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lost a heifer from lieing on a little slope

T

tlakota

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 7, 2007
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Location
aberdeen,sd
This was frustrating when i went out to feed cows before dark. Looked over and saw a bred heifer with her feet up in the air. I just recently moved a bale feeder and there was a little divet dug out where they were standing at the feeder. Well she must have layed in there and couldnt get up. It wasnt much of a divet at all...maybe 6 inches or so. Anybody else ever have these frustrations?
 
Yep, that has happened here as well, and it is awful :? . I had a cow calving when I found her with her back downhill. Luckily I could get her pulled around, but it was too late for the calf. Sorry to hear about your loss. If you stick with this long enough, you'll be amazed at how many ways cattle can kill themselves :roll: . Hope your rough luck is over with.
 
WE've all had that kind of luck at one time or another, but it never gets easier.

The latest one here, we had some short term cows we planned to sell when the market came up on them. Then we decided to keep them and calve them, so were going to put them with the rest of the cows. The morning we planned to make this change, we found one had gotten on her back and was dead as a doornail. :shock: :P
 
Sorry about your loss. Death by this means is pretty common, unfortunately. I've caught several of them in the act in the past and tipped them right side up. It's always just a little bit surprising how ungrateful they tend to be. Many of them have 'escorted' me right off the premises. :shock:
 
Silver said:
Sorry about your loss. Death by this means is pretty common, unfortunately. I've caught several of them in the act in the past and tipped them right side up. It's always just a little bit surprising how ungrateful they tend to be. Many of them have 'escorted' me right off the premises. :shock:
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My uncle had one like that only she thru her head around and broke his leg.I think he was about 3 calves into calveing that year and a bachelor.I spent some time there that spring.
 
We've lost the odd one the same way too.

Had one last year that laid in a rut like that "6 or so deep. By the time we found her and got her out we figured she had been there for well over 12 hours. The Co-op fuel truck driver had seen her in the morning (10 am) and thought she was dead. We saw him that night at a supper(6 pm) and he asked about her. I thought he was joking, but we went out to check and sure enough there she was (right along the main grid). DH saw her move a bit, or we would likely not have even gone over to her, and she really would have died.

She was bloated right up, had prolapsed her rectum, and her head was swollen. As soon as we sat her upright the bloat started to go down, we pushed her rectum back in, and it took a few days for her head to go back to normal. She calved about 3 weeks later, it was a good healthy calf too. But she came up dry last fall....
 
My neighbor is a sheep man and he once told me something about them that I think applies to cattle as well. He said that lambs are born half dead and the other half are looking for an excuse to die. :lol:
 
Sorry for your loss, I lost a heifer a few years back that tried to calve in a small depression like that. One time I had a older cow calve with her back down hill....I had seen her calvin' & was watchin' her. She had the calf no problem but no way she could get up. Her back legs were pretty much straight up in the air...so I grabbed ahold of a front leg and her nose and rolled her right on over. Just like rollin' a barrel, pretty slick. :lol: :lol:

Only those that have 'em can lose 'em. :wink:
 
Guess what happened here early this morning??? :shock: I had two heifers going into labor, so I put the first one in the barn, and went back for the second. When I got back to the night lot, I saw many cows gathered around the second heifer...who was stuck, with her back slightly downhill...where a hay feeder used to be!!! :roll: . I couldn't roll her over, or drag her around, so I went back for the wheeler and a rope. Needless to say, I got her up and all is well. Luck, pure luck on that one...but I'll take it :D .
 
It is called being "cast" and happens often - one of the many ways a cow mysteriously dies in the field.

Here is a story I posted about two or three years ago:




Last night it poured. Real hard and the wind was cold. So much for calving on grass this year. We should have calved on snow in March. The weather was perfect.

Well it is wet. Real wet. We have had almost 14 inches of rain over the past 9 days. The front lawn is under a foot of grass and the cows are standing in water and deep mud in the pasture. Their bellies are so dirty it is disgusting. And the latest calves honestly think this is normal weather, having never seen a sunny day in their short lives. Time to do some re-arranging

So this morning we decided to let them out - yet again onto the lawn for a bit of a break. I ran the bulls out of that slop we call a pen and put them back into the summer pasture. They can stay there by themselves for a week or two while this mess gets sorted out.

The yearlings are finally out in a decent pasture with some good slopes for water run off - so they will be ok for now as well. When it finally starts to dry we will put everyone back where they belong.

But I digress .....

We have about 20 left to finish off. And being as the youngest daughter was out - good old Dad stayed up to make sure everyone got home safe. At around half past midnight I noticed an animal seemed to be making some noise, and being as how I had just looked out the window a few minutes before that and seen everyone bedded under the apple trees I gave it little thought. But the noise seemd somewhat strange. Like a loud grunting.

So, being the curious type I grabbed the spotlight and walked out onto the back deck to see what the noise was. I coud still hear it but I could not see it - so barefoot I stepped onto the lawn - carefully avoiding the rather runny flat piles of "stuff".

Lo and behold - just around the corner and a bit out of sight from the deck - one of the girls was on her back and kicking up a storm.

Cast!!

She is heavy bred and so round that the little hump she laid down on threw her over and she could not get up. Much longer from the sounds of her and she would have been dead. I fed her all winter - I was NOT going to lose that calf!

First time I have seen this - heard of it though.

So, I run back in the house and grab the first pair of footwear I can find. Yeah - wouldn't you know it - right by the door. My good black dress shoes. Bare foot in my only good shoes - out I go. Now at the risk of giving someone a bad visual I was also in my house coat and rather commando beneath.

Of course it was still raining - but now I have a mission - so rain be damned. Run to the cow and give a quick attempt at wrestling her over. Horned Herfs have some nice handles to grab onto - no luck. She throws me off and I bury myself in - yeah - in my now open housecoat - right into one of those rather runny flat piles of "stuff". Face first.

Not to be discouraged - up I get. Off to the shop at a trot to grab a rope. Quick half hitch around the horns with a release knot and I step off to the side for a good pull. "Come on old girl help me out here." Rope comes off her horns and now I go backwards into a low spot with about 6 inches of water in it.

Clean on the back and filthy on the front I did not give up!

I considered calling for help but all were tucked in so nice and comfy - so I discarded that option for the moment.

Another loop around the horns and a good pull. This time she grabs a piece of dirt and staggers to her feet. Darn - I forgot the release this time!

So I jump the old girl while she is still a bit wobbly and grab the loop. She shakes her head.

At 6 feet and a bit and 230 with not a lot of jiggle I am a big boy. Now I have done a bit of bulldoging in my day - and I am not good enough to make money at it - but I have always been known as a person who could "hang on." And I did.

But those animals were a bit smaller than this one - she's a big old girl at 1500 pounds and somewhat stronger than me.

Off across the yard we go. Her p!ssed at this guy on her head and me scrambling to get the rope off. Next time it can stay there until we run her in the squeeze. Rope comes loose and off I come - right into the drainage ditch on the side of the driveway. Almost two feet of water - and cold! Thank heavens she stopped when she did or I would still be laying there.

So I walk to the house - picking up the light on the way. Throw my housecoat on the deck - let the rain take care of it until tomorrow morning. I left the shoes too. I even found the one that came off in the ditch.

I'll wash them under the hydrant tomorrow and then dry them out. Walk through the house straight into the shower - hot water does wonders but I know I will be stiff tomorrow.

As I write this wife hollers - "B.C. do you know what time it is? Get off that computer and come to bed!!"

Yeah she thinks I have been sitting here on my arse all night. I'll let her know in the morning because she will want to know how my housecoat got so dirty and "Why is it out there in the deck?"

Night all,

B.C.
 
Soapweed said:
Pretty funny story, B.C. Too bad someone didn't capture it on video, you could be a hundred thousand dollars richer by winning America's Funniest Videos. Thanks for giving it to us again.
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It's always funny when it happens to someone else. :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
Yep, everyone will have it happen sooner or later. Sometimes I've been in the right place just at the right time. Sometimes not.

I have a cow in the herd today with a permanently dropped ear on one side. She got herself in this predicament calving as a heifer and kept banging her head on the ground attempting to get up. Got her set up and both mama and baby turned out OK, except for the ear damage.

Great story, BC! I missed it the first time around so thanks for sharing again!
 

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