ga.prime
Well-known member
I have one bull for my small herd of cows. He got foot rot last spring and it was a major task to give him the oxytet. He is/was undriveable- no way he goes in a head gate. Finally got him roped and tied to a utility pole and I gave him the required amount of oxytet which took several injections while two guys held the rope. Ordinarily, I think he would've pulled the pole out of the ground but the foot rot had him slowed quite a bit. Let him loose and the foot rot cleared up in a few days. Last week he was slow coming up the hill with the cows and seemed to be favoring a front foot.. It was my son's last week before school started back so I told him if we can load that bull he's going to the sale because I think he's about to get foot rot again. We enticed him and one other cow into the load out pen with some cubes and shut them in there. Went and got the trailer backed up to the chute. Poured some pellets onto the floor of the trailer- the cow went on but not that bull. Wasted the rest of the morning trying to get him on. I told my son there's another sale tomorrow- they can spend the night in here. Got an empty lick tub- 25gallons- and put on the trailer and filled with water. I said if he wants a drink he'll have to go on the trailer. Came back late that afternoon and put some hay in the pen and refilled the tub with water. Next morning- same thing- cow goes on bull doesn't. I let the cow out the side door back into the pasture and told my son if he doesn't go on now he can spend the rest of his days here. After 5 or 10 minutes of walking him up and down the pen he went up the ramp onto the trailer and I slammed the door after him. Took him to the sale and got $78.50/cwt for him. He weighed 2005 lbs and my take home was $1507. So, I was pleased with that. The good thing is now I don't have to feed him or any bull over the winter because I won't need another bull before early spring. The bad thing is he was an excellent sire and he'll be hard to replace.
