Crazy cows................

[woodland]

Well actually it was a calf today.



Always get one or two a year get caught between the hips and ribs. Not sure what makes them try it? Luckily I had a chain in the feed truck to give a tug on the offending poplar.

What kinda strange things does everyone else run into?

[Sheepwheat]

Well actually it was a calf today.



Always get one or two a year get caught between the hips and ribs. Not sure what makes them try it? Luckily I had a chain in the feed truck to give a tug on the offending poplar.

What kinda strange things does everyone else run into?

I had a ewe upside down the other day. As they get round with lambs, they can end up stuck like that. I thought she was dead, until I nudged her to make sure. All legs pointing skyward. With the nudge, she started flailing and made me jump. So I righted her, and she’s fine now. Apparently if left long enough they can die. First year with sheep had a ewe push her head through the page wire, and then back INSIDE the fence a couple stay wires down. I had to cut the wire to get her out of there. Haven’t seen that since.

What if that calf had gotten hung up back in the sticks somewhere? You ever lose one that way?

[GDR]

Woodland I bet if I tried pulling that tree back like you did it would snap off and crash the hood of the truck!

Had a neighbour who hadn't seen his bull for a couple days on rented pasture, turned out he got inside an under construction house and fell through the floor and was down in the basement. Quite a gong show to get him out.

[Blaithin]

Had a Holstein calf in the barn one year. His pen was square straw bales. Two high on one side, 5-6 high stack as the back wall.

He climbed up the back stack to sleep on a ledge 4 or 5 bales up... Looked quite cozy really.

[woodland]

Sheepwheat......quote button missing........

We get cows that will “turtle” themselves on their side/back in a hollow and can’t get their feet under them. Always lose one a year and find a couple in time to save them. Usually happens around calving time but lost a bred heifer last month ........... hopefully that’s it for the year😉

Never found a dead one between the trees but there’s enough bush that’s inaccessible so who knows. My cousin had a yearling hang itself in a forked tree once. Only the head and spine left since the coyotes couldn’t reach it.

[woodland]

GDR......... our poplars are very flexible up here😉
We’ve had critters get in abandoned houses after thieves leave doors open but luckily none have fallen through the floor.........yet. My cousin had a steer fall into a septic tank after the lid broke. Sounds like as much fun as your neighbour had and he made it out ok surprisingly.
Fun times😎

[burnt]

Not uncommon to find a deer carcass or skeleton hanging over a pagewire fence with it hind legs hooked through. A nasty way to die.

Found a heifer who got her head caught between two small trees that grew out from a common stump. She was very thin and weak, so didn't have a lot of time left had she not been found for another day or so.

No lower branches with leaves on them for her to nibble on, so I can't figure out why she would be reaching that high in the first place. Had an itchy chin that needed a scratch?

Long ago, I found a dead heifer under a wild apple tree, likely choked on an apple.

Who knows what they're thinking - " 'The problem is all inside you head', she said to me...just stick in this tree, Lee" from "50 Ways to Leave Your Farmer". (Apologies to Paul Simon) :-)

[littledoggie]

Cows are so entertaining, aren't they? Sheep too. We had a cow/calf pair in the barn one year because the calf was having problems. There was a steep set of stairs going up to the loft which was open on the ends because we hadn't finished it yet, so there was lots of light up there. Lots of hay fines on the stairs from dragging bales down. The cow nibbled her way up the stairs to the loft. Easy to go up - not so easy to come down. Luckily she was an easy cow to deal with. We finally decided on building a ramp down the stairs that would make it a more gradual decline (declimb?). Put some cross pieces on the ramp to hopefully slow the descent. She knew she had to come down there. We slowly applied pressure and whenever she stood at the top of the stairs, we would back off. She knew she had to come down that way. Finally, she put her feet down onto the top stair and then went for it. She came down pretty fast, but all was well and no one was hurt.

[OfericSchim]

Cows are so entertaining, aren't they? Sheep too. We had a cow/calf pair in the barn one year because the calf was having problems. There was a steep set of stairs going up to the loft which was open on the ends because we hadn't finished it yet, so there was lots of light up there. Lots of hay fines on the stairs from dragging bales down. The cow nibbled her way up the stairs to the loft. Easy to go up - not so easy to come down. Luckily she was an easy cow to deal with. We finally decided on building a ramp down the stairs that would make it a more gradual decline (declimb?). Put some cross pieces on the ramp to hopefully slow the descent. She knew she had to come down there. We slowly applied pressure and whenever she stood at the top of the stairs, we would back off. She knew she had to come down that way. Finally, she put her feet down onto the top stair and then went for it. She came down pretty fast, but all was well and no one was hurt.

Really, thanks for sharing