Sale barn/ring injury stories.

[torogmc81]

I've never bought anything at the sale barn. But last Saturday I thought that might change. I've gotten all of my registered Angus stock through PB production sales or private sales. Nothing against sale barns or our closest sale barn (that I sell steers and cull cows at with no worries [Greenville, IL]). But 15 head of angus 3in1's, spring pairs, and a few heavy bred, came in to the cow special on Valentines Day from a respectable producer. I had my eye on a few. In particular, lot 2, a darn good bred heifer that would have fit in nicely around here and replace a 5 year old that I had to cull back in December. She was a Hoover Dam over an Objective cow. She was due march 24 to Discovery. I liked a few other pairs and such that I wanted to pull the trigger on if they went for the right price. They sell Lot 1 who was also an impressive bred heifer but wasn't exactly on my radar because she wasn't AI bred and was calving too late in the spring for her to fit in around here IMO. So I felt good about Lot 2 after seeing lot 1 sell. So they open the door for lot 2 and I start bidding right away. After being in there 5 seconds, she started freaking out. Obviously not the first or last time this has happened at a sale. But all of the sudden she did a half jump got a foot caught between two cables. Then she used her head to sort of push off and free herself. As she did that and got all four back on the ground, I quickly noticed she shaved the hide and hair off on the bridge between her eyes and nose. All the way to the bone. It was about an inch wide and 4 inches long. The cable had acted like a cheese knife. I immediately stopped bidding at 3000. Bidding continued as I assume not all had noticed the injury (we were sitting in the front row). I was kind of surprised they didn't pause the bidding to address the situation. She ended up selling for 3500. I was willing to pay 3800 or even 4000. Now I assume that the injured heifer will be just fine and they will patch her up and give her the appropriate shots. But for me, I felt that I didn't HAVE TO buy a cow that day, and especially if everything's not going right. I know my story sounds small and boring to some, but I put a lot of time and thought into the decisions I make for our herd and farm.
Has anyone experienced a similar event in which the animal they set there eyes on had a freak accident or something that changed their mind a the last second?
And also, what's the worst injury/event someone's ever seen at a sale or sale barn?

 

[Rafter S]

I didn't see it, but I've heard that years ago at the local auction a bull hit the pipe fence around the ring hard enough to pull it away from the wall, and then he got out among the bidders and spectators. It apparently got pretty lively there for a few minutes until someone held the door open. He saw daylight and ran outside.

And I'd have quit bidding on that heifer you're talking about too, but it would have been because of the way she was acting and not the injury.

 

[Rafter S]

I just remembered that I was waiting in line to unload once and an animal (I don't remember if it was a bull or cow) jumped out of the trailer, and then instead of going down the alley it turned and went between the trailer and the wall. It got stuck and couldn't move. They finally brought a bobcat in to pick up the back end of the trailer and move it over enough to get it off the animal. It was a long time ago and I don't remember if it was badly hurt, but I don't think so.

 

[Bigfoot]

I've seen a blue dozen. The best was at an excess bison sale over at land between the lakes. A pretty novice family, bought a yearling bull. I had talked to them before the sale, they said they had a few goats, and a bottle calf. They thought it would be pretty cool to own a buffalo. They had a pretty dilapidated stock trailer. They backed up and the Lbl crew loaded it. As they started pulling away, it had a comapart,and blew thru the side of their trailer. It would have almost been funny, if it wasn't for the look of dispair on their faces.

 

[TN Cattle Man]

Witnessed a lot of "wrecks" in the sale barn, but the one that remember the most was a cow/calf pair that came in the ring a few years back. We have all witnessed the young gentlemen who work the rings with their flags or cattle sticks... This particular man was a little cocky and decided to wave his stick in front of mamma cow with her 1-month old calf in the ring. This cow went totally ballistic and got in that mans face quicker then he could get behind his safety barrier. I'm talking about a fist-class gut stomping! The first hit knocked this dude out cold and she was he!! bent on making sure he didn't get up! We all watched in amazement as she was literally trying to kill this young man. It all lasted only a few seconds before enough people hopped in the ring and got the cow to exit, but she sure did a number on this fellow! Ambulance showed up and took him out on a stretcher... Not sure what all injuries his sustained, but he was a mess! In fact, I can't even remember if the cow ended up getting sold that day.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

I have had several that I really liked, that acted fine when sifting through the pens, but when they went into the sale ring they whacked out, so I sat on my hands...Most of the time those sell pretty cheap, and I wonder if those buyers were the smart ones because they get a great female, that only goes south in the ring?
I also bought one bred heifer once, that was fine when I sorted her in the pen, and fine in the sale ring (a little nervous, but not enough to get overly concerned with), and when I unloaded her off my trailer she acted like she had never seen a human in her life. I hoped she would settle down when we had her in our pastures, and she did a little, but she was always the first to run to the other end. I often wondered if she wasn't doped when I bought her, because her personality sure changed. She left this fall, when she had a dead calf and I was tired of dealing with her. I lost money on her, with two dead out of three calves. I should have sat on my hands that time too!

 

[Dave]

I have seen a few broken legs. Both on cows and people. More on cows than people. I had a tooth broken off by a cow that kicked a gate which then hit me in the mouth. Various and assorted run overs and knock downs. Once I saw a cow jump out of the sale barn. She went out of the front gate before they could close it. The sale yard is right beside I-5. She jumped the fence out to the freeway and was headed down the shoulder. Good thing there was a deer rifle available before she actually got out into traffic.

 

[bigbull338]

you go to sale barns enough in your life you will see cattle explode in the ring and go wild.ive seen that meny times.ive also seen cows bulls and calves try to jump the ring fence.i used to buy alot of dairy cattle from the sale barn.but i tryed to stay away from those hammerheads.2 months ago a friend bought a reg heifer out of an assoc sale that was crazy.he promptly culled her 2wks later.

 

[Nesikep]

I haven't seen any injuries of any significance, but I don't spend a whole lot of time there.
What I do remember is when I delivered my friend's 5 year old Longhorn bull and a few of his steers, they were in the staging area, they were all cool, chewing cud, and I saw a couple people avoid walking through the pen with the calm bull to walk through another pen with 2 cows that were the meanest things you'd ever seen, Kinda the type that TN Cattle Man just spoke of, and these people didn't even keep an eye on the cows.. There was a VERY close call, where the fellow just made it through the gate before she was steaming up his trousers.. There were a couple lucky people that day, and they didn't even know it!
Then there was our old SH bull, all 2500 lbs of him, and man was he pizzed at getting shipped halfway through breeding season, and the 5 hour ride.. I'm sure a couple of the bent panels there are from him... that was 6 years ago and the lady there still remembers him (and she sees a couple wild ones)

 

[Aaron]

Never seen anything too horrific happen at the local barn, but the worst I was ever told was at another barn, from a local hauler on one of his offloads.

A load of cows was being unloaded and one was completely psycho. Tore off the trailer, singled out an 8" concrete-filled steel pipe that was part of the alley, probably got up to 30 mph and hit it dead center. Stone dead. Completely caved-in it's skull. Head was just mush.

 

[bigbull338]

the funest thing that i ever seen that couldve ended badly was a cow goring the doorman in the ring.she was let into the ring and promptly turned on the door man.she was butting and shoving him up and down the door.all the while her horns was ripping his shirt to shredds from his belly to his throat.they finally got the cow off him and he took a little break.

 

[LauraleesFarm]

My worst story comes from the vet's actually. Many years ago when I had horses, I was waiting to have a horse vetted. The person in front of me was an older gentleman with a trailer load of yearling calves being worked. They got all of them finished and the vet helper loaded the yearlings in the old fella's trailer while he paid at the front. The guy pulled out with his trailer and left.

We barely got started on the horse and someone ran up and said that there were cattle all over the highway getting hit. The vet helper did not latch the trailer gate. The old fella made it about a mile down the busy highway and cattle started unloading themselves. All the vets were required to go euthanize unsalvageable cattle, so everyone left running. When the vet finally got back he said that more than half of the load were euthanized and many of the remaining ones were injured. All of the living ones were driven up to someone's pasture. But some were still at large and had run off.

Once at the Emory sale, early on, a huge tigerstripe cow did the splits and must have broken her pelvis/hips in one of their huge tubs. They could not get in there to move her, God knows why. For the entire sale, the cattle had to run over her to get to the ring. She was still alive, it was terrible watching them trample her. A little baldface tigerstripe heifer was staying with her the whole time, and she was wilder than the dickens. They finally ran her thru as the last animal sold. Leaping thru the air she injured the ringman and ripped his good shirt. I bought her. And tamed her down. Sadly, had to sell her in the drought of 11.

 

[bigbull338]

its been years since ive been to emory and seen any rank cows or calves.they try to keep their workers in a safe zone all the time.

 

[prairietrail45]

A couple years ago at the sale near me, someone brought in 3 fighting bulls (they said they were fighting bulls and they would watch anyone walking by the ring). They ran one bull in and the ring guy wanted the other 2 in so they could run them all at once. Well they couldn't get the other two in, so they sold the single bull, sent him back to be penned. Brought the other two in, sold them and sent them back. Moments later you can hear screaming (human and animal), everyone in the ring and the auctioneer went back to see what was going on. Apparently one of the kids in the back hadn't latched the gate that one of the bulls was in. He got out and in a pen with a couple of horses that were tied up waiting to be used. One horse got gored from his underside between the front legs clean up his neck and the other was gored pretty bad in his belly. The first was euthanized immediately and the vet tried to patch the other up but I don't think he made it either. Not sure what happened to the bulls, if they just got shipped or what but the guy that owned the two horses was very mad and upset. He quit working there soon after.

I've also seen a cow at another sale barn they were trying to get in the alley to the chute to be checked. She ran at one guy, he jumped up on the fence and she hit the fence and dropped to the ground, dead.

I bought a couple cows one time, nice 3 year olds both 6 months bred. Went back to load them and find that one tried to jump the fence and got her leg hung up. They were beating on her leg with a pipe trying to get it loose, finally got her free but she had a limp. Luckily the sale barn took her back and gave me my money back on her.

 

[3waycross]

the funest thing that i ever seen that couldve ended badly was a cow goring the doorman in the ring.she was let into the ring and promptly turned on the door man.she was butting and shoving him up and down the door.all the while her horns was ripping his shirt to shredds from his belly to his throat.they finally got the cow off him and he took a little break.

I guess the obvious question here would be "WHAT THE HE[[ COULD POSSIBLY BE FUNNY ABOUT THAT"?????

 

[LauraleesFarm]

Although the story was not funny, I did chuckle where it said "and he took a little break"

You betcha he did

 

[bigbull338]

the funest thing that i ever seen that couldve ended badly was a cow goring the doorman in the ring.she was let into the ring and promptly turned on the door man.she was butting and shoving him up and down the door.all the while her horns was ripping his shirt to shredds from his belly to his throat.they finally got the cow off him and he took a little break.

I guess the obvious question here would be "WHAT THE HE[[ COULD POSSIBLY BE FUNNY ABOUT THAT"?????

because every1 knows you can get stomped on at a moments notice.and since it was the cow sale he shouldve been sitting up on the ring out of the way.

 

[BC]

The only thing that got hurt was the arm on one chair. This 1350 lb cow came into the ring through the side door at a trot and cleared the ring fence (notice the man standing in the ring, he is 6 ft. tall and the fence is a foot taller). Cow made it up to the 4th row and just stood there. The crowd exited and they got the cow out through a side door and eventually back under the barn. No one hurt.

 

[3waycross]

the funest thing that i ever seen that couldve ended badly was a cow goring the doorman in the ring.she was let into the ring and promptly turned on the door man.she was butting and shoving him up and down the door.all the while her horns was ripping his shirt to shredds from his belly to his throat.they finally got the cow off him and he took a little break.

I guess the obvious question here would be "WHAT THE HE[[ COULD POSSIBLY BE FUNNY ABOUT THAT"?????

because every1 knows you can get stomped on at a moments notice.and since it was the cow sale he shouldve been sitting up on the ring out of the way.

Kinda hard to work the door from the top rail, and even if you could it makes ya look like a pussy if you do. Still trying to find the humor in someone getting tore up in the sale ring.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

I have one person in mind that worked the local sale barn till it closed, that had it coming. Biggest chicken shiit of a cow that I about ever seen.