Weird accidents

[Medic24]

Got to wondering the other day, cus I know it's just not this farm that weird and freak accidents occure on........I know each of us has seen or experienced them...so.... any one mind sharing?

What are some of the strangest accidents that have occured to you or your livestock that have caused them injury or worse? :cboy:

 

[mitch2]

a) kid ran over a twin calf accidently with a 4 wheeler and broke the calfs back while hubby and kid were trying to catch it to band it. We no longer band, we wait and cut at weaning.

b) picked up granny at the farm one Sunday morning for church, checked cattle while waiting, came back from church and a herf cow was on it's back. No idea why or how, but we have a 3 sided shed we keep hay in and the 4th side has cattle gates to keep them out. Cow was between the gate and the hay on her back. Opened the gate, rolled her over, she had started to bloat already, but she got up and was fine.

c) My beloved Rufus, now deceased, but not due to this.... Again, came back from church and we found Rufus hanging from his jaws on the kids rope swing. Rufus was an English Bulldog (locking jaw) he would love to run, grab the rope knot and swing... this particular incident he most of got a hold too high and just couldn't get good footing to get off. Poor guy was exhausted, but recovered just fine.

d) Had a pot load of yearling sim/angus getting shipped out, and because of our (poor) design of chute cattle loading, and this being our 1st time loading semi, we had a gate set up, after the chute to get to ramp to semi.... Gate immediately after chute, we had JD 4010 parked sideways next to gate to hold up a piece of plywood, just for vision sake so they wouldn't think it a possibility of escape. One nutjob thought it was a possibility and went from a standstill over the gate onto the fender and seat of the tractor, no harm done to anyone, and eventually the nut job did get loaded, but the looks on everyones face was priceless!

Michele

 

[jersey lilly]

I have a pipe bumper on my lil toyota pasture pickup. There's about a 3 inch gap between the bumper and the tailgate. I was messin with some stuff in our small tool shed. We keep range cubes in there. This 2 year old heifer decided I must be feedin somethin so she came up.....I shooed her off as I was about to get back in my truck. She backed up....just right, and spun around to go on, and when she did...her leg went right into the gap......then the fight was on....I thought she was gonna drag my lil truck off in the pasture. I tried and tried to get her unstuck. Called hubby for help. finally after tryin a rope around her leg and pullin, smackin her on the head tryin to get her to turn back around thinkin it'd come unstuck.....nothin was workin. I got some cubes out...and put them just out of reach 90 degrees from my truck bumper. She finally stretched and reached for the cubes on the ground and her leg finally came unstuck. It wasn't hurt too bad, just some hide knocked off from her struggles. But I was really beginnin to get worried.

Another time.....a six or so month old heifer calf (probably the same one LOL) got up on top of our syrup lick tub, and got her leg hung in the fill hole. Ended up havin to cut the fill hole bigger to get her out.

Uhggg cattle can get themselves into some perdy goofy stuff.
Luckily we were there when it happened. If not...we might have found us a dead one.

 

[preston39]

Some will consider this a freak accident...but, I feel negligent.

We had a steel post driven in the ground down to about 3-4' to stop a gate when opened. A 4 YO bull (good one.... mind you) bred a cow beside the post and when he slid off sideways it caught him in the bottom of the rib cage and tore skin and tissue away from the rib cage up the side. About 24" x 12-15". 50 some sutures later it was under control and he healed. But, he was never the same .

 

[Keren]

When I was preparing show steers, I had a group in which included two South Devon/Limo/Shorthorn steers. They were as nutty as all get out, and when I was attempting to lead them in the small paddock adjoining the feedlot, they kept taking off. Course, they didnt stay in the paddock, they knew if they took off and jumped the fence I had to let go. Anyway, I got some yard panels and wired them in along the fence where they were jumping. Fixed them.

Anyway, the panels stayed there after that. Never did take them off. A couple years after that group, I had a nice group that had a quiet little polly in it. I found him one day with his head stuck through the cattle panels on the fence. So I took my hat off, and whacked him across the nose like I always do when they are stuck. He pulled back . . . next thing I knew this calf is walking around the paddock looking stunned, with the panel still attached to his head :lol: He could only walk around backwards because of it, and when we tried to get him up to the yards he got stuck in the gateway (panel was wider than the gate). Very funny at the time. He eventually shook it off by himself, with no harm done.

 

[Syd Sydney]

I dropped a round bale in the feeder and "Norman" didn't move in time ;needless to say I had to do mouth to snout CPR to a 3 month old calf, but he survived.Now the dog comes with me when I feed.

 

[Wick]

had a steer 900 lb range get a piece of pvc pipe shaped in a T stuck on his foot. Had to cut it off of him with a saw. Have had cows get head stuck between gate and post many times, they push the gate open a little then stick head through then can't get out, have to take gate off hinges to get them loose. The best on yep, milking out a cow who kicks alot and tying rope around her belly just in front of hips to make her quit kicking the letting out of chute and forgetting rope is on there, needless to say they put on quite a show.

 

[Jogeephus]

All too common when feeding 1500 lb bales of haylage in hayrings has been Miss Impatients getting their heads stuck between the bale and the hayring if it shifts. Its a sweet smelling job hand digging the silage out from around their hard heads. Haven't had any injuries yet but they sure don't seem to be quick learners either. :lol:

 

[rkm]

Had a friend who was repairing fence. his favorite heifer kept pestering him, nosing around while he was trying to work. He gave her a playful tap with his hammer, hit just the right spot and killed her instantly.

 

[jersey lilly]

We don't put our hay in the ring.....we put the hay down...then put the ring over it. Not because we've ever had anything like gettin one stuck under a bale, but because we don't have a front end loader. So hay forks on the back of the tractor is the only way we can put out a bale.

 

[fit2btied]

We don't put our hay in the ring.....we put the hay down...then put the ring over it. Not because we've ever had anything like gettin one stuck under a bale, but because we don't have a front end loader. So hay forks on the back of the tractor is the only way we can put out a bale.

Ditto. Hate it when the ring is frozen several inches down into the muck!

 

[I luv herfrds]

Our weidest one involved a first year heifer and our mineral feeder. The mineral feeder hood had been torn off so there was just the tub ring and the ring around the bottom. The heifer had one horn and had that stuck in the tub ring and had stepped in the base ring and was caught by the feeder.
Wish I had went home and gotten the camera.
Could only get her out by getting her to lift her front leg just like a horse, took awhile but finally got her foot out and just lifted the feeder. Had bought that feeder just a few months before and it is no longer used. Got different ones.
Had a heifer calf this fall get shoved into the feed bunk and get stuck. Pulled all of the boards and got her out.

My father in law used to herd the cows using his pick up. He ran into a cow and broke her leg.

 

[Snider_Angus]

We had 110 acres next to the interstate and all the trash and such from cars would blow and get caught in the fence. 1 little bull calf thought he would be an ass and eat the saran wrap they wrap pallets in. So i was checking them one day and this little bull calf was running around in a circle with something hanging out of his mouth. i got closer and it looked somewhat like plastic wrap but i wasnt sure. So i proceded to get my horse out of the trailer and got ready to go. I chased after him for 3 min. before i could heel him (because as you know they make it difficult as can be for the people who help them the most). i finnaly got him mugged and i pulled it out of his mouth like a magician pulls that cloth out of his sleeve. This piece of plastic was just shy of 4 feet long.

 

[Hippie Rancher]

next to the interstate and all the trash

Oh brother. We have 7 miles of interstate through this place. I always find plastic bags in carcases, no matter what they actually die from. And I am pretty sure some die from trash. Even worse, the last few years with all the northern migration has been all the backpacks, plastic bottles, and clothing left behind. Had a young cow die a few years ago and later found a sleeping bag zipper in the gut pile. Pulled about ten foot and the buckle of a nylon come-along type strap (off a semi?) out of one cow. She made it, thankfully.

 

[CattleHand]

We had a cow that liked to jump fences so my grandpa told me to go get a piece of a tree shaped in a "y" that had a heavy but short base. He put her in a shoot and tied it around her head and then we took her back out to pasture. She couldnt jump anymore fences with that thing weighing her down.

 

[Beefy]

hmm thinky thinky...

well there are some getting their heads stuck between two trees all the time. lost one when i was at college due to this. rescued countless ones.

find one cast in a feed/mineral trough once in a while.

had about 13 killed in a group from lightning.

i'm always wrassling one for half eaten hay strings at feeding time. had a couple get twine wrapped around their necks and choking them before- able to get off so far.

had a cow fall in a sinkhole once--just her front legs forward sticking out.

found a fence jumper tangled in fence one time. had to cut her out. another fence jumper found tangled and cast. had to cut her out too. so much for fenceline weaning.

had a yearling tear thru an electric fence and got it caught around his neck and between his toes.

cows stuck in mud.

had a yearling get up on a trailer with wooden slats and get leg stuck between them. had to raise front end of trailer slowly so he could get enough rise to lift out of the hole. the whole time trying to keep him calm so he wouldnt twist his leg til it broke.

milked a cow one time and she dropped dead in the chute.

nothing surprises me at this point.

 

[Calman]

I was moving cattle one time, and had to have 2 trailers. Borrowed a trailer from a friend. Got it loaded and pulled out of the way to load another. While loading the other one an old cow managed to kick a floorboard forward and her hind legs went through. I drug her about 300yds like this before friend behind me noticed legs draging under trailer,but already broke both legs. Had to put her down. Now I always get down and lookn under the trailer before moving even though we have a good trailer with a new floor.

Cal

 

[Medic24]

wow, reminds me of the story of the horse that fell through the rotten floorboards, and the driver only realized it way to late after he was stopped by the local law.


I would offer my experiences, but no one has enough time in one day to read, nor would half be believable, yet true. :shock:

Other then cow and calf getting zapped by lighting a few months ago, and a calf getting into the barn and eating its way into a hay pile before it fell on him.....it's been quiet for a time here so far.............but previously............oh geeees. ;-)

Which actually surprises me, because at this moment I have much more livestock then usually have by at least half.

So daily I keep my fingers crossed. :cboy:

 

[Jogeephus]

I had one nimrod stick her greedy head into the box between the feed mill and the auger. (I had lost the lid) Box is only so big but she managed somehow to get her whole head in it. The auger cut her nose some and I didn't think I'd ever get her head out. Apparantly the combination to get her head out was similar to solving the Rubik's Cube. :lol:

 

[TheBullLady]

Wow... I have to admit that my contributions are relatively tame compared to some of y'alls. But I will confess that years ago I ran the shredder over a 3 week old calf.. (I still hate myself). Had a bull flip a hay ring over himself, stuck his head out of the holes and started running with the ring still around him. Luckily he was relatively quiet, and the fence stopped him long enough that I could flip the ring back over.