Funniest thing that happened to you

[ranchwife]

[randiliana]

Well, this one is kinda funny!! Well afterwards anyways.

We were out checking cows I believe it must have been Nov. or Dec. Anyways, we noticed that one of our newly purchased bred heifers was having a really hard time breathing. It was getting pretty late in the afternoon, but we managed to suck them into the corral. Of course, this was just a loading corral with no headgate, so we had to borrow the neighbours old homebuilt trailer which was about 3 feet off the ground. Anyways we got the heifer loaded without too much difficulty, and hauled her over to the neighbours where there WAS a headgate. Well, hubby backs the trailer up to the corral, and I go stand in the middle of the corral with the intention of "shooing" her through the gate to the chute. That heifer came off that trailer with about a 20 foot leap, it took her about 2 more of those jumps and she put me over the fence. I hit the ground on the other side, and just lay there trying to BREATHE. Finally, when I caught my breath, I looked at the little #$%$ and hubby and bluntly told him that I was NOT going back in there.

He finally got her down the chute, and we caught her in the headgate. Of course by this time it was darn near dark, so we turned the truck around (with the trailer still hooked up) so we could shine the headlights on her. So, we proceeded to look at her, and were just starting our diagnosis when, we heard the CRUNCH of tires on snow (did I mention that our 2 year old son was in the truck and it was an OLD AUTOMATIC?) Well, we had just enough time to jump out of the way. Hubby is trying to figure out how to save the cow (it was one of those old manual catch gates). Well, the truck ran right into the headgate. Fortunately for the cow there was a grill guard on the truck and her head went into the headlight. I think it knocked her out for a minute.

So here we were, the truck is pinning the cow in the headgate, and our 2 year old son has BOTH doors LOCKED!! Of course, we are yelling at him to open the doors, which he finally did (after some serious thinking on his part) and we backed the truck up and put the parking brake on. The cow finally gets up so at least she survived!! Now we needed to let the cow out. The chute is really a dumb setup. The headgate facing out into a pasture, with the gate to the corral(opening the wrong way)right beside it. So hubby says to me here, "you hold this corral panel up and shoo her into the corral". Keep in mind that I had already tried to "shoo" this animal once with not so great results. So, I'm looking at the corral panel, and that cow, who was just as mad now if not madder and thinking that I really don't want to know what her on the panel on top of me is gonna feel like. I looked at hubby and told him that there was no @#$@%#& way that I was going to HOLD that panel up!! I was so mad I was shaking and crying!! We did finally wire the panel up and got her into the corral. Amazingly, being knocked out hadn't calmed her down one bit.

Randi
My Website
www.geocities.com/randiliana2000
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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/canadianfoodanimals

[Faster horses]

That was good. I'm glad you LIVED to tell the story!!!

[DOC HARRIS]

My curiosity is peaked! What was the Final Diagnosis to which you arrived, and what was the Prognosis for the heifer after you performed the Frontal Lobotomy with the truck headlight? Have you attempted to place her in a squeeze chute subsequent to this experience? Have you had the opportunity to discuss the importance of "Safety on the Farm 4 Kids" with your 2 year old heir to the throne? Has your bred heifer had her calf yet? Has the UN-bred heifer explained to her calf the ins-and-outs of trailering and how to avoid headaches - particularly during pregnancy? The answers to all of these questions inquiring minds want to know!!

[George]

I have an inquiring maind as well - - - Doc could not have asked better questions - - - You must not leave us hanging - - - posibly this was the season ender and we have to wait to see the rest

[frenchie]

A number of years back in the early spring,we were calving out a large bunch of heifers,and we pulling a high percentage of the calves.They were penned in a 4 acre pasture close to the house.

I went out one cloudy night to check heifers, As I,m returning from checking them .I seen a movement about 100 ft from me. Now the light I,m carrying is acting up..But I,m sure its one particular smaller black heifer that is a fence crawler.

So I go closer, it moves off away from me.The faster i go the faster it goes.I still can,t see her very well.All the while i,m fighting with my light

So here we are the closer i get, the more it moves away.This continues all through the treed area of the pasture.. a 1/4 mile later we break out into the open.. A couple of hundred yards later.,the clouds parted., the moon peeks through..and i get a good look at her..



A rather annoyed big black bear.

[DOC HARRIS]

[frenchie]