gcreekrch
Well-known member
In 1981 Debbie and I pasture calved 900 cows for the Chilco Ranch at Hanceville BC. At that time the Chilco was owned by a logger who wasn't much of a cattleman.
We rode the 3000 acre pasture the cows were in twice a day and for the most part just watched newborn calves and their moms do what nature intended for them to do.
One day we were finishing our last check and were within a 1/4 mile of the 1 ton that we used to haul our horses the 6 back and forth from the ranch to the calving field. We found a cow on her back in a gully with a prolapse and a dead calf behind her. She was alive so we spent a half hour picking cactus, dirt and afterbirth off her womb and stuffed it back in. Our employer didn't believe in too much medical supplies so we had nothing to stitch her up with. While I kept things in place, Debbie cut a poplar stick about 3 feet long, wrapped her sweatshirt around it and we poked it in the cow and tied the other end to her tail.
Debbie stayed with the cow after we got her standing while I went for the truck. We planned to load her using the drop ramp that doubled for a tailgate. About the time I made it back to them the cow went down and we used a comealong to drag her in. Loaded the 2 horses in on top and headed home.
Once in the barn we pulled our temporary plug and stitched her up properly.
The next morning the owner came by and asked what the cow was doing in the barn. After hearing our story he snorted and said we just as well have shot her as he had never seen one live. I asked if he would give me a bill of sale for her but he declined, saying mere cowboys shouldn't own cattle.
When we left there 2 weeks later the cow was getting fat with the other dries that were getting gathered for the sale truck. We never did get a thanks for putting in an extra 5 hours that day or for saving the cow.
We rode the 3000 acre pasture the cows were in twice a day and for the most part just watched newborn calves and their moms do what nature intended for them to do.
One day we were finishing our last check and were within a 1/4 mile of the 1 ton that we used to haul our horses the 6 back and forth from the ranch to the calving field. We found a cow on her back in a gully with a prolapse and a dead calf behind her. She was alive so we spent a half hour picking cactus, dirt and afterbirth off her womb and stuffed it back in. Our employer didn't believe in too much medical supplies so we had nothing to stitch her up with. While I kept things in place, Debbie cut a poplar stick about 3 feet long, wrapped her sweatshirt around it and we poked it in the cow and tied the other end to her tail.
Debbie stayed with the cow after we got her standing while I went for the truck. We planned to load her using the drop ramp that doubled for a tailgate. About the time I made it back to them the cow went down and we used a comealong to drag her in. Loaded the 2 horses in on top and headed home.
Once in the barn we pulled our temporary plug and stitched her up properly.
The next morning the owner came by and asked what the cow was doing in the barn. After hearing our story he snorted and said we just as well have shot her as he had never seen one live. I asked if he would give me a bill of sale for her but he declined, saying mere cowboys shouldn't own cattle.
When we left there 2 weeks later the cow was getting fat with the other dries that were getting gathered for the sale truck. We never did get a thanks for putting in an extra 5 hours that day or for saving the cow.
