She will kill you

[Dave]

So I had one of these old desert cows calf. The calf is dead. Doesn't look like it ever stood up. Probably had the sack over its nose. Hey, it happens. But I have a twin now a bottle calf in the barn so it is graft time. Getting the cow to graft to out of the field was an adventure. She will kill you. You certainly don't want to be on foot around this cow. Got her in the corral and let her calm down. She will still kill you. Got her in the chute. This graft is really going to work. Nothing like an aggressive calf to help a graft. Then the old witch went down in the chute. Fought like crazy to get her out. But once out she still wouldn't stand. Checked her before dark. She had moved some but no way to tell if she had stood to move or not. Day light this morning will tell. If she doesn't stand she wont live long. But I don't feel like getting killed trying to save a cow. I am getting too old for this crap.

 

[Dsth]

hope you keep the mind set about not getting killed. I could see her almost getting up and you going in to help her with that last little effort and all of a sudden she is on top of you. unfortunately you hear about those kind of accidents far to often.

 

[MurraysMutts]

O my!

Well let us know. Sounds like a mess. Be careful!

 

[Dave]

I walked out there and looked. She was still laying down. Went around the barn and came from behind her. She got up to face me. A little wobbly at first. Walked away and did other chores. Kept an eye on her from far away. She stayed on her feet. About 20-30 minutes later I put some hay in the bucket of the tractor and dropped it over the fence. She went to eating. I will give her and the calf a week or so to get real familiar and then kick her back out. More like open the gates and stay out of the way.

 

[Dave]

hope you keep the mind set about not getting killed. I could see her almost getting up and you going in to help her with that last little effort and all of a sudden she is on top of you. unfortunately you hear about those kind of accidents far to often.

I fully realize that I am 70 years old and not 30 anymore. When we got her out of the pasture yesterday B and a part time cowboy of his came to do most of it. That afternoon when we put her in the chute a neighbor cowboy came and helped. He is about 23, pretty athletic, 6' 5" & 275 and played college football. She put him over the fence twice. He cleared the 6 foot corral fence quick and handy.

O my!

Well let us know. Sounds like a mess. Be careful!

If it were easy everyone would do it and be able to make money at it.

 

[faster horses]

Glad she lived to raise the calf.

I think some rompum may have slowed her down some. We didn't know about rompum for years, but once we knew about it, we tried to keep some on hand.

We bought 3 cows once from a cow trader. They were nice looking Angus cows and we got our pick. We loaded them up and brought them home. 2 of those cows were extremely nice, one became MY FAVORITE cow. The third one, I'm glad he lived to tell about. She calved in the night and when Mr. FH went to check on her the next morning, she nailed him. He managed to get away but if he had checked on her in the dark of night, who knows what the outcome might have been. She was on the fight when we pitched hay to her, trying to take us through the fence. We don't keep cows like that.

 

[Dave]

She was on the fight when we pitched hay to her, trying to take us through the fence. We don't keep cows like that.

I don't buy cows like this. I don't keep ones like this either. In about 2 weeks these cows will all go to some rough ground pasture. There they will see an occasional cowboy mostly on horseback as they move through the 4 pastures. August 15 they will all load into a truck for a one way trip to the plant in Kuna Idaho. I believe Kuna is a good home for this kind.

 

[simme]

Ain't worth getting hurt over for sure. I remember reading a few years back about 3 elderly brothers that had cattle. They were all in their late 70's or maybe even 80's. One got hurt in a pen with a bull, I think it was. Two other brothers carried him to the hospital for treatment. They never came back. When he was released, he went home and found the other two dead in the same pen with the same bull.

Thing with rompun is getting the dosage right. Too much and they are knocked out completely for a while or worse. ACE might be useful. Side effects from either to be aware of. Not available at the feed store for a reason.

Several years ago, my wife and I were visiting her mother in the hospital on a Sunday afternoon. A neighbor's dog had tripped her up on the sidewalk and she fell and broke her pelvis. While we were there, my brother called to say that he was at the hospital (different one) with our mother. She was holding a gate to help him turn a cow with a new calf out of the barn. Cow ran over her and broke her pelvis. That was a bad day. Painful injury that only time and rest can cure.

 

[puzzled in oregon]

Some people I knew had what looked like an Angus x Charolais cow that was very much like the cow FH described. The first year they calved
this cow she had twins, when they tried to check the one calf to see if it was still alive the cow knocked the husband down the hill. The next year
they sorted her off from the rest of the group when she got close to calving, put her in a small corral so if she needed any "assistance" they would have her in where they could handle her In the corral, If you even glanced her way she was ready to come after you. She calved with no problems. I finally convinced them that they really should not keep a cow like that. I called her the "white rhinoceros".

 

[Silver]

Yesterday I was turning a pair out of small pen on foot. The cow was not mean (at least in the traditional sense), but when she turned to head out the gate she kicked me in the thigh with what I assume was everything she had. I had to lay there and ponder life for awhile. Took me awhile to decide my femur wasn't broken. But it could have been. I guess point being all one can do is try to minimize risk as best one can, but things can still go sideways in the blink of an eye.

 

[Dave]

Not my first rodeo, literally. Actually I find this kind less dangerous than your average cow or bull. This cow would kill you. So every single move is carefully considered. I have never and will never be in the corral on foot in the same pen with this witch. There is a couple of her sisters out in the pasture with calves. When I get done feeding I make sure they aren't anywhere close when I get off the feed truck. But a person isn't near that careful with an average old cow. Yet they can get you just as bad. Just ask Silver how his leg feels today.

 

[kenny thomas]

I walked out there and looked. She was still laying down. Went around the barn and came from behind her. She got up to face me. A little wobbly at first. Walked away and did other chores. Kept an eye on her from far away. She stayed on her feet. About 20-30 minutes later I put some hay in the bucket of the tractor and dropped it over the fence. She went to eating. I will give her and the calf a week or so to get real familiar and then kick her back out. More like open the gates and stay out of the way.

Am I understanding that she took the calf with one time of it sucking. That sure makes up for her being stupid.

 

[Dave]

Am I understanding that she took the calf with one time of it sucking. That sure makes up for her being stupid.

This was a one chance deal. Take the calf or take a trailer ride. I don't think this calf would have taken no for an answer. The calf is a little over 4 weeks old. The wife had been bottle feeding it 3 times a day. She was worried her poor little calf hadn't been fed in about 20 hours. It was hungry. I said good, a hungry calf is a much better graft calf. I was just out there to give her a little more feed. Calf was sucking away.

 

[cattleman99]

When the kids started helping out years ago it took one year to cull the handful of crazies I had tolerated to that point.

It ain't worth it. Had a first calf heifer this year that always would shy away. Have used the sire three years no issues and have a full sister and two maternal sisters in the herd that are easy to work and top end cattle. Thought she would be ok.

Sure enough she calves and the rodeo is on. Doesn't want the calf, doesn't want to be in the barn. Fought her for three days until I lost a set of twins. She was gone the next day. Life is too short to put up with that.

 

[Lee VanRoss]

The subject matter is the reason I stopped ear tagging calves at birth. The cow is bigger and faster and what's more, doesn't care.

 

[Dave]

The subject matter is the reason I stopped ear tagging calves at birth. The cow is bigger and faster and what's more, doesn't care.

If these were staying home I wouldn't worry about tagging them. But these cows and calves go to a place with no corral. And it will take several loads to get them there. Take cow 1, 2, 3,..... you better have calf #1, 2, 3.... It is a couple thousand acres. Hard telling where a cow or calf without the other will be when we get back in an hour or two. We line up 3 or 4 trailers side by side. Everyone opens the doors at the same time. Cows find their calf and calves are looking for mom. So the calves are all numbered with the cows number.
This year there are two calves with no ear tag. I didn't tag the graft calf because I wasn't sure the graft would work. But we know who he is and will get tagged at branding. The other is an easy to recognize red brokle face calf. That cow put B up on the roof of the Jeep Cherokee that is his calving vehicle. He is pretty much fearless and will smack a snot blowing cow in the nose. Just this evening he did that with two snot blowing cows. But number 14 wasn't buffing. We will tag that calf at branding.

 

[tex452]

We bought some west Texas cows and they are crazy.
It's hard to get them through a gate rotating pastures.
I'm too old for cows like that.
If I ever get them penned im putting wheels under them.

 

[TexasRancher]

What simmie mentioned about elderly brothers getting hurt and killed in a bull pen. I'm not a fan of penning in a bull or any cow...they become mean penned in. Herd animals need space and freedom.

 

[simme]

What simmie mentioned about elderly brothers getting hurt and killed in a bull pen. I'm not a fan of penning in a bull or any cow...they become mean penned in. Herd animals need space and freedom.

I remember reading about this years ago. I guess I remembered because it was so tragic/sad. Here is the official report. It was a young bull initially described as an angus, but further reading indicates it must have been 1/4 angus and 3/4 holstein.

FACE Program: Iowa Case Report 00IA055 | NIOSH | CDC

In October of 2000, two elderly farmers were found dead in the pen area of a young Black Angus bull, on the farm where they had lived and worked for the last 27 years.

www.cdc.gov

 

[gcreekrch]

When we were first married we calved for a big outfit whose cows didn't like confined areas. Grafts were dressed with the dead calf's hide and tied down where the dead one was found. After Mom made a fuss over the graft for a time we would untie and turn loose. Quite interesting to watch a calf that didn't know it had a mother running from a cow that was sure she had a live calf. Next day the calf would be happily nursing. A couple days later we would rope it and remove the hide.