Fritz3410
Member
Sunday was the big day. We were going to turn our bull (Bob) out with the cows. We moved it back this year for later calves. With roughly 1,000 acres of corn to plant each year, and a few hundred acres of beans behind that, April calves can be a struggle at times. Seems like I can never get off work in time to take care of things so Bill can keep planting and so forth. So, we moved our date out a little bit.
Before we turn him out we like to give him a few shots, lepto, pinkeye, and a vitamin. Bob is a very calm bull, very easy to work with for the most part. We currently do not have a good corral set up, so we have been using one of our open front sheds to act as a corral.
Not a very good picture, but you get the idea, the alley and chute are on one side, and if need be, we can swing the gates inward forcing them up the chute.
We had no problem walking Bob right into the corral, but for some reason today he did not want to go right in the chute like normal. So Bill was in with him, ready to very calmly urge him into the alley. Bob had other ideas. He walked up to one of the windows, looked out, and jumped.
The window is closed in this picture, but the 3x5 piece of wood slides open and lets a nice breeze blow through. For whatever reason, Bob just jumped, and made it through with ease. No scraps, no scratches, nothing. Landed fine on the other side, even though it drops off a good foot from the inside of the shed, calmly walked over to the shed in that lot and stood there. Bill and I looked at each other and laughed. We have been working cows, calves, bulls, everything in this set up with the window open all year. Never had one even look at the window. So we went over, closed the window, and walked Bob back in. He was calm as could be, checked the window again, and seeing it closed this time, walked into the chute like a good Bull should do. We gave him his shots, and sent him on his way.
So, the lesson learned here is, never leave a window open, even if they do not pay attention to it, just to be safe, keep it closed. We really got off lucky I think. He could have really cut his belly or even worse his working tools. We laughed because we didn't know what else to do, but really a sigh of releif, another lesson learned, and job complete.
Fritz
Before we turn him out we like to give him a few shots, lepto, pinkeye, and a vitamin. Bob is a very calm bull, very easy to work with for the most part. We currently do not have a good corral set up, so we have been using one of our open front sheds to act as a corral.
Not a very good picture, but you get the idea, the alley and chute are on one side, and if need be, we can swing the gates inward forcing them up the chute.
We had no problem walking Bob right into the corral, but for some reason today he did not want to go right in the chute like normal. So Bill was in with him, ready to very calmly urge him into the alley. Bob had other ideas. He walked up to one of the windows, looked out, and jumped.
The window is closed in this picture, but the 3x5 piece of wood slides open and lets a nice breeze blow through. For whatever reason, Bob just jumped, and made it through with ease. No scraps, no scratches, nothing. Landed fine on the other side, even though it drops off a good foot from the inside of the shed, calmly walked over to the shed in that lot and stood there. Bill and I looked at each other and laughed. We have been working cows, calves, bulls, everything in this set up with the window open all year. Never had one even look at the window. So we went over, closed the window, and walked Bob back in. He was calm as could be, checked the window again, and seeing it closed this time, walked into the chute like a good Bull should do. We gave him his shots, and sent him on his way.
So, the lesson learned here is, never leave a window open, even if they do not pay attention to it, just to be safe, keep it closed. We really got off lucky I think. He could have really cut his belly or even worse his working tools. We laughed because we didn't know what else to do, but really a sigh of releif, another lesson learned, and job complete.
Fritz