WORST INJURY

[farmboy]

LAST NIGHT MY STEER DID ONE OF THOSE SAMURAI KICKS AND MADE MY KNEE BLUE AND RED :'( IT DIDN'T HURT. NEEDLESS TO SAY I KICKED HIM BACK ;D THEN THE IDIOT BUTTS ME BACK INTO THE WALL :'( SO I HAD TO TAKE HIM TO FIST CITY. ;D SO WHATS EVERYBODYS WORST INJURY WHEN YOU WAS FOOLIN' WIT CATTLE OR HORSES OR DONKEYS OR WHATEVER O0

 

[red]

FarmBoy, I know you just reacted but I hate to hear you hitting the calf. Keep a level head & you'll find them doing much better around you.

Red

 

[farmboy]

I DIDN'T HIT HIM, MORE LIKE A SCOLD  :'( I DO HATE IT WHEN THEY PULL THAT CRAP THOUGH :-\

 

[shortyjock89]

About 5 years ago, I was washing a squirrely heifer and she thumped me pretty good -right where it counts.  OUCH! I flew off the washrack and dropped to the ground. I threw up, and then I thought that I would never have children.  I was sore for more than a week.  Needless to say, that heifer became dad's responsibility for the next week or so.  That was definately the worst pain that I've felt when working with cattle.

 

[genes]

2 broken arms (of course, from the quiet calves).  The first time was at a show, we had our club group of 4 class first, and we had other members setting feet and didn't carry our own show sticks.  So when my steer got a little rushy, I couldn't use the showstick to help slow him, I got pinned between him and the butt of the steer in front.  Thought to myself 'whatever happens I won't let go'  The next thing I remember I was on my hands and knees facing the opposite direction.  I guess he flipped his head and little ole me went flying.

The next year I don't even know what happened...I was practicing when he went kinda batty and I think I managed to bang my hand off the fence.  It was swollen and blue, but my fingers worked so whatever.  I still managed to show that weekend ( he behaved very well, thank goodness).  It was only sitting in class on Monday that I noticed the swelling had gone down but there was still one lump on my hand.  Oops.

 

[red]

For me it's almost a weekly thing on getting hurt! I've been drug,jump on, kicked, knocked over, run over & had a 180 pound gate trap me. Believe it or not I'm still in one piece.
I remember at our county fair. I was a 4-H advisor & helping kids get their pigs in the pen. One went through my legs & I did a complete back flip. Knocked the wind out of me.

Red

 

[farmboy]

A COUPLE WEEKS AGO , THE SAME STEER STEPPED ON MY TOE AND I ACTUALLY PASSED OUT. MY TOENAIL HASN'T EVEN GROWN BACK. HE DID NOT MOVE WHEN I ACTUALLY DID SLAP AND CARRY ON TO GET OFF.(THIS WAS ALL IN THE PROCCESS OF HALTERING HIM IF YOU WAS WONDERIN'). THE MOST DANGEROUS CALVES ARE THE PHYSCO HEIFERS. LAST YEAR A CRAZY HEIFER KICKED HER DEWCLAW OFF IN THE SHOOT. BEFORE THE WATER HAD DRYED IN THE SHOOT, SHE KICKED AND CRAPPED AND COVERED MMY FACE.
I WILL SAY SHE WAS SOME GOOD EATIN'.
THATS NOT THE WORST SHE EVER DID EITHER  (lol) I AIN'T HAD A HEIFER FOR THE FAIR IN 5 YEARS. TOO MANY CRAZY'S OUT THERE

 

[jlynch]

Farmboy, I'm going to echo what my good friend Red told you about reacting in anger towards your calf.  The worst injury I can think of wasn't to me, it was to a heifer I was clipping for the first time.  She was good and broke to lead, but hadn't been clipped on yet.  She freaked out when I started clippin on her head, and I got mad and punched her in the nose.  She reacted by going completely ballistic, flipping the chute over on its side and taking off, nearly running over my daughter who was helping me.  She made a lap around the barn and finally came to a stop.  If you can picture this, the chute was on its side, with the heifer standing upright, so the neck bars were above and below her neck.  I could not release the neck bar because it was so tight and she was still fighting.  She finally choked down and passed out cold.  I was able to release the chain on the neck bar at that point.  After that ordeal, I thought we better just put her up and try it some other time.  We were heading to a show in a couple of days, so she ended up staying home.

About a month later, she started breathing hard.  I treated her for pnuemonia for a couple of days, thinking that was the problem, but she kept getting worse, until she finally died on the fourth day after I noticed the problem.

Not certain on the cause of death, I had our vet post her to check her lungs out.  They were healthy and normal.  My daughter remembered the clipping wreck and told the vet.  They discovered that her windpipe was red, swollen, and completely closed off, right where the chute had choked her down.

I was overcome with guilt, and made a decision that day to change.  

That is the worst inury I could think of......from a little different perspective.  I hope you take my words to heart, your calves will appreciate it.....mine do now, just one REALLY good heifer too late.

BTW, as Red knows, my daughter has a broken hand from a kick by her brother's steer a couple months ago.  She didn't retaliate at the time, but after this post, i'm headed to the grill to put on some steaks from a from a steer that "used" to kick.

 

[farmboy]

2 YEARS EQUAL...2 NUTSO HEIFERS FOR THE FREEZER (cow)

 

[red]

(welcome) Jlynch

Thank you for your post. I'm sure it was very difficult for you to even type it out now.
Personal note:
I've gotten to know John through our SW KS friend. I put John & his family in the class act catagory! Too often we react to our animals without taking the time to think. I'm not picking on you Farmboy but we all need a cool head when working around livestock of all shapes & sizes.

for those of you that would like to see what our MIA friend is doing, he & John have a website.
http://www.rustywilliamscattle.com/
Thanks,
Red

 

[milkmaid56]

me and my dad were clipping my crazy steer and he did not like his neck underline being touched AT ALL!!  i thought we had clipped it good enough but my dad went back in to get a spot he missed.  the steer freaked out and had the shoot tipped at a 45 degree angle and i was rushing by my dad to get out of the way or else it would have fallen on me.  he had a brand new sharp scotch comb in his back pocket with the points facing OUT and when i went by him the comb scratched my arm.  OOWWW that hurt so bad!! the tines went in like a quarter inch deep and i had about ten scratches... needless to say my dad always puts the comb in his pocket with the tines facing inward   and i have a really cool scar.

 

[cwfmr181]

WE HAD A QUARTER HORSE STUD AT THE VET SCHOOL AT COLUMBIA MO. FOR SURGERY, WHEN WE WENT TO LOAD HIM TO BRING HIM HOME A VET STUDENT THOUGHT HE WOULD HELP US AND HIT HIM WITH A BUGGY WHIP. NEEDLESS TO SAY HE WENT BALISTIC AND MY HAND GOT TORE UP PRETTY BAD. AFTER WE SENT THE VET STUDENT BACK INSIDE, LOADED UP THE STUD AND WENT TO GET ME PATCHED UP AT THE HOSPITAL, (GOTTA LOVE HOSPITALS) THEY WOULDNT PATCH ME UP  UNTIL I COULD PROVE I HAD INSURANCE.  DIDNT HAVE THE INSURANCE CARD WITH ME. I NOW HAVE A COPY IN ALL OF OUR VEHICLES.

 

[DL]

ah ...jlynch - heard about you - good to finally have you on board (or is it on the planet!?)

there are aspects of this topic that are near and dear to my heart and I see really two topics (1)  one getting hurt and the second (2) how we as humans react....we need to understand not only how cattle think but also how we react when they don't do what we want. In general (IMHO) and I am not talking grooming chute/show cattle stuff here  I am talking moving cattle -

story 1 - you are a young man - the cows aren't going where you want them to go - you scream, yell and beat the heifer over the head with a 2x4 and then call her a stupid b**** - seems to me she is pretty smart - who in their right mind would want to go near this raving lunatic!!?? When a cow won't go where you want her to it is usually the humans fault.

story 2 - when I started with cattle I was (basically) an adult with minimal cattle experience and no mentor - I also had no illusion that I could outmuscle anything - therefore I had to use my brain cause there was no brawn. To get my cows to do what I wanted I used a combo of dog training, positive reinforcement and what I knew about animal movement. Then Bud Williams cattle handing methods became more well known, then Temple Grandin..I found that because I hadn't been "tainted" by how it was done I developed my own way which turns out to be low stress and works well

story 3 - I cull heavily for bad behavior - there is a difference between bad behavior and not understanding - most of my cows come when called and have little to no flight zone. I practice cattle moving/handing on calves - I spend time trying to move one out from a group, move them away from their mothers, just to practice - just to see what works and what doesn't.

3a - I like to be able to scritch the cows on the tail head while they are in the field - that way I can chalk tails without running them into a chute - if you don't want to be scritched walk away. Had one cow (note had) that kicked me when I went to scritch the tail -along the crease of the jeans barely hit the body - I wanted to ship her - her fans came out and begged for a second chance - put an embryo in her - 2 days later I went to scritch her tail she turned she looked at me with malice and she nailed me - next day she was on the kill floor. Many people didn't understand that decision - to me it was a no brainer

story 4- the burger for not moving right story - the bred heifers may not quite as tuned into the story as the cows - I have one 1st calf heifer who's calf had a congenital defect and died - she isn't crazy, she isn't really silly, she just doesn't want to go where I want her to - I have been moving her into a pen  every day and then giving her a food reward - I haven't quite figure out what her /my issue is here but I have been using the following tactic - I have 2 fiberglass fence posts (not to hit her to make my arms longer) - we were at a stand off - staring at each other - I said to her "you are on the short list - your behavior is unacceptable - I have no problem making you into burger (etc etc) and I'll be darned if she didn't walk into the pen (it wasn't the pen I wanted her in but it was workable) ...am working on figuring her out

story 5 - there is a difference between being scared and malice - anybody who kicks with malice is gone - immediately no questions asked. Malice in cattle and people is not an eaisly treated affliction not is it nice to live with. I would also cull a human who tried to work or interact with my cattle with malice. Kicking out of fear requires that the human use his or her brain to figure out why the calf is scared and how to fix it

story 6- I am not a calm, slow moving, even tempered person - I have been called lots of different things - some not so nice (imagine that??) - I am pretty much type A and a little frenetic - I have learned a lot from my cows

More people have been hurt by kicking, yelling, beating, screaming cattle that cows have. Research from Purdue has shown that one of the most aversive things to cows is yelling/screaming at them. When I can't get my cows to do what I want -  I WALK AWAY - if I can do it farmboy you can do it too ;D ;D ;D



Oh yeah - I forgot the other part was about your worst cattle injury - I always watch my feet - one night out doing chores in the dark I went in a direction I usually don't go for some now foregotten reason to check on some now unforgotten thing  - I walk pretty fact and walk head long head first into a 4x4 cross bar - fell over back ward - got lost in space somewhere - saw stars - woke up surrounded by cows starring at me - glad they weren't Chi's  ;D ;D ;D So then I started looking up - following night I went in a direction I usually don't go for some now foregotten reason to check on some now unforgotten thing walked leg long into a full cxrystalyx barrel just about ripped my leg in half - now I am back to watching my feet!

Have a great night

Sabres tied it up with 19 seconds to go and won in overtime - great game now ahead 3 -2 need one more to move on .... (clapping) (clapping) (clapping) (clapping) (clapping)

 

[farmboy]

CAN'T WALK AWAY WITH 1100# FOCUSED DIRECTLY ON THE TOE...GOOD TIMES :-\
I'VE FOUND THAT WHEN THEY DO THAT OR WON'T MOVE WHEN THERE IN THE WAY, THE THING TO DO IS LIKE TSSSKKK AND IT WORKS TOO.
I KINDA KICKED THE STEER OUTTA SELF DEFENSE. JUST TURNED HIM LOOSE FROM BRUSHIN' AND HE LITERALLY PUSHED ME AGAINST THE WALL AND KICKED ME... DIRECTLY ON THE KNEE AND  I BUCKLED....HE'S ADVANCIN WITH A DEVLISH GRIN. HEAD DOWN LIKE HE DOES WHEN HE'S PLAYIN BUT THIS WAS DIFFEERENT...PROBABLY WOULD BE IN WORSE SHAPE THAN JUST THIS VERY NICE BRUISE...

NOW ONE TIME A SATTLEBRED GOT HER HEEL TANGLED IN BARBWIRE AND DAD HAD TO GET HER. UNTANGLING THE BACK LEG, SHE KICKED THE S*** OUT OF HIM. RIGHT ON THE HEAD. UNCONSIUS. HORSE HEALED FINE(LIKTA CUT OFF HER FOOT THAT BARBWIRE DID)DAD IS OK I THINK EVEN 5 YEARS LATER (clapping)

 

[ELBEE]

You know D L, my Mom used to tell the cows where she wanted them to go. I thought that was the silliest thing, but sometimes I swear it works.

When I was 22, was riding my horse full out down a paved road when he slipped. My foot turned around under him, in the sturip. When Dad caught up with us I was leading the horse limping along. He said it can't be that bad or I couldn't walk on it. 4 steal-pined metatarsals, and broken tibia & fibula later He changed his mind. Funny thing was, a friend unsaddled my horse for me. Then several weeks later when I went to use my good Hereford ropin saddle, the tree was broken, wow what a wreak. I was wearing a pair of almost new Bona Allen bullhide boots. Told my Friend that unsaddled the horse, to help me get the boot off my hurt foot.( Didn't want the nurses to ruin my boot). After 5 months walking on crutches, had 1 new boot and 1 almost worn out. The good news was the Doc. that fixed me up, was also the orthopedic surgeon for the K-State athletics. So now I have a repaired leg that wears the heals of my boots correctly, and a factory leg that wears the heals rolled over to the outside.

Moral of the story, Kids don't run your horses on pavement!

 

[DLD]

Worst injury resulted in an 11" steel plate down the outside of my lower right leg and numerous screws in that and in the ankle on the inside. Please note that this story is pretty much a list of things NOT to do... I had tied up 3 calves for maybe the 2nd or 3rd time. 2 of them were acting really well, the other wasn't.  I was brushing on them, and was in between the two gentler ones, when for some unknown reason, the other one decided to throw a fit. He was bucking around, and hit the calf in the middle hard, causing him to jump, and when he came down, his front leg slid down the inside of mine, breaking off the little bone that sticks out on the ankle. This apparently holds the whole ankle together, because when that went, the bone on the outside just above the ankle snapped clean through as well. Fortunately, the calves calmed down and moved away from me, so I crawled out away from them. My first instinct was to pull off my boot (a slip on red wing work boot), which probably made it all worse. I was alone, and this was before I carried a cell phone, so I had no choice but to crawl a couple hundred yards to the house, to call my wife to come take me to the hospital. I was down nearly three months from that one, and 12 years later, I still limp slightly when I'm really tired. That's not to mention the arthritis setting in. I was lucky to get a good orthopedic surgeon that did alot of athletes, too. The last time I saw him, 6 months after the surgery, he told me that when he first saw me, he'd have bet anything against me being able to walk in 6 months, much less the 3 months when I actually started walking.

Another not to do - I once broke my right thumb, just below the nail, trying to lead a half broke 1300# steer (one of my students when I was teaching). The moral of this story is don't hold the lead rope with your thumbs sticking out against thre rope - wrap them around it. It may not sound like much, but try buttoning your jeans with a broken right thumb... I had to duct tape the clippers to my hand that week...

And on the subject of scotch combs - a friend of mine had a brand new one of those with a regular comb on one side and a skip tooth on the other in his back pocket. His son's steer, who'd acted perfect in the ring, spooked coming out and went completely nuts. My friend got ahold of the halter and was trying to lead him, when the steer managed to kick him right on the comb - drove that skip tooth into his lower back, just above his belt, all the way to the hilt. I was trying to hang onto the steer at that point, so I missed the privelege of pulling it out...   A tetanus booster and a really sore spot for awhile left him with a cool scar, too.

DL, I'm pretty much with you on handling cattle. I can't say you can scratch all of ours in the pasture, but all of them will follow you anywhere for the promise of a few cubes, and any kind of bad actor won't stay around long. Life's too short to put up with that b.s.

 

[SKF]

A few years ago when my daughter was 9 she was walking her steer, who was a little spooky, and her steer spooked over something and started jumping around trying to get away from her and stepped right on top of her foot. She let out one of those screems kids do when they are really hurt and as I went running over there and she was holding her foot up and still holding onto her steer. The strange thing was her steer who spooks over every little thing just stood there looking at her like he knew something was really wrong. It turned out her foot was broke. I still find it strange that the steer acted so calm when she got hurt I just wonder if cattle sense things like dogs do. You always hear about someone being hurt and their dog stays with them until help comes do you think that cattle can since things like that to or was ethe steer so scared by her screams that he was afraid to move.

 

[DL]

A few years ago when my daughter was 9 she was walking her steer, who was a little spooky, and her steer spooked over something and started jumping around trying to get away from her and stepped right on top of her foot. She let out one of those screems kids do when they are really hurt and as I went running over there and she was holding her foot up and still holding onto her steer. The strange thing was her steer who spooks over every little thing just stood there looking at her like he knew something was really wrong. It turned out her foot was broke. I still find it strange that the steer acted so calm when she got hurt I just wonder if cattle sense things like dogs do. You always hear about someone being hurt and their dog stays with them until help comes do you think that cattle can since things like that to or was ethe steer so scared by her screams that he was afraid to move.

IA little off the subject but I think you are on to something SKF - we (the generic human race) don't give cattle much credit for having and using decent brains, understanding situations, instincts etc...I have had people actually ask me if they have different personalities and be surprised when the answer is yes (what do they think a generic cow is like a generic nut or bolt - all the same?) - .I had to kill a 3 month old calf years ago - when they started going way out she was always last and when the calves started playing somebody knocked her over and she couldn't get up - she was in terrible  heart failure and I was sure that all I could do was prolong her suffering....so I went and got the tractor  and the "blue juice" and drove it back to where the calf lay - all the cows came and made a big circle around me and my tractor - killed the calf and put her in the bucket and drive off....all the cows followed.  The cows stayed at the barn, and the mother cow went back to the spot where the calf was killed and wailed for about an hour - can't tell me they didn't know what was going on....

 

[red]

I'm convinced they know what going on & have their own personalitites! I've got some that are such big clowns, others that are the biggest lovers ever. One is just mean & likes to shake her head only at me. They all are different can & sense when something is up!
speaking of dogs, my heeler is a big baby. He loves to jump on me if I'm sitting down or just play. I passed out one day & he was just laying there with his head on top of my stomach. He starting crying & wagging his tail when I came too. Used him as a stool to get up & he just stood there. They know!!  (dog)

Red

 

[Show Heifer]

I have had my ankle broken standing behind a heifer AI'ing her. She was pushing against those darn barns on the floor and her foot slipped and hit my ankle! OUCH!!

I also had my foot removed from my leg, but it was from a corn elevator, not a critter! Had a great Dr. and it was reattached and all is well, but a warning: Don't stand too close to corn elevators or PTO's. I am DEADLY serious on this....I was lucky to only have my foot torn off.

A note on cows knowing: A few weeks ago I had a cow that is VERY OBSESSIVE about her new babies. History has taught me she is protective beyond words the first 3 days, so I tag her calf when it is 3 days old. (I really think she is bluffing, but...I don't know her that well, and don't plan on meeting her up close and personal!). Well, her newborn calf got into some mud and when I found it, I could see NOTHING except an eyeball, a nostril, and an ear that was stuck down to the head. I swear that cow KNEW her calf needed help. She stood there and watched me drag her calf out of the mud, drag it to the barn (it was BIG) and while I cleaned, dried, and tubed her calf she stood on the other side of the fence. That afternoon when I let the calf out,  she smelled the calf, trotted off 20-30 feet turned and looked at her calf trotting beside her, moo'ed at me and off she went to pasture. That evening, I went to check on them and got within 12 feet of her calf when her came momma cow full speed toward her calf. I backed off, she smelled her calf, it got up and followed her. And I swear that momma cow looked at me as if to say: " I let you care for my baby this morning, but she is fine now and I will take it from here!"  And she has.  (clapping) I think animals are way smarter than we give them credit for!!
As for my other cows, all gentle, I tag/weigh/vaccinate all my calves on foot in a pasture without fear. Although I do not trust any critter and respect them all.  The way I figure it, cattle are my hobby in which I make a few bucks, and if I can't enjoy them, I just won't have them around!

Hey DL, heck of a hockey game (or is it a match?)!!! Go Sabres!!!!!