CountryByNet.com Forums :: The joys of animal husbandry

Sunday PM we found a first calf heifer with legs sticking out her backside. Monday we spent most of the day, well 7-8 hours, chasing her. The chase was on foot, tractor, truck, and horseback for 2-3 people and she would always avoid being roped and try to hide in brush where you couldn't swing a loop. Yesterday she was not so frisky and I could run up on her on foot and toss a lasso on her. We tried to pull the calf but no joy. Looked to be a large one. Called a vet who got there about 1300 with a helper and with 4 adults we got the calf pulled (vet used a come along.) It had broken leg joints, was dead, and the legs were swollen but the calf was not so big and if it had not been upside down and backwards it may have done much better. The heifer cleaned out well and there is no apparent damage.

This is day 2 of feeding her, toting water, and medicating her (2 different shots, one sub q and the other IM) rain or shine and she is starting to improve. I think she may get up or before by tomorrow night.

This heifer belongs to a friend running cattle with me in common on my property. He was within minutes of euthanizing her with one of my pistols when the vet arrived and claimed a better than 50-50 chance of survival. Dead calf. $500, dead cow $1200, vet and meds $200 or so. You do the math. If the cow survives and walks normal (partially paralyzed due to nerve pinch where nerves run through pelvic area and calf caused pressure) the vet expense was a bargain. My friend will keep her if she straightens up. If she were mine she would hit the sale ring on the way to McDonalds or Dinty More's stew cannery. I figure an unknown replacement heifer is an unknown risk of a certain magnitude but this one is a proven risk of greater magnitude.

Adding to the fun was that much of the effort we made was during waves of thunder cells passing through. The most intense lightening and heaviest rain was while we were in a small copse of trees pulling the calf. Most of my pastures, although not flat were running with water from 0 to 2 inches deep from having so much rain the ground is saturated and additional rain runs off.

Oh, if you are ever afield and have to stay in one place you can reduce your risk of electrocution by standing with your feet together instead of spread apart. Lightning can generate tremendous currents in the ground and if your legs are spread you can get lots of voltage between your feet and a large current will flow through your body (potentially lethal.) With your feet together or one atop the other the voltage is greatly reduced or eliminated Our luck was that we weren't under a lone tree or the tallest one in that immediate area. In retrospect, I'm not so sure 4 adults should have been risked for $1000.

Pat

"I'm not from your planet, monkey boy!"

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