Calf in sheep's clothing

[Soapweed]

My sister sent me this picture of a Kansas calf, after the last big storm. I think it was published in one of the major newspapers of that area. There had to be lots of cattle that looked this bad or worse after the rain, ice, snow combination of the blizzard. My heart goes out to the affected people and to the animals involved.

[Jinglebob]

I got one of those also Soap. I couldn't figure out how to get it on here.

Sure reminds me of spring of 97.

Hope them folks get everything taken care of and back to normal.

[Shortgrass]

Thats bad! A picture is worth a thousand words.

[Denny]

I've had them covered before but never that bad.

[the_jersey_lilly_2000]

Poor thang...that's just sad.

[Oldtimer]

I don't think I've seen anything as bad as that since about the late 50's-early 60's when we had several blizzards- one right after another...

Wellington Rankin just let his cattle run all over the state and pick all winter (usually got a parollee out of prison to watch them- since he was on the parole board )- and had a state lease pasture next to us... When the several days of storms finally quit we found about 60 head of his cattle that had drifted into a fence corner-- and they looked just like that.... About 20 were dead- some died standing and just dropped down- apparently suffocated from the snow over their nose...

We cut the fence and let the live ones that could walk thru-- took care of and fed them for several days until the brand inspector finally came and hauled them out, since they couldn't find anyone local that was watching them...

[the_jersey_lilly_2000]

I showed this picture to Lil Lilly, she has a valid question. If you had a herd as big as say......Soapweeds or Jassy's....and had alot of calves in that condition. What would you do with them?

My answer to her was....."I don't know....I'll ask"

[Oldtimer]

[Badlands]

I kind of have bit my tongue about April 4, 97 the last few weeks.

That deal was 100,000 dead in a couple days.


That one came at the end of a real slobberknocker of a Winter. When we went home from college in Bozeman after finals week, moving home to the ranch, I was driving my 71 3/4 ton Ford. I couldn't see over the snow pile strung out along Main Street while driving, and the Winter went downhill from there.

This one is nothing like that one.

I wonder if it just seems so much worse since all of us on the internet now weren't then?????????????

Of course, my heart goes out to the ranchers in that area now, but many folks had calves on the ground during the April blizzard.

When I went out that morning, my sheep were trying to paw their way through a metal gate when they heard me coming. I'm no rocket scientist, but the rest of the day was spent bedding cows and sheep, and feeding. Some neighbors decided since their pairs wouldn't go to Summer pasture that day, they would get more neighbors to help push them.

We had a heifer hump up and calve, and lost that calf. We lost 7 out of about 200 sheep. What sucked was my brother lost 2 out of 160 and I lost 5 out of 40, ouch!!! 12 1/2% interest on that Blizzard in just stock loss. Our neighbors lost around 220 calves and some cows out of about 260 pair that they insisted must go to Summer pasture.

Badlands

[the_jersey_lilly_2000]

No way you could put em in the calvin barn or somethin? At least to thaw and dry off?

[Oldtimer]

I wish I would have had a camera with me when we found those Rankin cattle- would have loved to have posted them for all the bunny huggers and coyote hunting protesters....

Those cows were drifted tight into the fence corner- snow drift so high they couldn't get thru on the north and west- 5 wire fence on the south and east-- and those old coyotes had found them...Ran about twenty off when we showed up-- and they apparently didn't like frozen meat because they were eating the live ones that couldn't move or were too weak to fight or get away....

First time I saw that- but have several times since....

[Stretch]

That just flat breaks my heart to see cattle like that. It bothers me the most because I don't know of anything that anyone could do to help them other than feed them well and hope for warm weather. The worst is that if you warmed them up fast you would likely make them terrible sick. Heck I am guessing that they would likely come away sick any way you would handle the deal. I can think of bad days that I wondered why I had cattle but I have to say that would be ultimate test of a persons faith to keep on going........