Thieves

[Medic24]

Spent the better part of this lovely Easter afternoon meeting with local Sheriff's deputies.

Seems that some one(s) taken the liberty to steal three of our small calves out of one of the remote pastures over the weekend

They inspected the evidence and were sure it was some one driving a truck with wide Goodyear Eagle tires, I had to explain of course that I could not afford such luxuries on any of my vehicles, so that ruled out any of my trucks making the tracks.

So...... some one driving a truck with high dollar tires stealing from a poor farmer who can't afford anything besides Walmart brand tires for his vehicles. Now aint that just ironic?

 

[SPRINGER FARMS MURRAY GRE]

Spent the better part of this lovely Easter afternoon meeting with local Sheriff's deputies.

Seems that some one(s) taken the liberty to steal three of our small calves out of one of the remote pastures over the weekend

They inspected the evidence and were sure it was some one driving a truck with wide Goodyear Eagle tires, I had to explain of course that I could not afford such luxuries on any of my vehicles, so that ruled out any of my trucks making the tracks.

So...... some one driving a truck with high dollar tires stealing from a poor farmer who can't afford anything besides Walmart brand tires for his vehicles. Now aint that just ironic?

That really sucks! Check the local salebarns. That is one good reason to tattoo your calves.....positive identification. Maybe it was a neighbor that had some calves die and they are trying to graft them??? :cboy:

 

[Workinonit Farm]

Sorry to hear about that Medic. Sounds like out in that remote field you could use a couple cows like Bez's "Brindle" and CattleAnnie's "Frankencow". Of course,that would make it tough for you to work with them, but hey...sure would surprise a would-be thief. ;-)

Katherine

 

[CKC1586]

Sorry about your rustlers, hope they catch the varmits!

 

[Medic24]

Now thats something i have never thought of...tattooing our cattle.... I will be sure to get with Jeffers on Monday, I believe I have seen the sets in there before.

Are we talking about lips ? ears? where is best spot for tattoos?

The law around here is pretty good tracking things down, we have alot of thieving going on constantly, and they seem to know who is who among the local population of miscreants, but unfortunately the TN state line is less then 3 miles away and the tire tracks were heading in that direction.

 

[SPRINGER FARMS MURRAY GRE]

Now thats something i have never thought of...tattooing our cattle.... I will be sure to get with Jeffers on Monday, I believe I have seen the sets in there before.

Are we talking about lips ? ears? where is best spot for tattoos?

The law around here is pretty good tracking things down, we have alot of thieving going on constantly, and they seem to know who is who among the local population of miscreants, but unfortunately the TN state line is less then 3 miles away and the tire tracks were heading in that direction.

Middle web of the ear. You could put anything you wanted in there as a means of identification. Doesn't take but a minute,you could id every calf the same since its just for ID.;-) :cboy:

 

[CKC1586]

Medic: The registered cattle have their ears tattooed with identification numbers. Usually a herd prefix, year code, and animal number.
If you are not registering you can devise your own numbering system.

 

[Crowderfarms]

Medic, really hate to hear it! It's gone on around here lately, but on a small scale, one here and there. Being in the feed Business, I hear about the MIA's seems as fast as they're discovered missing.In case someone were to try to sell them.Good luck on the case and let us know what transpires. BTW the tatoo kits are pretty cheap I.D. insurance, and relatively easy to use. Oil up that headgate...

 

[frenchie]

Medic, really hate to hear it! It's gone on around here lately, but on a small scale, one here and there. Being in the feed Business, I hear about the MIA's seems as fast as they're discovered missing.In case someone were to try to sell them.Good luck on the case and let us know what transpires. BTW the tatoo kits are pretty cheap I.D. insurance, and relatively easy to use. Oil up that headgate...

Personally I prefer a good brand to a tattoo..

 

[shorty]

I sure hope you catch them , let us know when you do

 

[preston39]

Spent the better part of this lovely Easter afternoon meeting with local Sheriff's deputies.

Seems that some one(s) taken the liberty to steal three of our small calves out of one of the remote pastures over the weekend

They inspected the evidence and were sure it was some one driving a truck with wide Goodyear Eagle tires, I had to explain of course that I could not afford such luxuries on any of my vehicles, so that ruled out any of my trucks making the tracks.

So...... some one driving a truck with high dollar tires stealing from a poor farmer who can't afford anything besides Walmart brand tires for his vehicles. Now aint that just ironic?

Medic 24,

All good advice..but with the cost of meat today...the marks...tatoos....whatever...doesn't stop the animal from going into the freezer.

It seems the city villans have found out that we in the rural communities are vulnerable...no street lights...no eyes from the house next door or walking...only a few police patrols every few hours.

A friend was telling me about being at a social function and a young guy came with a good deal on some steaks. The friend said...no..but i would shure be interested in a whole 400-600# one to kill for the freezer if you know anyone who has one at a good price. The young guy said oh..i know of a guy who wants to get rid of one...ladi...ladi...ladi.

I am afraid we haven't seen anything yet. So, get the remote survellance cameras up and operating and on-line to the monitor at the home.

IMHO

 

[preston39]

Spent the better part of this lovely Easter afternoon meeting with local Sheriff's deputies.

Seems that some one(s) taken the liberty to steal three of our small calves out of one of the remote pastures over the weekend

They inspected the evidence and were sure it was some one driving a truck with wide Goodyear Eagle tires, I had to explain of course that I could not afford such luxuries on any of my vehicles, so that ruled out any of my trucks making the tracks.

So...... some one driving a truck with high dollar tires stealing from a poor farmer who can't afford anything besides Walmart brand tires for his vehicles. Now aint that just ironic?

 

[SPRINGER FARMS MURRAY GRE]

Spent the better part of this lovely Easter afternoon meeting with local Sheriff's deputies.

Seems that some one(s) taken the liberty to steal three of our small calves out of one of the remote pastures over the weekend

They inspected the evidence and were sure it was some one driving a truck with wide Goodyear Eagle tires, I had to explain of course that I could not afford such luxuries on any of my vehicles, so that ruled out any of my trucks making the tracks.

So...... some one driving a truck with high dollar tires stealing from a poor farmer who can't afford anything besides Walmart brand tires for his vehicles. Now aint that just ironic?

Medic 24,

All good advice..but with the cost of meat today...the marks...tatoos....whatever...doesn't stop the animal from going into the freezer.

It seems the city villans have found out that we in the rural communities are vulnerable...no street lights...no eyes from the house next door or walking...only a few police patrols every few hours.

A friend was telling me about being at a social function and a young guy came with a good deal on some steaks. The friend said...no..but i would shure be interested in a whole 400-600# one to kill for the freezer if you know anyone who has one at a good price. The young guy said oh..i know of a guy who wants to get rid of one...ladi...ladi...ladi.

I am afraid we haven't seen anything yet. So, get the remote survellance cameras up and operating and on-line to the monitor at the home.

IMHO

Might get a good dog also,one that will stay with the herd. :cboy:

 

[Crowderfarms]

Might get a good dog also,one that will stay with the herd. :cboy:[/quote]

Or one That's a good shot!

 

[Beefy]

Best place to look would be the salebarns. with calves 200 lbs or less bringing well over 400 thats where they are heading.

 

[la4angus]

A tattoo isn't legal identification. It is for herd identification only or for Registeration ID on Registered cattle.
A registered hot iron brand is the legal identification in most states; with some states recognizing a freeze brand as legal ID.
Check with your State Brand Board.

 

[CattleAnnie]

Sorry to hear about the rustling, Medic.

If it was me, I'd run those pairs in close tomorrow, and slap your brand on those calves before kicking them back out. Chances are that at their age they're not being stolen for slaughter, but for resale, as suggested earlier.

One thing about a brand, it's hard to miss. Unlike tatoos, which you can't see unless you're peering inside an ear for them, and if they're being sold through an auction mart there's a pretty good chance the staff isn't looking in their ears. With no visible brand, it's pretty tough to prove ownership on cattle at a glance.

Oldtimer should be able to give you some direction in regards to getting a hold of a brand inspector and applying for a brand, if you don't already have one (he's a pretty resourceful and knowledgeable fellow especially in that department).

Sure hope the lowlife gets caught. Use the burdizzo on him if you catch him first. ;-)

Take care.

 

[Copenhagen & Shiner B]

LOL, I remember about 15 years ago this peckerwood who is now my neighbor shot a man's young heifer, processed it and sold it out of coolers in the back of his truck. He got caught, but they never convicted him. I was at a party a few years ago when this fella from western NC was braggin' about how he use to steal his neighbor's calves and grill them at parties. He looked kinda skeert after he recieved a few "git a rope" stares and afterwards abruptly left never to be seen again.

 

[brokenmouth]

frenchie, la4 and cattleannie are right. if your worried about thieving a brand is the only way to go. tattoos are for tracking purposes. easy to see a brand on a trailer or in a pasture or at the salebarn. a lot of times they will stop the thieving before it happens. other times they will get the thief caught when he tries to turn your livestock into money. nothings perfect

 

[sidney411]

GET A ROPE!
I can't prove it, but I think we had a calf stolen a couple of months ago. I filed a sheriff's report but nothing has turned up. He was a 5 month old steer, completely disappeared, no track or trace of him in the pasture, nor in the neighbors pastures. We have a lot of road front fence so our animals are quite 'visable'.

I have a question about branding calves. Don't you usually brand calves at workup, when they are closer to 6 months old? If you branded a newborn wouldn't the brand get all distorted when the calf got older and grew up?

Also in my case, if someone stole my calf and hauled it to the sale barn it would already be sold by the time I even knew it was missing. There are sales pretty close by, every day of the week. Also like was mentioned before, if someone steals a calf to put in the freezer there is no way to identify that calf in a way that will stop the theft. I would love to ride with my cows everyday with rifle in hand, but that just wouldn't be feasible. :cboy: