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Murphy's Law of Ranching


sandhiller

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The higher the cost of a critter.

The higher the percentage it will injure itself.

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The lesson patience comes when you need to move him from a pasture with a canyon about 3/4 mile to one without to hold him till you can get back with a trailer and a couple horses to haul him home.

Once you get him going in the right direction, back off.  If he stops move up, as soon as he starts, you stop. He will learn to move away from your pressure and you can move him from a comfortable distance.

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Give him plenty of time to rest.

Your morning just got shot to **** so just as well make this job as easy as possible. A tired bull will either get on the fight or go down. He can only move as fast as he is capable of.

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And if the generations of cowboys who have passed on are smiling down on you. You will have success.

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2nd try at post

Prolly feed and eat if it works.

He is young.

Take long enough to get the stress out of the meat, he will make a lot of pretty decent hamburger.

 

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6 minutes ago, sandhiller said:

2nd try at post

Prolly feed and eat if it works.

He is young.

Take long enough to get the stress out of the meat, he will make a lot of pretty decent hamburger.

 

Have you ever tried casting the leg? 
He might be a candidate to try it on? 
What’s the downside? 
Do you know how he broke it? 
One thing about cattle is they always keep it interesting. Possibly infuriating too, but always interesting 

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Dad had a bull once that liked to stick his head over the bedside of the pickup and eat silage.  Grandpa was forking it out of the truck into the pasture and turned around to see the bull on its side. The thing choked to death on a piece of silage. We immediately took it to the locker after a phone call and had a LOT of hamburger for a LONG time. It was some of the best burger I’ve ever had to be honest. Anything can happen

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1 hour ago, Ihfan4life said:

Have you ever tried casting the leg? 
He might be a candidate to try it on? 
What’s the downside? 
Do you know how he broke it? 
One thing about cattle is they always keep it interesting. Possibly infuriating too, but always interesting 

kinda hard to see from the pics but there is an awful lot of swelling, i'm thinking too much to cast. 

I have casted baby calves before with about 50% success. 

From where the swelling is at, guessing radius bone???

No clue how it happened, I had been missing him for two weeks. 

He must have been holed up in the canyon and when I moved cows out of pasture, he came up top to see where everybody went. 

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9 minutes ago, sandhiller said:

kinda hard to see from the pics but there is an awful lot of swelling, i'm thinking too much to cast. 

I have casted baby calves before with about 50% success. 

From where the swelling is at, guessing radius bone???

No clue how it happened, I had been missing him for two weeks. 

He must have been holed up in the canyon and when I moved cows out of pasture, he came up top to see where everybody went. 

thats a drag, neighbor had a bull do that same broken front leg thing this spring, angus bull, such a bummer, he nursed him for about a month and made burger. Frustrating yes 

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We had 1 a number of years ago break his leg about the same place as yours. We were pulling them to send home. Lisa and I had 9, the 2 owners of the bull had the single. The owners are way handier than me, but the bull went through a washout and we heard a heck of a SNAP. Broken front leg. Called the locker in Valentine. Let the bull lay under a tree for 5 days. Shot him, bled and gutted him and hauled him into Valentine on the flatbed. Had over 1200 pounds of GREAT hamburger, but it doesn’t make up for the loss of the bull. 

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One of my first cows I bought jumped a gate and broke her leg 2 weeks after she calved her first calf. 30 years ago details are fuzzy I think it was back leg. Vet put a cast on her when he came back to take it off it was infected. Cleaned her up and sent her to sale barn. Back then if it could hobble they’d sell it. If I remember she got a decent price for what she was. My first calf I owned when it was born turned into a bottle calf. 

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3 hours ago, Lazy WP said:

We had 1 a number of years ago break his leg about the same place as yours. We were pulling them to send home. Lisa and I had 9, the 2 owners of the bull had the single. The owners are way handier than me, but the bull went through a washout and we heard a heck of a SNAP. Broken front leg. Called the locker in Valentine. Let the bull lay under a tree for 5 days. Shot him, bled and gutted him and hauled him into Valentine on the flatbed. Had over 1200 pounds of GREAT hamburger, but it doesn’t make up for the loss of the bull. 

Have you priced burger at the grocery 1200 x $4.95/ lb . not a bad return Just saying

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Haven't had a broken leg ever but about every year I wind up with a gimp leg within three days to a week of turnout. Knock on wood it hasn't hurt calving period. Just a pain because the bull doesn't to separate or load again

 

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9 minutes ago, junkandcattle said:

Haven't had a broken leg ever but about every year I wind up with a gimp leg 

Usually broke/injured legs are from a bull getting hit from the side when he's riding a cow. 

And it's usually a rear leg.

But bulls fight and and sometimes another comes in for a cheap shot.

It happens.

Do it long enough, you will see it all.

Not sure how long I have to live, swear I'd seen it all?

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34 minutes ago, sandhiller said:

Usually broke/injured legs are from a bull getting hit from the side when he's riding a cow. 

And it's usually a rear leg.

But bulls fight and and sometimes another comes in for a cheap shot.

It happens.

Do it long enough, you will see it all.

Not sure how long I have to live, swear I'd seen it all?

We kept our youngest bull last fall when we sold most of the cows. Buddy wanted to buy it. I hauled it to his place told him to feed it until spring and if it was good pay us then. My brother was down in January to help him with some cattle stuff looked at bull it was fine. About two weeks later buddy called bull was dead when he went to feed it and some old cows he had penned with it. You just never know with livestock.

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Worst bull disaster I had was one that lost control of the working part halfway through and the Hereford that was in with him quit in the heat that summer. Caused a scale back but it needed to happen anyway. 

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Tough luck.... I know your pain. Bought a very nice first calf heifer guernsey, the last actually to the Dayton (yes, as is ex. MN Gov. Dayton) heard. They were know wwwaaay back in the day for having superb guernsey cows, and often won world titles. This one was not going to win grand champ, but nice to say the least. She calfed in, milked great, and then one day I came out and was flipped on side and couldn't get herself upright. I got her flipped, helped her up on her feet, but was not quite right. Had very good local vet out and he said stomach not twisted, no out of ordinary signs... Well, within a week, she died... End of the line there for that blood line, just seems like the old low bag, sway back, sickle hock gals just keep calfing and milking. Ornery ones too mean for mastitis, and too mean to milk some days lol. 

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2 hours ago, sandhiller said:

Usually broke/injured legs are from a bull getting hit from the side when he's riding a cow. 

And it's usually a rear leg.

But bulls fight and and sometimes another comes in for a cheap shot.

It happens.

Do it long enough, you will see it all.

Not sure how long I have to live, swear I'd seen it all?

Don't  say that, if they figure you've seen it all then when your name comes up you won't get a pass, look at me, I haven't seen squat, still kicked around.

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2 hours ago, MinnesotaFarmall said:

and then one day I came out and was flipped on side and couldn't get herself upright. I got her flipped

Lost a few cows that way.

Lay with their back down hill or in a trail.

Lots of crazy things happen.

I'm never happy about it but don't let it get to me either.

It's sad yours was such a special heifer.

I think those of us with livestock obtain a certain perspective on life and death that not everyone has.

It's still amazes me how many calves are born unassisted and unobserved.

But then I guess if they couldn't do it on their own they wouldn't have hung around long enough for us to domesticate them?

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With the happenings you guys are talking these days with all the modern amenities, I'm left to wonder what the old cattle drives 150 years ago were like? What did they travel a 1000 miles? Heat, storms, floods, injuns, 20 or 30 miles a day? Real life sure is different from movie cattle driving.

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13 minutes ago, Dasnake said:

With the happenings you guys are talking these days with all the modern amenities, I'm left to wonder what the old cattle drives 150 years ago were like? What did they travel a 1000 miles? Heat, storms, floods, injuns, 20 or 30 miles a day? Real life sure is different from movie cattle driving.

Can't imagine anything romantic about it, damn hard work for little pay.

Tough men that helped settle this country.

We owe em a debt.

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