New Girl (drought cow)

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MurraysMutts

MurraysMutts

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N. Central boonies, Oklahoma
Someone waited too long to sell their girls. This pair weighs 1120lbs and the calf is 175lbs easy. Cow was called a 6 yr old. Every one of em looked like this. Was only able to buy this pair. There was another one just like her with a fairly new baby heifer brought 200 more than this pair.
Anyway!
Nutrition. She needs Nutrition!
Seems very healthy aside from being starved. Bright clear eyes. Moved well. No issues aside from hungry.
She never left the feed bunk after I got her tagged and wormed IN THE TRAILER!
Shes soooo gentle.
Bets on what she looks like in 4 months...
This is what they look like when you wait too long in a drought!! No grass, no hay, no feed, no cows for you!! Your only hurting them and yourself!

Other than a good worming (a 5 gallon bucket full) She's gonna get 20% cubes daily and medium hay. For now...
I bet her milk production picks back up too. She's gotten the calf this far, calf eats right with her as well as nurses what she can get.
20221112_165628.jpg20221112_165647.jpg20221112_165900.jpg
Edit to add
Calf will bring more than I gave for the pair come spring. I really really like to buy em like that.
 
Feel sorry for the cow, and you are right,,, that is waiting too long.... WAY TOO LONG....Fill her up with hay, give her a week or 2 and then worm her once her gut is working properly or she might be too weak... go light on the cubes for the first week or 2 also... some but not too much. You did well with Bessie and her poor condition...
Too bad you couldn't have swung more of them.
They are also what we like to buy and work with... nothing here looks like that... we have had plenty of grass most areas... most corn did well in this area...
Bred heifers are in the 18-2200 range and saw some cows with 200 lb calves, exposed back because bull was running with them... for 18-2400.... Very good condition on just about every one of them.
 
farmerjan said:
Feel sorry for the cow, and you are right,,, that is waiting too long.... WAY TOO LONG....Fill her up with hay, give her a week or 2 and then worm her once her gut is working properly or she might be too weak... go light on the cubes for the first week or 2 also... some but not too much. You did well with Bessie and her poor condition...
Too bad you couldn't have swung more of them.
They are also what we like to buy and work with... nothing here looks like that... we have had plenty of grass most areas... most corn did well in this area...
Bred heifers are in the 18-2200 range and saw some cows with 200 lb calves, exposed back because bull was running with them... for 18-2400.... Very good condition on just about every one of them.
Click to expand...
There was 2 pair.
And a 3 year old, 4 MONTHS BRED that looked like her. I couldn't believe she was bred. I almost bought her but thought better of it. Too afraid she would abort on me. She went for 350.

All the weaned calves had some size to em. But we're just as thin.

Shameful... that's something to be ashamed of!
 
I would have bought the 3 yr old bred for that price. REMEMBER Bessie was bred and you would have never known it to look at her... a 3 yr old bred.. even if she had aborted it... which she most likely would not have at 4 months... providing you just got her filled up and her gut working.... then wormed her after a month or more to make sure it did not stress her system too fast.... She would have gained weight FAST once she got some feed in her... You take a picture in a week to 10 days and see how much better this cow is going to look... just from getting some feed in her gut to round her out and get the rumen working...
 
MurraysMutts said:
There was 2 pair.
And a 3 year old, 4 MONTHS BRED that looked like her. I couldn't believe she was bred. I almost bought her but thought better of it. Too afraid she would abort on me. She went for 350.

All the weaned calves had some size to em. But we're just as thin.

Shameful... that's something to be ashamed of!
Click to expand...
There is a place on our main highway with at least 50 pair that look like that. I know the sheriff sees it, not sure who would address it if a complaint was filed. They at least put out a round bale a day. Not sure why they keep so many, all in crap condition, but every single one tagged.
 
puzzled in oregon said:
Murray your new pair look really good compared to this cow and her 8-10 month old calf, craigslist special,
offered to the public for $1200.00.

I know your new pair will do well in your care.
Click to expand...
Oof!

Even for a ho-jo she's in bad shape.

Thanks! I'll do my best!
Shes so sweet, I may just have to keep this one!

We will see how she comes along. She should be 1200lbs easy by herself. She's got a lot of bone/size. She is not fine boned at all. Fingers 🤞


Edited to add...
She didn't eat the ENTIRE square bale. 😀
She did get a scoop of 14% creep tonight tho.
All snuggled in for the night. 22 for a low tonight. Her heifer is on the other side of the feeder.
20221112_211115.jpg
 
Last edited:
Hope you can bring her back into condition, in this country a cow in that condition at this time of year is coyote bait 99% of the time!
 
She was someone's dang pet!
Went to feed this morning and she immediately stuck her face in the bucket before I could even get to the trough.
20221113_082900.jpg20221113_082903.jpg20221113_082907.jpg
Calf is a good 'un! Not quite as full this morning. She was a bit full of hay yesterday. They had to pull her away from the hay at the sale.
20221113_083829.jpg
 
MurraysMutts said:
She was someone's dang pet!
Went to feed this morning and she immediately stuck her face in the bucket before I could even get to the trough.
View attachment 22940View attachment 22941View attachment 22942
Calf is a good 'un! Not quite as full this morning. She was a bit full of hay yesterday. They had to pull her away from the hay at the sale.
View attachment 22943
Click to expand...
Glad you got them. Sad to see someone treat any animal like that. If you can't feed them, let them go.
 
Hpacres440p said:
Glad you got them. Sad to see someone treat any animal like that. If you can't feed them, let them go.
Click to expand...
I do feel a bit silly.

Sold 8 mamas plus some calves a few weeks ago. And here I am buying projects!

Got Eleanor and 4 calves.
Now this gurl and her calf.

It's a sickness.....
I've got a real soft spot for fixing one up occassionally.

O yeah guys..
They sold some round bales yesterday too. Last year's grass hay. Brought 85 a bale. 8 bales. Guess I could've ran it up there a lil more. 😆
 
puzzled in oregon said:
Murray your new pair look really good compared to this cow and her 8-10 month old calf, craigslist special,
offered to the public for $1200.00.

I know your new pair will do well in your care.
Click to expand...
Those pictures are torturous to my eyes and heart...wish there was an entity that would remove cattle from unaware-abusers. They shouldn't get $1,200. they should be fined $1,200.
 
If I had a separate facility where I could isolate them I might consider doing some 'Sale Barn Rescuing" or scalping as we call it.
As it stands I am most reluctant to introduce anything from the sale barn into stock that has been isolated albeit current in
shots and treatment. I can fix hungry and thin but I would be concerned about hungry and thin being exposed to sick and diseased
while at the auction then hauling it home. Also were I to get involved with the trader cattle I might be better served to go
across the state line which might add another 30 miles on a round trip.
I think it is great how Murray can turn a hunk of coal into something of greater value. Actually I envy his cast iron gut got getting in and
out of some of the situations he finds himself. and a note to TR mistreated livestock is a symbol of bad manners and poor judgement.
easy to diagnose but difficult to eradicate,,,
 
Murray I want to apologize to for putting those photos on this post(?). They should have gone under the Craigslist Cattle.
If I could move or delete them from here I would.
 
puzzled in oregon said:
Murray I want to apologize to for putting those photos on this post(?). They should have gone under the Craigslist Cattle.
If I could move or delete them from here I would.
Click to expand...
No worries!
I'm always hesitant to post pics of mine. For the most part I get em going tho.

Shes a lil piggy. And she should be. I can't imagine what she was surviving on before I got her. She's even eating the crappy round bale I got in there. Thought I was gonna have to burn it!
Shes getting some squares too tho..
 
Lee VanRoss said:
If I had a separate facility where I could isolate them I might consider doing some 'Sale Barn Rescuing" or scalping as we call it.
As it stands I am most reluctant to introduce anything from the sale barn into stock that has been isolated albeit current in
shots and treatment. I can fix hungry and thin but I would be concerned about hungry and thin being exposed to sick and diseased
while at the auction then hauling it home. Also were I to get involved with the trader cattle I might be better served to go
across the state line which might add another 30 miles on a round trip.
I think it is great how Murray can turn a hunk of coal into something of greater value. Actually I envy his cast iron gut got getting in and
out of some of the situations he finds himself. and a note to TR mistreated livestock is a symbol of bad manners and poor judgement.
easy to diagnose but difficult to eradicate,,,
Click to expand...
I buy sale barn cattle every week. Sometimes 2. Sometimes 10. I don't immediately introduce them to the cattle on my farm but they are not the evil thing some makes them to be. They need treated as if they have never had anything before but they aren't the plague.
 
Don't beat yourself up over buying her after selling some others. You said you did alright on the others and got quite a few off the feed bill. Yes this girl will eat more for a bit... but it is one cow/calf pair and she will make you money once she gets some weight on her. I'd have bought her and the others and the bred one for those cheap of a prices....
Let her work on that mediocre hay... BULK, fiber, in her system.. that's what she needs along with the extra protein you are supplying in the grain/cubes.
 

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