Hard part of the "job"

[Captain]

Got a calf about 2 months old that somehow has broke his back best I can tell. He cannot use his rear legs. I know he's not stood up and nursed all day so I imagine he's getting pretty hungry.

I've done all I can for him and if he ain't standing in the morning I'm gonna have to put one in his head.
Really hate to do this but, no way to raise a bull calf that can't stand.

4025

Sure wish Arty was here we would be processing veal tomorrow. That's about 200 pound of some prime meat to go to waste.

[Chicken Dinner]

Man, I hate that for you.

[Buckrub]

Dang...

[Big Skyz]

That does suck! The coyote hunter in me could put him to good use and local coyotes would hate me for it.

[Big Muddy]

Tough call, Cap....when my granddad was raising cattle, he had a procedure for injured animals, depending on what the vet said....if they couldn't walk, he'd put them in a sling, and use the front loader to place them in a stall, by themselves, then, he'd feed them real good for five days....some recovered, and some did not....if the outlook was grim, after five days, at least the animal had eaten well and fattened up, and, he would then butcher them.....of course, no diseased or fevered animals were ever butchered.

[Captain]

Yea Eddie my options would include using a sling and putting the calf up in the barn and bottle feeding it a few days. But there are a couple of reason I cannot. One is I don't live here full time and don't have anyone around the farm to feed everyday. Another is if you do bottle feed it for a week or so and it does improve the momma cow drys up by then and you got to continue to bottle feed him for AWHILE. And lastly but mainly is we are going to go visit my daughter over this holiday weekend (Knoxville) and I'm not gonna leave this calf where my 80 year old dad has to drive down and deal with him while I'm gone.
I did call a friend of mine that runs and deer processor plant and also raises cows. I have given this calf to him to either raise or slaughter, his call. That all is IF the calf is still alive this morning. It's cold and pouring rain I'll know when the sun comes up.

[BarryBobPosthole]

Is it too late in the game to have your vet run a blood test? There's some pretty serious CNS shit that cows can get but most of them you see right when they're born. Might not be anything but a broke back, but I think I'd want my vet to run some blood tests or at least tell me what they thought about it. It may just be something happened while he was out doing what calves do. Hopefully so.

BKB

[Big Muddy]

Cap, I understand completely, bro....sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.

[Captain]

He's veal now....
Barry it's been my experience over the years situations like this one is about a 600 dollar loss this morning. If I had called the vet it would have been about a 800 dollar loss. The end results would have been the same.
And believe me as high as cows are now I really hated loosing this one.

[Arty]

Well that just sucks... You gonna get some of the veal?

[BarryBobPosthole]

I'll bet you did. Well, at least with it taken care of you can have peace of mind over the holidays. enjoy your time with your younguns and wife!

BKB

[Niner]

Well darn it all. I hate that fer the lil rascal, but that's the way the grapefruit squirts. Sorry for the loss of capital as well, but like you said...sometimes ha just gotta cut yer losses so to speak.


I surely do hope that your daughter is tickled with that ol' pot. If she makes y'all a stew or something in it, make a picture or two fer me.