calving chain placement? soapweed please explain.

[katrina]

I hate the straps....... Gave em a toss to burn..... We use a chain and just double loop them...... Great advice everyone.....

[John SD]

I thought of a couple more points. A good calf puller that you rarely have to use is an excellent investment. When it's time to pull a calf you don't want to be fighting junk equipment for the life of the calf and your own safety.

I can't think of the name of the calf puller I have now, it's the same one my vet uses and sells. It has a square tube with holes in it for positive action. Works similarly to a handyman jack.

The previous Dr Frank's calf puller I used that Dad had was good in its day, but the friction jack developed a worn spot on the pipe right where the most crucial pull would be and would slip. Every time. So aggravating.

Another thing on putting your chain/strap over the calf's foot. Be sure you don't inadvertently have the calf's tongue caught in with the chain/strap. Sometimes you are doing things more by feel than anything else if you're not working in a well lit maternity ward.

Personally, I don't own a strap. I have two chains of different lengths. I almost always use the shortest chain I have because it gets the job done. The long chain is too long to use in conjunction with the calf puller.

[MsSage]

I dont use a puller. If I cant pull them I call the owner and let him use the dang thing.
Some talk about calving ease bulls LOL sorry but Jerseys dont have such a thing nor do norwegian red which our jersey crosses are bred with.

I use to pull about 3 a month I am now up to 6-8 a month and getting ready to hit the month with the highest amount due and most are the cross bred.

It is good to have a GOOD puller on hand cuz when you need it you dont have time to loose. Not sure which one we have its only been used in the past 6 months 2 times.
Still even with the puller MAKE SURE you only ratched with the contractions its not a car your jacking up.

[Denny]

I pulled one with the skid steer last spring. Came along the cow a 1/2 mile from the corral and 12 miles from the puller it was to tough to do by hand so I improvised all worked out fine but you must be careful.

[George]

Don't laugh to hard but I always have a hammer in the truck and keep "clean " baling twine behind the seat as well. Most times I can pull by using the twine ( loop above the dew claws and half hitch below ) then tying the twine to the hamer handle then using my feet against the cows back legs and pulling with the cows movments I can get anything that does not need a vet. Throw the twine away and replace.

I'm very lucky in that I don't have to do this often. Had a neighbor who used to call me 3 or 4 times a year ( I'm free ) and he always wanted me to get better equipment but I never have. I don't remember how many calves I pulled for him before he retired and moved to town.

[Soapweed]

I've pulled a lot of calves with a lariat rope. When doing this, I like to get the one loop around both legs up above the ankles. You have to use stealth and cunningness to get it on before the cow gets up. Once the rope is in place, you can pull by hand, by horse, or by vehicle. One of the biggest calves ever born on this ranch was pulled in this way with the aid of our Subaru stationwagon school car. After looking at the size of the Gelbvieh cross calf when it was up sucking, I returned with a tractor, stackmover with hydra-fork, and a scale. By hog-tying the calf and raising it in the air with the hydra-fork, it was determined that the calf weighed 135 pounds. I do recall that the clutch was smoking in the Subaru before the calf was un-inserted from the cow.

[Big Muddy rancher]

[Soapweed]

[the_jersey_lilly_2000]

Too bad you didn't carry a camera back in the day, so you coulda showed us pictures of that subaru LOL

[Silver]

Speaking of sneaking up and hand pulling calves, it may be worth mentioning that one should never put the other loop of the OB chains around your wrist while hooking up the first foot (or at any other time during this stealthy operation) I know of a couple of people who did this only to find themselves hooked on hard and fast to the hind end of an irritated, rampaging cow and actually got hurt fairly good.

[Northern Rancher]

I've pulled them with a horse-hold the rope tight and step on it as they push. We haven't helped a cow in probably in forever and if we help one heifer out oif a hundred that's too many.

[Silver]