Downer Cow...

[Kosmo1]

Currently I have a cow that is down due to a uterine prolapse. I have grain, hay and water in close proximity and I am hoping that in a few days she will get up. However, I have seen this a dozen times and more often than not... They don't get up.

I am tempted to take my loader and a few heavy-duty ratchet straps and position a harness to raise her off the ground. The hydraulics on my tractor will keep her up in the off position for some time before it settles. I just want to get her on her feet before she withers away. Will this work? Has anyone tried this before or have any good ideas? I have heard of a hip harness contraption made for cattle to stand but I don't know anything else about them.

Also, I don't plan on leaving her unattended for very long but wonder if an hour or two on her feet would cure whatever ails her.

 

[lefty]

there is a mechanical lift you can buy it clamps over the hip bones & has a hook in middle for a chain ( cow lift ) Had a heifer down for 6 weeks once from a bad calving one day she got up & walk away . Its hard to keep them dry & clean while they repair them selves . Never used the lift on one , just time .

 

[Sandhills boy]

kosmo, I used post hole diggers and sent one in the ground so she could stand up when she could then if she got tired she could rest on her belly, it worked. Just idea, only tried it once.(dig a hole for the waste ) If she is with calf and gets close there is always a cut and shot option, and draft to another. Have done this too, not an easy thing to do. Good luck God speed!! Brent.

 

[Mike]

I have made a lift out of an old baler belt but it ain't comfortable for them. Use that for the front lift.

We used to have a lift that squeezed in on the hip bones to hold up the back end. It worked kinda like an old set of tongs and she can breathe.

If she had a uterine prolapse, your lucky she's still living. They usually don't last til daylight.

A Vaginal prolapse is a little different if you can keep it in her from the straining. Xylazine helps on that.

Wish you all the luck in the world but don't get your hopes up.

 

[Carter]

we used to do this a lot when we were in the dairy, up behind front legs with one rope and in front of back legs make the one on the back a little longer or adjust accordingly so that when you let her on her feet her weight is evenly distributed. helps if you have someone run the hydraulics while you get her legs straight, balance her etc, may not let her have all her weight for a while as she builds strength, have had them get up and have had them kill over. last one that was really amazing was a tiger stripe cow that got over heated while palpating, she was middle bred and headed for the packing house, next day when I went to load them she wouldn't get up, the hands picked her up twice a day and fed/watered her for 2 months, I told them to shoot her as I thought she was a gonner, went walking across the pen where she was to open a gate and run some other cattle through that pen when she got up and chased me up the fence, got 2 more calves out of her before she caught the bus, so you never know but it will take a lot of work, good luck

 

[pups and bucks]

Usually the farther that you have to haul water to them........the longer they will linger before they die :wink: .........good luck!......

 

[Silver]

It is amazing how one day they can just get up and show you their gratitude for all the work you've done by chasing you out of the pen.
They are often wasted away to about nothing when they get up, but sure recover fast in the right conditions.

 

[Zilly]

On the dairy we used "hip huggers" to lift downed cows and always put hobbles on their back legs to keep them from splaying out. The hobbles stayed on until they broke (a few months), and at times we replaced the broken ones if she looked iffy on the concrete. The hobbles may not be necessary if your downed cow isn't on concrete, but they can't hurt.

As for using ratchet straps, to me, that would be a lot of pressure on her internals... a lot of weight not dispersed very well. If a hip hugger isn't available for you to purchase or borrow, perhaps you can fashion something out of a canvas tarp and use some metal bars for stretchers. Roll her onto it and lift her up.

And lastly, we never seemed to spend too much time on downed cows. It seemed to me that it became pretty obvious to the owner whether she was going to improve or not and a decision was made. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[jcarkie]

the hip lifts work we borrowed some from a neighbor and the first time the cow came out of it in a couple days, pinched nerve she could go once we stood her up but at night she would get to stiff to get up. the second time we realized that the legs weren't going to work so we made hamburger, she could circle with the front but the back end had nothing. I would invest in a set after trying them,

 

[gcreekrch]

I have carried water and feed to a cow for 3 weeks before she stood up. Hobbles with about 18 inches between knots and time. Roll them from one side to the other a couple times a day. If she doesn't get sick she will stand again.

 

[strawking]

We just had the same thing on a hfr. Pulled a monster calf out of her one night, his heart was thumping when we finally got him out but couldn't make him breathe so we were about to give up as I glanced back at the hfr and here came the calf bed. We rolled her back and forth to get her back legs behind her and stuffed it back in and sewed her up. I had planned on pulling a calf off one of the old feeding cows to put on her the next day but she had not gotten up. Dex and banimine every day and still nothing. After the third day I knew she wouldn't be raising a calf this year. After a week we picked her up with a wide strap on the hydra bed and got her to stand for maybe 5 minutes. We'll last Thursday was the 21st day and jake went to water her but couldn't find her, to our surprise she was standing there looking at us!!! Still walking a little funny but she's on the road to recovery. Nerve damage takes a lot longer to heal than tissue damage, from what I understand. It's just another chore ya don't need when your busy calving anyway but for what they're worth these days we'll worth it if she makes it.