Got an old cow. Out in her stifle. Coming up on winter number 2 that way. Weaned her calf about a month ago. I know she's bred back. Raises the question what to do. She's three legged lame. Hate to see her go through another winter. Hate to shoot her. Hate to take one like that to the yard. I know that calf in her is pretty far along. What do yaw do with that kind.
Stifle injury, but not a downer
- Thread starter Bigfoot
- Start date
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J&D Cattle
Well-known member
I'd ship her. What little the barn will get you is better than nothing.
A.J.
Well-known member
Do you have a meat processor near you that might buy her? My wife's grandfather had one that had arthritis really bad and moved like she was in slow motion. He was afraid to run her through the sale barn in case she got down, so he sold her to the local packer, and did fairly well.
callmefence
Keyboard cowboy
I see no ethics violation in taking her to the sale and running her through palpated.
She'll limp through the ring and at the least you'll get slaughter price. If someone wants to try to take her home and get the calf that's their business.
It's not like your hiding anything, what you see is what you get.
She'll limp through the ring and at the least you'll get slaughter price. If someone wants to try to take her home and get the calf that's their business.
It's not like your hiding anything, what you see is what you get.
True Grit Farms
Well-known member
Bigfoot":miy0sxqk said:
They'll take her as long as she can get up and walk through the ring. No downers are allowed to sell, and some barns won't accept a cow that won't sell because of the disposal cost.
callmefence
Keyboard cowboy
True Grit Farms":2pdb6wx9 said:
Same here as long as she can walk through the ring. If she's in decent shape you'll get hit but not as bad as you think.
That's here
Lucky_P
Well-known member
Got one not unlike her... 16 yr old. Almost a pet, the Queen Mother, if you will... foot issue... not quite 3-legged, but pretty crippled up. Was gonna send her to the local custom-kill place and have her ground for donation to Salvation Army soup kitchen (we try to donate a cull cow that way every year or so). But... she's bred, and we like her enough to baby her along through the winter with the horses if we have to; her daughters are always phenomenal.
We won't send her to the local salebarn and have the yahoos there beating on her...she deserves better...so she'll either die here on the place or take a short ride to the custom place after this next calf is weaned.
We won't send her to the local salebarn and have the yahoos there beating on her...she deserves better...so she'll either die here on the place or take a short ride to the custom place after this next calf is weaned.
With a stifle, customer kill or butcher and donate. She's not worth much and if she gets mounted in the sale barn - which is likely - she could get broke for good. Not sure an animal deserves that if there's an alternative. Bred or not, no one is going to buy a three legged cow.
Getting another calf is a different matter. I calved one out with a bad stifle but had to put her in a separate paddock to keep the others from mounting her when she was in heat. Went through it once and it was brutal. Twice and I'd have had to put her in the ground.
Getting another calf is a different matter. I calved one out with a bad stifle but had to put her in a separate paddock to keep the others from mounting her when she was in heat. Went through it once and it was brutal. Twice and I'd have had to put her in the ground.
Timely post, Bigfoot. I have a 5 month old steer that has a stifle injury and I'm not sure what to do. He gets around and is always on the fringe of the herd but I don't know whether to wean him with the others. He'll clearly take a hit at the Sale Barn so I thought about posting/trying to sell him as a feeder, private treaty (we already have way too much meat for 2 people). Thoughts?
Okay, and here is my 2 cents on keeping an old fave "one more year" because she's heavy bred: NO!! We kept one of our old faves with a chronic wonky foot & it bit us in the arse. We were going to sell her last year but the day we were going to load her she calved. In our defense, she's been terminally obese since we got her as a 3 year old & always looks 9 months bred (but clearly we weren't looking at her bag/hoo-hoo). So we moved her to a small pasture where she could get around easier and she raised a nice calf. I'll be darned if that fat girl wasn't bred again when we had her checked this spring so she got yet another reprieve. Had her calf and stepped on it's head when she was trying to get up. Horrific and buh-bye! I'm absolutely selling another fave next month because I don't want to go through another year of a bad bag & supplementing her calf with a bottle.
Okay, and here is my 2 cents on keeping an old fave "one more year" because she's heavy bred: NO!! We kept one of our old faves with a chronic wonky foot & it bit us in the arse. We were going to sell her last year but the day we were going to load her she calved. In our defense, she's been terminally obese since we got her as a 3 year old & always looks 9 months bred (but clearly we weren't looking at her bag/hoo-hoo). So we moved her to a small pasture where she could get around easier and she raised a nice calf. I'll be darned if that fat girl wasn't bred again when we had her checked this spring so she got yet another reprieve. Had her calf and stepped on it's head when she was trying to get up. Horrific and buh-bye! I'm absolutely selling another fave next month because I don't want to go through another year of a bad bag & supplementing her calf with a bottle.
Bigfoot":2306ikos said:
If she will stand up and get off the trailer just bring her next Thursday and she should bring something. What she brings will depend mostly on whether she looks like she will make a ride somewhere fairly upright.
All the cripples get penned by themselves so nothing gets rode too bad most of the time.
Bright Raven
Well-known member
Lucky_P":19e5lfzq said:
You are a good man!
coachg
Well-known member
I have one , registered Black Angus cow, with a stifle injury. Vet said it was like me or you tearing our ACL. He said she would surround it with calcium and sometimes they do well with it. She has raised 2 nice calves since but really gets pushed around at the hay feeder. Said I wasn't going to baby her again for another winter but with the abundance of hay we have , I may keep her one more . She is due next month.
OP
OP
Bigfoot
Well-known member
I pushed this one on to the house this afternoon. She's actually getting around better than she has in a while. I don't think she's got another winter in her though. Guess I'll haul her off Wednesday or Thursday.
coachg
Well-known member
Probably thinking with your head and not your heart ! I should do the same I guess.
