lightning

[gw197510]

Anybody else have trouble with lightning strikes this year?  I have lost two nice cows already this summer....anything you can do to prevent it when they are out on pasture?

 

[forbes family farms]

No but two years i lost some.

 

[cowcrazy]

Sorry for your loss. We also lost a cow that was due to calf in a week to lightning.  It really hurts, but I don't know of anything you can do to prevent it from happening.

 

[BCCC]

Lightning only hits the good ones dontcha know?

 

[forbes family farms]

Yep that's the way it works you lose the best ones, or something happens to them. But there's really no way to prevent it. Sorry for your loss.

 

[Hilltop]

We lost a cow 10 days ago, and for once it was not one of the best. Along a fence line and in a bit of a dip. Of coarse she was where we could not get at with tractor to move her. Have had so many storms this year that I hope we don't loose any more. We actually had her set up for a embryo but the vet passed her up. Guess we have a little luck LOL!!!

 

[justintime]

Many years ago, we lost about 28 cows and calves to lightning. This happened when the cows lined up in the shade of some bush during a storm. It happened that they were lined up along a barb wire fence, and lightning hit the fence. It dropped them like flies right where they were standing. The bad part was that of the cows and calves that died, only two were a pair.... so there was a bunch of cows with dead calves and a bunch of calves with dead mothers.

A few years following our incident, a similar situation happened about 100 miles north of here. The same thing happened with the cows lining up along a fence with bush on the other side and lightning killed over 50 head in this case.

 

[DakotaCow]

I had one cow and my best duramax calf get hit by lightning...not cool.

 

[OLD WORLD SHORTIE]

sad to hear about your cattle, just not fair.

 

[ROAD WARRIOR]

So far this year I have lost one bred heifer, three electric fencers, one modem and who knows what else to lightning. I can hear the thunder rumbleing in the distance right now! RW

 

[Hilltop]

So far this year I have lost one bred heifer, three electric fencers, one modem and who knows what else to lightning. I can hear the thunder rumbleing in the distance right now! RW

RW.... Do you put arrestors on your electric fencers? We got them here but have not used (installed) them yet. Three to five ground rods is what it says to hook up to them!

 

[trevorgreycattleco]

Just read this morning where Sull Red Reward was killed by lightning. Was he not top selling bull last year? That sucks for the buyers. Hope he was insured.

 

[ROAD WARRIOR]

So far this year I have lost one bred heifer, three electric fencers, one modem and who knows what else to lightning. I can hear the thunder rumbleing in the distance right now! RW

RW.... Do you put arrestors on your electric fencers? We got them here but have not used (installed) them yet. Three to five ground rods is what it says to hook up to them!

I have not used arrestors - in the last 35 years I have only lost one other fencer to lightning until this year. This year I can't remember going a full week without a thunderstorm rolling through, yesterday alone we had three seperate storms come through with thunder and lightning. I talked to an old timer last week that said after this week we would be back in a more normal weather pattern - lower temp and fewer storms for the rest of the summer, I sure hope he knows how to read the moss on the back of an elm tree or whatever signs it is he is going off of. It would be really cool to be able to chore without mud for a change.RW

 

[BCCC]

We have lost 7 bred heifers fromt the same thing, lined up along the fence and bam dropped them like a rock. Never lost a charger. We get 6 foot 1inch copper rods from our electric company and put 8 of them in the ground, and it has kept our $1900 fence charger that we bought a couple years ago for out in the sandhills.

 

[Silver]

Lightning directly striking our cows is the least of our worries, it usually just starts 5,000 acre desert fires and burns everything including cows and calves that get in its way. That is a really bad deal, I don't know how many acres of wheat and good desert feed have been lost to lightning this year.

 

[afhm]

Never lost a charger. We get 6 foot 1inch copper rods from our electric company and put 8 of them in the ground, and it has kept our $1900 fence charger that we bought a couple years ago for out in the sandhills.

I've never heard of or seen a $1900 fence charger.  Where did you get it?  What kind of it?