Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2013 13:50:36 GMT -7
Having livestock is not a bed of roses. A lot can happen and go wrong in a very short time. If you plan to have any kind of livestock now or in the future, you need to make sure you have plans and help for when the unexpected happens. Murphy's Law will ALWAYS present itself when you least expect it!
We had a crazy morning around here. This happened over a course of 2 hours, and had we been only 1 or 2 people, it would have been a day long event. At least with 3, we were able to get things under control realatively quickly. Maybe you will all get a laugh from this, but mostly I hope to share the fact that there is a lot to know and learn for EVERYONE, even experienced farmers!
Here is the chain of events...This morning was a HUGE fiasco to say the least! Last week we let the horses loose to run with Count (who weighs around 600-700#) while Lucy was locked in the barn with her calf, Stormy. We turned Lucy & Stormy out on Friday when Stormy turned 2 weeks old. The horses started running Lucy away from her feed and out of the shelter of the barn, so she would come through the gate to the pond lot pasture next to the house. Then Count would start chasing her wanting to breed and if the calf got close to him, he would chase her off ruthlessly.
The 2 young Black Angus heifers (Libby & Lizzy), Abby and my Irish Dexter heifer, Patty, are in a large lot between the pond pasture and the back pasture. Apparently a few of them are now in heat, so when Count was not chasing Lucy, he was pacing the 3 sides of the little girls pens that he can reach.
This morning all hell broke loose. Count broke the fence in 2 places, all the heifers got out with him, Abby is no big deal, but Patty is only 10 months old, Lizzy is 11 months old and Libby is 13 months old...all way to young to breed yet. But apparently all are in heat. And he bred Libby at least once. We are hoping she does not stick. But with him being a miniature, maybe she will be ok even if she does.
When the heifers got out, the horses got excited and started chasing Lucy and the calf. The calf went through the broken fence and Lucy went around and they got seperated. Lucy freaked out and started bawling, the horses got more excited and started being really aggressive and biting her while chasing her, she twisted her front right leg really bad and can hardly walk. The calf got hung up in the fence and about ripped her little head off. Count was chasing the heifers all over 20 acres and showing his ass....and THEN Jim, Steven and I joined in the calamity!!
Well...if things were bad before, they just intensified 1000X at this point! The horses were about to all get shot, Count was being threatened with going to the meat locker and the heifers all split and went 4 different directions. Count didn't know where to go, so he got mad and decided I was gonna be fair game. GAME ON!!! I clubbed that silly son of a BLEEP with an iron pipe straight across his forehead just above the eyes and knocked him to his knees. I swung it like a baseball bat as hard as I could. He has some nasty horns and I didn't want any new piercings!! He OBVIOUSLY was aroused, so I decided drastic measures were needed. I clubbed him HARD.
When he got up, he ran off. Jim was trying to repair fences & Steven was chasing the horses, who thought this was a great game, and of course couldn't be caught even with grain because they were all wound tighter than an 8 day clock, and they were going everywhere except where they were suppose to, so I helped him herd them into the pond pasture at the front. Horse are contained and seperated from the cattle.
Lucy, who can hardly walk and the calf just stood there breathing hard and watching everything wide eyed, were back together thanks to Jim at this point. By some miracle, the 2 black heifers came up from the woods and went right in their pen. CAUGHT!! This left Abby with Count. Jim & Steven finished fixing the fence and I kept Count from coming through the gate to mess with Lucy and Stormy. Every time I would call Abby, Count would herd her back into the trees.
At this point I had a load of his crap, so I took my pipe and walked out there, first he pawed the ground and fake charged me and I drew back the pipe. His head came up and his tail went straight up in the air and he he turned and ran like his butt was on fire!! I called Abby and she ran to me as fast as she could, and followed me back to her pen. Count was chasing and trying to breed her, and me swinging a pipe at him so she could get to the gate, so I don't know if she stuck or not last year. Guess I will know come May. Abby was put back with the heifers.
We then turned Lucy out with Count, who had lost all interest in her. She took Stormy straight to the creek for a drink then brought her back to the barn, went inside and laid down. Her leg is swollen pretty bad, but I think she will be ok.
We were all coated with a pretty good layer of mud at this point, so we hosed off what we could, came in the house, showered, had breakfast...and contemplated naps. BUT I had to run to the store and the guys had a bunch of welding to get done in the shed. Take a deep breath and try to stop laughing!! As soon as Count breeds Abby and Patty this fall, he is going in my freezer. HAMBURGER!!!
We had a crazy morning around here. This happened over a course of 2 hours, and had we been only 1 or 2 people, it would have been a day long event. At least with 3, we were able to get things under control realatively quickly. Maybe you will all get a laugh from this, but mostly I hope to share the fact that there is a lot to know and learn for EVERYONE, even experienced farmers!
Here is the chain of events...This morning was a HUGE fiasco to say the least! Last week we let the horses loose to run with Count (who weighs around 600-700#) while Lucy was locked in the barn with her calf, Stormy. We turned Lucy & Stormy out on Friday when Stormy turned 2 weeks old. The horses started running Lucy away from her feed and out of the shelter of the barn, so she would come through the gate to the pond lot pasture next to the house. Then Count would start chasing her wanting to breed and if the calf got close to him, he would chase her off ruthlessly.
The 2 young Black Angus heifers (Libby & Lizzy), Abby and my Irish Dexter heifer, Patty, are in a large lot between the pond pasture and the back pasture. Apparently a few of them are now in heat, so when Count was not chasing Lucy, he was pacing the 3 sides of the little girls pens that he can reach.
This morning all hell broke loose. Count broke the fence in 2 places, all the heifers got out with him, Abby is no big deal, but Patty is only 10 months old, Lizzy is 11 months old and Libby is 13 months old...all way to young to breed yet. But apparently all are in heat. And he bred Libby at least once. We are hoping she does not stick. But with him being a miniature, maybe she will be ok even if she does.
When the heifers got out, the horses got excited and started chasing Lucy and the calf. The calf went through the broken fence and Lucy went around and they got seperated. Lucy freaked out and started bawling, the horses got more excited and started being really aggressive and biting her while chasing her, she twisted her front right leg really bad and can hardly walk. The calf got hung up in the fence and about ripped her little head off. Count was chasing the heifers all over 20 acres and showing his ass....and THEN Jim, Steven and I joined in the calamity!!
Well...if things were bad before, they just intensified 1000X at this point! The horses were about to all get shot, Count was being threatened with going to the meat locker and the heifers all split and went 4 different directions. Count didn't know where to go, so he got mad and decided I was gonna be fair game. GAME ON!!! I clubbed that silly son of a BLEEP with an iron pipe straight across his forehead just above the eyes and knocked him to his knees. I swung it like a baseball bat as hard as I could. He has some nasty horns and I didn't want any new piercings!! He OBVIOUSLY was aroused, so I decided drastic measures were needed. I clubbed him HARD.
When he got up, he ran off. Jim was trying to repair fences & Steven was chasing the horses, who thought this was a great game, and of course couldn't be caught even with grain because they were all wound tighter than an 8 day clock, and they were going everywhere except where they were suppose to, so I helped him herd them into the pond pasture at the front. Horse are contained and seperated from the cattle.
Lucy, who can hardly walk and the calf just stood there breathing hard and watching everything wide eyed, were back together thanks to Jim at this point. By some miracle, the 2 black heifers came up from the woods and went right in their pen. CAUGHT!! This left Abby with Count. Jim & Steven finished fixing the fence and I kept Count from coming through the gate to mess with Lucy and Stormy. Every time I would call Abby, Count would herd her back into the trees.
At this point I had a load of his crap, so I took my pipe and walked out there, first he pawed the ground and fake charged me and I drew back the pipe. His head came up and his tail went straight up in the air and he he turned and ran like his butt was on fire!! I called Abby and she ran to me as fast as she could, and followed me back to her pen. Count was chasing and trying to breed her, and me swinging a pipe at him so she could get to the gate, so I don't know if she stuck or not last year. Guess I will know come May. Abby was put back with the heifers.
We then turned Lucy out with Count, who had lost all interest in her. She took Stormy straight to the creek for a drink then brought her back to the barn, went inside and laid down. Her leg is swollen pretty bad, but I think she will be ok.
We were all coated with a pretty good layer of mud at this point, so we hosed off what we could, came in the house, showered, had breakfast...and contemplated naps. BUT I had to run to the store and the guys had a bunch of welding to get done in the shed. Take a deep breath and try to stop laughing!! As soon as Count breeds Abby and Patty this fall, he is going in my freezer. HAMBURGER!!!
