Why call the vet?

[Jtylerb82]

Was wanting to get some blood drawn on a few cows to preg check some and see why another aborted a calf. There's only 2 vets that still make farm calls within an hour of me and both said they'd be better than a week out for just a normal call out. After talking with another farmer around me that runs over 100 head he showed me how to do it myself and gave me the stuff to do it with which got me thinking. What are some things y'all are doing yourself and not worrying with calling vet out. Other than AI and palpating?

 

[Brute 23]

Was wanting to get some blood drawn on a few cows to preg check some and see why another aborted a calf. There's only 2 vets that still make farm calls within an hour of me and both said they'd be better than a week out for just a normal call out. After talking with another farmer around me that runs over 100 head he showed me how to do it myself and gave me the stuff to do it with which got me thinking. What are some things y'all are doing yourself and not worrying with calling vet out. Other than AI and palpating?

Pulling blood is super easy for preg check. Just did some last week. It helps to have some one to hold the tail, especially if your new to it so your other hand is free to wipe and feel, (but not always necessary) and be sure the tail is rolled to you if it wants to roll. I go from the side of our squeeze also, not the back.

They sell kits with tubes, syringes, and instructions along with places to send them to for results.

I'm becoming a big fan of the blood test. It doesnt stir the cows up near like palping and its fast. When the deals where you can drop the blood on and get instant results hit the market it will be a game changer.

 

[ksmit454]

Thankfully my vet is good about communicating via text. Had a cow last summer with what I though was pink eye. I was treating her with terramycin and it wasn't improving. We got her in the squeeze and sent pics to the vet. She said most likely foreign object in the eye. She told me to glove up, get some lube, and sweep my finger into her eye lid (she also said don't worry about going deep - eek). But after doing that I picked out a fox tail. I think the more things you encounter the more comfortable you get doing it.
I also just learned how to draw blood to send off for preg check. Super neat but I may need some practice before mastering it.

 

[littletom]

I am super blessed most of the time. I'm married to my vet. Works both ways I had to help her with a barn full mares here to bred tonight.

 

[JParrott]

Most folks that I know around here won't call one unless they're horse people. The large animal vets we used to have close by all retired or quit. The ones further away always have a waiting list a week or so long and if it's an emergency, it'd likely cost you as much or more than the cow or calf is worth to have them out. Lots of older farmers I know got a bad taste in their mouth from historically calling a vet out and paying them just to have them tell them the cow or calf was gonna die anyway and there wasn't much that could be done.

With the plethora of accurate information available online and medical tools and supplies at reasonable prices, if you can get your hands on the medicine from the vet then short of invasive surgery just about anything that needs done can be done by the owner if they've got the time and the confidence. Granted, I don't AI, preg check, palpate, etc. and it might be different if I did.

Honestly at my place, they either make it or they don't. We'll worm and doctor up normal ailments, pull calves, try to fix a prolapse, pinkeye, etc. but the animal still has to make it through and live. If they don't it's just the way she goes sometimes.

 

[Dsth]

Based on what I have read in previous post, I am lucky to have vet clinic within 15 minutes of my farm. 4 vets in the clinics and are at $35 for regular hours for farm visit and $75 for after hours. advise over the phone is always free. I do my own AI work and blood test collections. You must have better luck with accurate blood samples for preg check than I. have a cow that was due Feb 3rd according to blood sample result but no calf when sent in at about 60 days. 3rd time in about 5 years that has happened. I think I am done using BIOPRYN for preg checking.

 

[bird dog]

So Dsth are you saying the blood sample told you she was due Feb. 3rd then she didn't calf? Explain this a little better if you don't mind.

 

[SBMF 2015]

I'm not bragging at all. The only things our vet does is C-sections, semen check bulls, ship lab samples, and write scripts. I do the rest. When I get in a jam my vet is there to help me out, but She also knows that if I'm calling I've got a real problem on my hands.

 

[TCRanch]

I take my bulls in for their annual BSE. And any time something just doesn't seem right and I can't figure it out - or don't want to. And there are a lot of meds I don't keep on hand. That would be the ensuing anaplasmosis test/diagnosis, lymphoma, woody tongue/lump jaw (I don't trust myself with an IV for something like that), deep foot abscess (especially in a bull), C-section, sometimes bloat . . . .

Vet comes out for my retained heifers BANGS/pelvic measurements, prolapse, sometimes down cow, any calving emergencies where I need backup. Usually includes the obligatory "farm visit" for the annual VFD when he works my heifers. But my vet is also great at communicating via phone, text and email, especially with pics. And if he does need to make a trip charge, we're fortunate the clinic isn't far so it's only $30.

 

[Buck Randall]

Lots of older farmers I know got a bad taste in their mouth from historically calling a vet out and paying them just to have them tell them the cow or calf was gonna die anyway and there wasn't much that could be done.

As a vet, this one's a peeve of mine. Most of my clients are great, but there are those that will always wait until the final hour to call, then complain that the cow always dies when they have the vet out. I usually suggest that if they had called a week earlier the outcome would have been better/cheaper. Some of them take the advice, others never learn.

 

[TCRanch]

As a vet, this one's a peeve of mine. Most of my clients are great, but there are those that will always wait until the final hour to call, then complain that the cow always dies when they have the vet out. I usually suggest that if they had called a week earlier the outcome would have been better/cheaper. Some of them take the advice, others never learn.

Old Doc Warren used to keep a rifle in the back of his car (yes, he actually used his giant Bonneville for farm calls) and when someone would wait for the final hour, he gave the option to treat or humanely euthanize right then & there. Same outcome, but he'd make more money if he tried to treat. Oh, I miss him!!!

 

[simme]

As a vet, this one's a peeve of mine. Most of my clients are great, but there are those that will always wait until the final hour to call, then complain that the cow always dies when they have the vet out. I usually suggest that if they had called a week earlier the outcome would have been better/cheaper. Some of them take the advice, others never learn.

Yeah, totally agree. Daughter is a vet. I may be exaggerating on what follows - but not much. And certainly not everyone, but true too many times. If this ticks you off, you might be guilty.
Someone has a calving problem. They wait a while to be sure there is a problem. Then they call their neighbors, friends, other cattle people, the witch doctor, etc. Everyone wants to take a try. After several hours of no success, late at night, they call the vet. Usually want to know first what it is going to cost. Then the cow/calf is so dry inside that it is difficult to push it back, the cow is worn out, all the people that have tried previously are standing there to observe and offer opinions. Calf is soon out and dead. Charge is too much because cows are too cheap. It never pays to call the vet because it is never successful. Might was well just shoot the cow. Again, not everyone, but too many.

I don't see how a vet can make a profit with a $50 farm call. If you go to your medical doctor, the office visit is above $100 for a simple visit. Most vets are smarter and harder working than your medical doctor, make way less money and have way less staff. Use your vet as a partner, not a necessary evil or an afterthought.

 

[SBMF 2015]

I go lecture at Black Hawk College. For two hours My Vet, My Nutritionist, and Myself lecture to the Animal Health and Beef Sci classes about; How important it is for the three of us to WORK AS A TEAM. And to try and explain to the students that the way to succeed is to work together.

I said earlier that my vet does not come out much. She doesn't, but that doesn't mean that she doesn't play a very important role in my total herd health.

 

[Buck Randall]

Emergency work doesn't pay. I can't charge enough for a calving at midnight to really make it worth my while. Yet, I do it because it keeps clients happy, which keeps me in business for the more profitable work.

Anyone who makes a living on cattle and only uses a veterinarian for emergencies is missing out on opportunity. I would encourage everyone to find time to sit down with their vet at least once a year to discuss ways to make their operation more profitable. A good vet will make you more money in that time than they ever will pulling a calf at midnight.

You can farm without a vet. You can also farm without feeding any mineral, or only buying bulls for slaughter price. If you're in the business of making money, I don't recommend any of those three practices.

 

[Dave]

My vet on the coast was $20 from the farm call and $2.10 per minute for the time he was there. When you are paying by the minute you have them in the chute when the vet arrives.
We have plenty of cow vets here. But for 99% of the things I can't do I have a neighboring rancher with more experience than most vets. In three years here I have yet to call a vet to my place. I have pushed cattle to the chute for the vet at B's place. Spayed 300+ heifers, preg check several hundred cows in a morning, BSE but that is all.

 

[gcreekrch]

Vet comes to semen test bulls and preg test cows. I am not good enough yet to stage them. Have removed cancer eyes, lanced abscesses, treater lump jaw and woody tongue successfully many times, poked holes in them to save bloaters, sewed stomach to the hide twice for bloaters that were chronic, done in the neighborhood of 100 c sections, treated foot rots, replaced prolapses, you name it. Was blessed with a vet who knew my capabilities and talked me through some things I hadn't done before.

I have done c sections on a cat and a Jack Russell, both successful.

 

[Dave]

B told me that he had to call the vet to pull a calf this last week. Things weren't right and he couldn't get it done. Turned out the calf had 3 back legs and one front leg. That would be why he could never find that other front leg. Of course the calf was dead but getting it out saved the cow. He said calling the vet to pull a calf was like getting kicked in the nuts by a girl. His words not mine.

 

[gcreekrch]

B told me that he had to call the vet to pull a calf this last week. Things weren't right and he couldn't get it done. Turned out the calf had 3 back legs and one front leg. That would be why he could never find that other front leg. Of course the calf was dead but getting it out saved the cow. He said calling the vet to pull a calf was like getting kicked in the nuts by a girl. His words not mine.

Not often that it happens any more but if the head won't come through the pelvis with very little assistance, they come out the side. Have done sections on four deformed calves, one here three at neighbours. Have memories of trying to get calves repositioned and pulled for hours years back. I am an hour and ten out the side door.

 

[Warren Allison]

Not often that it happens any more but if the head won't come through the pelvis with very little assistance, they come out the side. Have done sections on four deformed calves, one here three at neighbours. Have memories of trying to get calves repositioned and pulled for hours years back. I am an hour and ten out the side door.

I have said it before, and will again; My hat is off to you Canadian and far-north US ranchers. Y'all are bad-ass under brutal conditions. I could not do it...not even for one winter month. Makes it seems like we don't have to do anything down here to raise cattle. I dang sure know I couldn't do a C-section and the cow survive! I mean , no sh*t, in the southeast, all we have to do is turn em out in the pasture and watch them eat and get fat. and many times may have to mow it a time or two, unless we get a rare drought. It may get a little hot ( ) in the hay field for the 2nd through 5th cuttings, but THAT I can take. I don't think I have ever had a pasture further than 45 mins from a vet, at the most. Yeah, we bitch about the prices cattle bring down here, too, but DAMN! We have a lot less work and less feed costs than you guys do, getting that same price! Kudos to you guys!

 

[gcreekrch]

We are four hours from the nearest vet, banker, insurance salesman, feed store or implement dealer. The implement dealer we do most business with is seven hours away.
You learn by doing.