Neighbor's cow getting a dose of .22

Terry W · #1 01/12/08, 01:06 PM

A heifer that had Mastitis, and came back from being bred thin and with sores, is going to get treated with a .22 next week. She gained weight and condition, then dropped it, regained, then dropped. The sores on her back have healed up nicely. The vet can't find anything wrong with her right off, but Isaac is now thinking she may have something incurable. Ha was saying 'cancer' this morning as I drove him on the 'get messages to family' route. Sad for such a friendly heifer. She was successfully impregnated, too. Isaac would have liked to put her down late last week, but his son broke his back on Wednesday, so the cow got a reprieve.
I like Isaac's thinking-- he is reluctant to eat her, so she is going to be taken into the woods and put down-- rather than dumped at auction for someone else to contend with. A lot of the auction animals here, that are in poor condition, get bought by processors and turned into hamburger or hotdogs-- Isaac has enough conscience to keep potentially harmfull beef OUT of the human food supply.

Now I am off to look up stuff that will help his son's back heal. The kid is lucky he now has feeling-- there is hope he may walk again in a month.

narenta · #2 01/12/08, 05:01 PM

Isn't a .22, kind of a small caliber for beef?

ksfarmer · #3 01/12/08, 05:16 PM

A .22 is fine if you know what you are doing. However, Rather than leaving the carcass in the woods for dogs and predators to clean up, is there a rendering service he can call to haul it off?

Ralph in N.E.Oh · #4 01/12/08, 06:21 PM

We used to have a place that would pick up dead stock. It only cost $10.00. You had to leave the mason jar with the money in it under the animal's neck ... if you weren't home ....... but not anymore.

It costs us $1.00 per mile from their place 75 miles away and you must pay for the round trip ... $150.00 for us up here ... Isaac lives a little farther east of me, so would even pay more..... crazy even slaughterhouses have to pay to have the fat, bone and guts picked up now...of course they pass it on to the consumer as an environmental charge ..... Yep, its crazy .. 1945 butchers were paid .39 cents per pound for the junk they threw away... things sure do change.

Terry W · #5 01/14/08, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ksfarmer

A .22 is fine if you know what you are doing. However, Rather than leaving the carcass in the woods for dogs and predators to clean up, is there a rendering service he can call to haul it off?

read Ralph's reply-- and-- Isaac and the family like to encourage the hawks and other raptors to hang out-- so putting the cow in the woods also keeps the raptors away from the easy pickins at the birdfeeder. Mary would be very upset if a Red-Tail got one of the Goldfinches!!! The is also a very large Bald Eagle that feeds on whatever the family hauls to the woods-- it is a sight to see it come and go--

Terry W · #6 01/14/08, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ralph in N.E.Oh

Yep, its crazy .. 1945 butchers were paid .39 cents per pound for the junk they threw away... things sure do change.

And somehow, we gotta make the change happen in reverse in some areas--

ksfarmer · #7 01/14/08, 12:36 PM

I stand corrected. Didn't realize it was that hard to get a pickup on dead stock in your area. I'm closer to a rendering service and haven't used them for a couple of years, think it cost $10 last time. I'm sure the bald eagle will appreciate the free lunch. We have a neighbor who collects road kill deer and puts in a pasture area a short distance from the highway, its really impressive to see 8 or 10 bald eagles feeding and roosting in a big ol cottonwood tree.

cjb · #8 01/14/08, 09:06 PM

Wow. I had a rendering service pick up a dead horse and it cost me $200!

robin f · #9 01/14/08, 10:48 PM

i am asumeing you have put a magnet down her, if not she may have i bit of wire or a nail that keeps infecting her inside, it would be worth a try, if that is what it is.

agmantoo · #10 01/15/08, 07:38 AM

I can get a live animal picked up free by a outfit that makes dog food. Might inquire around, Ask at the local sale barn.

ozark_jewels · #11 01/15/08, 07:50 AM

If I have something like that(be it cow, calf, goat,etc.), I drag it to the back of the property away from everything, split it open and let my dogs eat it. Sure saves on dogfood for a week or so depending on the carcase size. With as many LGDs as I have, I sure am not going to let anyone take away any dogfood!

DocM · #12 01/15/08, 08:26 AM

Any livestock that dies or is put down and isn't freezer worthy gets dragged to the back forty for the scavengers to take care of (or dogs, as Emily does). My thoughts on "predators" is controversial and I'll just say, I don't worry if they chew on a dead sheep. If the cow is suffering, I agree to put her down. However, I'd probably get a second vet's opinion first.

Terry W · #13 01/15/08, 09:06 AM

The vet Isaac had out already checked for 'hardware disease' I didn't notice her in the barn this morning- but then, I wasn't looking for her, either. I will suggest to Isaac that maybe all his heifers get magnets-- no telling what the boys may drop in the fields as they work.

robin f · #14 01/15/08, 10:08 AM

i would still put a couple of magnets down her, some times its a very litle bit and unless they are magneted it will not be found.

HaysFarm · #15 01/15/08, 11:46 PM

We don't have the room to just haul to the back 40. So if we can' t get a back how out here in time or cost wise. We have a local flatbed company that will come pick them up and take them to the dump for 80.00 that's pick up fee and the dump fee.

cjb · #16 01/16/08, 02:00 AM

Do people routinely put magnets down their cows? WHat does that do?

Cat · #17 01/16/08, 03:10 AM

It grabs loose bits of wire and metal to prevent it from stickin' through the gut. It's called hardware disease.

When I lost a ewe a few years ago I made a bonfire and burned her. Nothin' left but ashes when I was done.

cjb · #18 01/17/08, 06:29 PM

Does it grab the bits and thens he passes it? or do they just remain in the cow, stuck to the magnet. Sorry for the ignorance.

robin f · #19 01/17/08, 06:53 PM

stays in, the magnet is about as big as your thumb, or mine at least, the bits stick to it and dont stick into the wall of the stomach

Cat · #20 01/18/08, 01:54 AM

All the ones I've ever seen are permanent. Here's a description, I just copy n pasted it so it might be spot on or it might be slightly flawed...

Quote:

Cow magnets are popular with dairy farmers and veterinarians to help prevent Hardware Disease in their cattle. While grazing, cows eat everything from grass and dirt to nails, staples and bits of bailing wire (referred to as tramp iron). Tramp iron tends to lodge in the honeycombed walls of the recticulum, threatening the surrounding vital organs and causing irritation and inflammation, known as Hardware Disease. The cow loses her appetite and decreases her milk output (dairy cows), or her ability to gain weight (feeder stock). Cow magnets help prevent this disease by attracting stray metal from the folds and crevices of the rumen and recticulum. One magnet works for the life of the cow!