Ya'll Be Careful!

[Cowdirt]

2 years ago i was catching a month old calf to cut with my 20 year old son, like we have a dozen times. i grabbed the back leg and lost my balance, as i went to my knees he came up with the other foot and got me in the face. cut me below my eye and the force of it hit me in the forehead, i was bleeding like stuck hog. luckily i am hard headed but i was lucky, the little ones can lay you open with those hooves. we get so use to doing things that we don't take precautions that only take a few more minutes. i have been knocked in feed bunk by a cow scrambling to eat, with her stomach brushing by. just a couple of my finer moments, always in hurry too much to do.

Jcarkie, I got a good laugh out of this. Wonder what your son thought of this idea!!

 

[dirtdoctor]

I don't trust them any further than I can throw them. And it's one of the reasons for me having my dogs. I love my dogs, but if need be,..... they are going to be my rodeo clowns! :clap:

Be very careful with the dogs when it's calving time. My 72 year old Dad was out one night checking on a cow that had just had her calf. As usual his dog went along. The cow went after his Australian Shepherd (Usually a great cow dog) but the dog ran behind Dad. The cow just plowed through Dad and mashed him into the fence. The cow just kept coming at him even after the dog ran out of the pen, but the cow had crushed 3 vertebras in Dad's back. Luckily one of our relatives was visiting and heard Dad yelling. When my cousin got there, Dad had crawled along the fence and was at the gate, with the cow still wild, and helped him out. It took a helicopter ride and almost 2.5 years for him to get so he could get around. I was ready to send the cow to the slaughter house but in Dad fashion he wouldn't let me, saying it was all his fault because he knew better than to take the dog!

 

[WhirlingDRanch]

Hi

Grabbing any animal of flight is going to get you kicked...

If you were a cow in a pasture at night and something was to walk up on or grab your hoof/hock.... what would your first reaction be? I can assure you it wouldn't be to turn around and look to see what it is, they are going to do what they have been programmed to to....kick and run... they think they are being attacked or maybe a snake etc... there only incentive is to get away at all costs, they will kick and even pull their own hoof off if caught in a wire fence..

I know it's very different working cattle because there are certian things you just can't do but I am a Farrier (a professional horse shoer) I can tell you by first hand experience, if you pick up a horses hoof without letting them know you are coming, the chances are your going to get nailed.... I am working around dangerous animals all the time, some people thing they are pasture pets.... and I can tell you they will kill you if given the chance, not intentional of course, but will run right over you at the drop of a hat.

Most of you have shared a story regarding being kicked etc... my story is that I was called out to trim/shoe an old horse, the owner said Oh... you are not going to have any problems with him... he's so quite and has been trimmed hundreds of times, well I had finished his front and went to trim his hind, as soon as I touched his hind leg he had taken me out, 3 broken ribs... it's funny when I look at the scenario but boy I'm still feeling it after 2 years, anyway so the horse nails me, I'm on the ground holding my chest and the owners like..... Oh I'm so sorry, he's never done that to anyone before and then went on to say well, maybe the pain medication he's on had something to do with it....... she said he was in a lot of pain in hind legs so we had to give him something for the pain, I'm like Oh thanks for letting me know the horse was in so much pain and made that real clear to me when I picked up his hind.... the only profession that one can be literally be kicked out of