if a cow's dying in a field--(right/wrong question from non-cow owner)

[Katy]

Quote:
Ok, I read to this post and had to comment. Cows calving in the snow is a perfectly acceptable practice. As long as the calf gets up and nurses, he'll be fine. Many cattle producers don't like to "baby" their animals, because they're animals. They're equipped to live outside without (much) human intervention. As long as the cow calves with out problems and the calf gets up to nurse, there's absolutely nothing wrong with the owner doing nothing to assist.

I get irritated when people say 'Oh, look at the poor *insert species here* standing out in the snow with snow on its back!" Well, animals are meant to live outside. They have protective coats. We actually do them more harm when we lock them up tight in a barn, because that creates all types of respiratory issues. As long as an animal has some sort of windbreak, they'll be fine.

And no interaction...well, what type of interaction would you like to see on a cattle farm? Does the farmer/rancher need to personally pet each cow every day?

And beef cattle absolutely can live to 20 or older!

As far as the original post, no self-respecting animal owner should let an animal lay there and die without doing something to put it out of its misery. If in fact the owner knew the cow was dying, he should have done something about it.

Thank you, thank you, thank you ....someone commenting who actually knows something about what they're talking about.

 

[CedarRidgeChicks]

..to the above two post!!

 

[herfrds]

Cousin had a Hereford cow that lived to be 22 years old. Had a calf every year and that last year she got a spot on her eye and he had to ship her.

Now I will admit we spoil our cows. Sorry Katy.
We roll out straw bales when there is a lot of snow on the ground for the calves to bed in. Also we have used in the past a shed during really bad weather for calving.
Had one of our cows yesterday that went in front of this shed and had her calf. Crazy cow wanted in the shed.

Now don't go lumping 99% of the cattle producers in with the 1% of morons that shouldn't own any animal. Nothing stirs up the cattle producers I know faster then anything then to compare them to these idiots.

Now about the original post. I would have tried to find the owner by asking the neighbors.
No idea of what was wrong with this cow.

Now we had a cow this spring that lost her calf and was sick, nothing we did helped her. DH went out and put her down so she wouldn't suffer any longer.

I know alot of commcerial cattlemen/women who are responsible for their cattle also just like show cattle producers.

 

[Katy]

Quote:
We do the same thing as far as rolling straw out when the weather is bad.....not sure who likes it more, the cows or the calves. I don't consider that spoiling them tho...just taking care of them!

We're more likely to bring a first calf heifer into the barn for calving if the weather is going to be bad than we will an older cow.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

I don't think this conversation is about interacting with cattle or not. If you own an animal, it doesn't matter what it is, you have a responsibility to care for that animal fromt he minute it is born until the time that it dies. It's possible that the owner did not know about the dying cow in this situation, but seeing as how it was right in sight from a road he should have taken care of the animal instead of letting it suffer. Obviously some ranchers have a lot of land and they cannot keep an eye on all of their cattle ranging over hundreds of acres. However, this is not an acceptable excuse for leaving a sick animal to die in plain and accessible sight.

In that situation, I probably would have asked around about the owner and just let them know about the cow and where it was. Like I mentioned, it may have just been an over sight.

 

[twentynine]

At the risk of "crossing horns" with others I have a responce.

Sometimes the cow is owned by some one who leases the property, and they may not inspect their livestock daily. And then on the other hand, I have seen owners that are seemingly unconcerned with giving aid to cattle obviously in trouble. For instance the guy who had my placed leased, would not spend one thin dime calling a vet, never, no matter the circumstance. I remember one time looking out and seeing a cow with a breeched calf stuck at the hips. She was down and obviously in serious trouble, I called the guy, he asked me to go out and look at the cow to see what I thought. I did, the calf was dry and dead, the cow I believe to this day if she would have got some help would have survived. However, the guy came out, literally pulled the dead calf from the cow with a truck, at that point I think he had broke the cows hips, she was plainly a goner then. Left her laying there.Had he called a vet, or even practiced a little caution in his removal of the calf, the cow would have had a chance.

People like this buy these cows for a few dollars at the auction, put'em on pasture, if they make it and give'em a calf to sell they make a little money. If the cow dies, well it was a scrub cow anyhow, no fed invested, no vet bill, nothing lost.

 

[duckluck]

Quote:
I'm not looking to "cross horns" with anybody either, twentynine, but what a horrible story! I realize people have to eat, but you have to wonder when people have that little regard for any life, even that of a food animal. IMO, the least he could have done was shot her and put her out of her misery if he didn't want to make an effort or spend money for her to live.

I know one time I was driving down the road like the OP and saw a cow that looked to be in some serious trouble...she had given birth and had a prolapsed uterus...I stopped and told the guy who had the farm, and he was pretty nice about it, explained the situation to me and said he was going to wait a while and hope she got well enough to go to market. He'd already done what he could for her and thanked me, said if I ever saw a problem out there when I was driving by to please stop and call it to his attention, because you never know, it might help one day. That I can deal with. I know very little about cattle, just enough to know that when it looks like internal organs are hanging out, it's time to stop and knock on doors.

 

[tazcat70]

There are good and bad owners of animals in all walks of life.

As an owner I would want to know if someone saw something. I am not a super human that knows all and see all. As a caring person, I would also tell someone if I saw something.

 

[herfrds]

chickerdoodle we run our herd on around 1500 acres and if we do not take care of our stock we do not get paid that fall.

duckluck a prolapsed uterus and he was going to wait????? We have had cows do that after calving and the vet was immediately called and it was cleaned and put back in and stitched.

 

[SamG347]

I would also like to say you cannot just look at it from your own perspective especially if you don't own/raise cattle. For many farmers it is a lot cheaper and easier to just shoot an old cow or young cow even if it is sick or crippled then it is to provide care. Might sound harsh but it is the real world. And shooting is quick and humane in my opinion.