WalnutCrest":hs19ndiz said:
Fire Sweep Ranch":hs19ndiz said:
You are in this a lot deeper than we get, so I have a question; why not breed her and let her raise a calf? She obviously has value, since you flushed her. Have you flushed her so hard you have made her unable to gestate a calf? She has a prosthetic, can she not raise a calf with her injury?
She can't live life in the pasture -- the homemade prosthetic won't allow for jostling, much less breeding.
We do have her full sister and a 3/4 sister on the ground now, plus we still own her mother and have semen on her sire, so (as a friend of mine says) we have the factory to make more. And, we have made more ... there are 16 embryos in the tank of this particular pairing. So, we're calling it quits on this little project. She's a sweetie ... and we're a little bummed about this ... but, this door is closing.
Well, AI would take care of the breeding, so no weight bearing issues there as you know. The reason I asked is you obviously have a bunch of money invested in her genetics and rehabilitation. Our pastor has a three legged heifer, lost her foot from a freeze. He bred her (AI) and she gets around just fine raising a calf. Her back right leg is about 6 inches off the ground, and she uses it when she walks, but runs on three legs when she takes off.
Not in your shoes, I might be inclined to try breeding her to see how she gets along. She is not in pain, and has no resale value because of her leg (except in a package), so why not try? Maybe we too got attached to this little heifer since we have followed her story since she was born. Just sad to see so much effort to save her and now she has no value...