Said one of the new weekenders. They are the ones whose new cows were getting out last fall. They brought out a cow and weaned her calf at the same time and we all know that can cause problems. Anywhoot, a few months ago, they brought out a bred holstein heifer. I dont know where they got her but she seemed very gentle... you ask, how do we know she was gentle. Well, got a call yesterday asking for help. I noticed her isolated for the past few days and laying down a lot. Since they are weekenders and i dont trespass, i went on with my days.. They get up this weekend and by the end of the day they decided something was wrong with her. They called my son in law and then he called us. Heifer had a dead calf tail hanging out of her. We worked with her to see if we could get it turned, but with lack of any cattle working pens, all we had were ropes and trees. The guy did not want to take her to the vet, he had no trailer and where the cow was it was too wet to take one in. So we put her down. It was so sad. She was a nice heifer, had a great udder. And of course, i did no let the colostrum go to waste, got a good amount out of her. He has 3 more heifers to calve out. Always boggles my mind that when someone wants to start a cow business and have no knowledge of cattle and only check on them sporadically when they get a chance to go play on their land, they buy bred heifers.... oy... Oh, have another weekender who also bought bred heifers but his are wagu. We mentioned that we might want to buy a bull calf from him.. as long as it looks ok of course....lol
Lets get cows, that would be fun
- Thread starter cowgirl8
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MurraysMutts
Well-known member
Sometimes I'm pretty sure I go a bit over board.
Checking heifers every 3 hours...
Always got cubes in my pocket...
Blah blah blah
Nah!!! Its just how we are I guess
Checking heifers every 3 hours...
Always got cubes in my pocket...
Blah blah blah
Nah!!! Its just how we are I guess
Rafter S
Well-known member
I had a co-worker call me Friday. He was thinking about putting cows on land he owns, and wanted some information and advice. I didn't realize until after we'd talked a while that the land is in Colorado, which is a long way from southeast Texas. I told him that was a bad idea.
Then I explained some of the economics of the cattle business, and apparently it's not the get rich quick enterprise he thought it was going to be. I think he decided to stay out of the cattle business, but I'm not sure.
Then I explained some of the economics of the cattle business, and apparently it's not the get rich quick enterprise he thought it was going to be. I think he decided to stay out of the cattle business, but I'm not sure.
SBMF 2015
Well-known member
Talked to a guy Friday. He had bought 6 - 5yr old fall calving Herefords. The first 2 calves both died. The 3rd one was lethargic and just didn't seem right. I asked what the cows had been vaccinated with. He said he was told they had never had a needle in them,and wanted to know why he should start.
I had something break on the chopper and had to get off the phone, should be an interesting conversation when I call him back.
I had something break on the chopper and had to get off the phone, should be an interesting conversation when I call him back.
JMJ Farms
Well-known member
Everyone has to start somewhere. But it dang sure ought not to be a distant location. If off site from home it should be relatively close.
Buck Randall
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cowgirl8 said:
That's a shame. The vet bill to fix her would have been less expensive than a dead heifer, but to each their own.
OP
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cowgirl8
Well-known member
Buck Randall said:
I agree, but, when you dont have any equipment to work cattle, bought land thats a mud pit, and sunk all your money into the land and overbought useless equipment. My daughter just sold some cows and was very disappointed..... He was looking at a emergency cost too.. it was saturday evening and as we know, a vet around here is hard to find in the weekend off hours. . So you'd be looking at a holstein, c section scar with a long recovery time where, its not always a good outcome and if the vet decided to just pull it out, (which he does sometimes) he could be left with a paralyzed cow on his weekend place which means she'd be eaten the next day by black vulture. I was thinking it wasnt his cow anyway but maybe a relatives that thought, 'Hey you have land now, i want a cow.'....kind of thing. He did not want to sink any money into her. If i could have done anything to save her i would have.. rotten calf, emergency surgery, my odds said not goods..... Our vet would have charged on regular office hours, around 300 for a c section but probably wouldnt have answered his phone.. and a Sat night, not sure what that would have cost. Next large vet out here is over 60 miles away.. and more expensive. If you have cows out here, you better know how to do most of your vet stuff or have a gun....
