a salebarn it has to be not only possible, but standard operating procedure - otherwise you stand to lose everything you have worked so hard to gain. I'm not kidding here! All it takes in one animal to introduce a disease you are not currently vaccinating for or one that cannot be vaccinated against (such as Johnes) to lose everything!

 

[cypressfarms]

watso059,

$250 for a house call! Man, I hope our vet doesn't hear about that. He might raise his $20 fee.

Yeah....high...he is the only one in the area that does house calls...so i guess he can charge what he wants :shock: though the higher end is only if you need some surgery, or something serious...to give the two sick calves shots i think it was like 100-130...been a while so cant remember...but i figure this will cost more, especially if he has to remove the membrane if it is an abcess...

Sounds like you either need to find a new vet, or hone up on your doctoring skills. Think of it in profit per calves. If you make $200 on a calf each year, then it costs you a calf to have the vet come out.

 

[watso059]

Been thinking the same thing Cyp...i think i am going to try to find an older farmer who needs some help around and volunteer in return for know-how...seems the best way to learn, make a good friend, and help someone out. Seems like fun and since I'll be out of school for half the summer, it'll give me something constructive to do...I really want to learn as much as possible about the biz and hope to be able to do some of my own doctoring soon!!!

 

[msscamp]

Been thinking the same thing Cyp...i think i am going to try to find an older farmer who needs some help around and volunteer in return for know-how...seems the best way to learn, make a good friend, and help someone out. Seems like fun and since I'll be out of school for half the summer, it'll give me something constructive to do...I really want to learn as much as possible about the biz and hope to be able to do some of my own doctoring soon!!!

If you're willing to do that, see if you can volunteer at a local vet clinic. You will get twice the information and know how in half the time and be able to ask questions and get reliable answers to boot! ;-)

 

[watso059]

Didn't think about that...great idea msscamp...If I vol. for a vet, itll be the one who I will prob have to call out tomorrow. I have never done any doctoring yet, nor have I seen much of it so I have no clue about most of it. There are many vets in our area, but this guy is the only one who does large animals, so he'd be the one I'd learn the most about cows from you'd think.

 

[cypressfarms]

You go msscamp....that girl is good! Great idea.

Watso, I'm only 36, but I would gladly show someone the basics if they would help when it's time to work. Only problem is nobody believes it's worth the swap. :lol:

 

[msscamp]

You go msscamp....that girl is good! Great idea.

Watso, I'm only 36, but I would gladly show someone the basics if they would help when it's time to work. Only problem is nobody believes it's worth the swap. :lol:

Cypress, you're killing me! :lol: :lol: I wish I could accept being a great mind, alas it's not fated to be. I used to work for a vet, hence the idea - that's all. I appreciate your faith Cypress, but the idea comes from simple experience. ;-)

 

[watso059]

You go msscamp....that girl is good! Great idea.

Watso, I'm only 36, but I would gladly show someone the basics if they would help when it's time to work. Only problem is nobody believes it's worth the swap. :lol:

It seems like a pretty good deal! You can not beat experience in hands on stuff, such as cattle! so, in excahnge for mistakes I may not have to make, especially where I may loose a cow or calf, etc. I'd gladly put in some hard work for the experience I would be getting. Plus, it'd be fun too!! Especially if I can get the vet to do it! :lol:

 

[A&Mfarms]

Hey watso I was wondering what part of Sand Mountain you're from. Our farm is in Fyffe and we live in Boaz. You must be using Red Barn as your vet. You probably will not find a better vet, but you also will not find a more expensive one. There are some vets out of Albertville that will come to your place and might be a little cheaper. It will just depend where you live. We actually had a vet from A'ville come out for us last year all the way to Fyffe. By the way good luck at the stockyard. In our area their are some who take care of their cattle and there are way more who just have cows in a pasture with no attention to care, management, or genetics. Buyer beware. Good luck!

 

[ALACOWMAN]

I figure your talking about sand mountain stockyard one of the owners is a vet. the cold shot your refering to is for IBR. so she will need antibotics but banging around might have bruised her more than likely needs draining with your limited experiace with cattle id call one of um.

 

[alabama]

Hey watso I was wondering what part of Sand Mountain your from. Our farm is in Fyffe and we live in Boaz. You must be using Red Barn as your vet. You probably want find a better vet, but you also want find a more expensive one. There are some vets out of Albertville that will come to your place and might be a little cheaper. It will just depend where you live. We actually had a vet from A'ville come out for us last year all the way to Fyffe. By the way good luck at the stockyard. In our area their are some who take care of their cattle and there are way more who just have cows in a pasture with no attention to care, management, or genetics. Buyer beware. Good luck!

I don't recommend buying replacements at the local sale barn unless it is a special sale. Attached is a link to the Alabama BCIA. They sponsor several sales each year and some in your area. People that will stand behind them and will have records on everything the calves have been giving sell the heifers sold in these sales. There are other good sales in Alabama but I don't recommend buying cull cows at the stockyard.

http://www.albcia.org/

 

[watso059]

I don't recommend buying replacements at the local sale barn unless it is a special sale. Attached is a link to the Alabama BCIA. They sponsor several sales each year and some in your area. People that will stand behind them and will have records on everything the calves have been giving sell the heifers sold in these sales. There are other good sales in Alabama but I don't recommend buying cull cows at the stockyard.

http://www.albcia.org/

Thanks for the posts! Well....I called the vet out and he drained the abcess, which was quite wonderful to watch...lol. I also had quite a wonderful surprise! While trying to isolate the cow with the abcess, I noticed that another cow, which we also just bought, had prolapsed...!!! The vet fixed them both for like 200, but that will be the last time I buy at a salebarn, unless it is a special sale. Alabama said it right...lesson learned: don't buy culled cows at the sale barn... What is funny, but only as funny as a prolapse can be, is that, on this thread, we were joking about having one earlier... What are the odds... Now we have to try to get her into the catch pen and hopefully to the sale soon. Thanks again for the advice etc.

 

[watso059]

Well...the prolapsed cow that was sewn up had twins!!! My dad went to check on them while I was in church today and she was in labor but could not have them because of the stitches! There is no telling how long she had been in labor, but he cut em and pulled both calves (a black bull and smokey heifer). Also, the vet said that she has bad feet...this cow has some terrible genes I tell ya!! She should be on her way tomorrow. She is very cranky now (go figure)...we should have a very good time loading her up... :roll: I hope we can get the twins strong enough to walk so we can send them to the sale too. She will not take them...bad experience with lots of pain I guess. Anyways...glad this one is over with!!! I hope we can just make back half of what we spent on this one!

 

[cypressfarms]

Watso,

Welcome to the wonderful world of cattle. Buy some cattle from a stockyard, one has an abcess, one prolapses and then has twins and refuses them. What are the odds on all of that happening???

There is another way to find cattle. Our state has a "market bulletin" where people put adds selling everything agricultural. Maybe your area has something like that. It would be much better for you to buy from someone (face to face). Even special sales can have "dinks" and many times you don't know the history of the cow/heifer. Buying from a person or cattle company, you can look at the cattle at your own pace, ask questions, find out what they have been vaccinated for, etc. Example: Maybe your area has a cattle company that sells replacement heifers and bulls (which is common); go over introduce yourself, let them know what you want, and you might be pleasantly surprised by the results. Their business depends on you not only having good results from the cattle you buy from them, but coming back for more and giving good "word of mouth".

Sorry for the long wind.

 

[watso059]

Well...one of the twins died overnight, but the other one is doing great. We are going to give it to a friend for his son to raise up as an after school project. We figure we won't make much on it at the sale anyways, nor do we have time to bottlefeed! The crazy cow is on her way down the road now. Thank God this whole ordeal is over...lol. I tell you, that was a mess. Thanks again for all the help and adive given. Hope y'all aren't freezing your buns off!!