- Joined
- Jul 31, 2002
- Messages
- 2,946
Had a pretty bad night the other night.
Dad called at about 11:30pm, and said he had a pregnant heifer that wasnt acting right. He asked whether I could come help him if it looked like shed have trouble with the calf. About 1:30 I was still up working on something, and I got the call.
So I got into my grubby farm clothes, and found dad at the barn trying to rope the cow. We got her lashed to the wall posts so we could work with her, and we could see the calfs feet, but it wasnt coming any more. Dad felt around to make sure it was head first, and looped the small puller chains on its hooves. We hooked up the puller, which is basically a winch type arrangement, to try pulling the calf to help it along. We werent getting anywhere, and dad discovered that the calfs head had flipped back. He couldnt get it back straight. Im pretty sure the calf is dead
So we call up the vet at 2 AM, for his second trip out to our place that day. He had been there earlier to work on a steer that kept bloating. Had to cut a hole in its side & put a tube in to let the gas out- just long enough to get him to the butcher shop in the morning, that is.
After some more useless efforts, he declared the calf was just way too big for that young heifer, and there was no way hed be coming out normally. The calf had been dead a couple days, do he decided to cut the calfs head off so thered be more room for the rest of its body to fit. This is the sort of thing no farmer wants to hear. Its bad all around. But since wed woke the vet up in the middle of the night on an emergency call, he forgot some of his equipment at home. Im gonna need a hunting knife or something to saw the head off Wouldnt you know it- I didnt have anything that fit that description. I had folders in my pockets, and my bowie, khukri, & hatchet in my car, but no medium sized blades. Dad ran in the house and got his old Schrade trailing point knife while the vet started winching the calf partway out. He started cutting at the neck, sawing back and forth, and dads knife just wasnt working out. I didnt inspect it, but Im guessing it still had the dull factory edge on it, and I was worried about the point hitting the cow until he started trying to give the cow an episiotomy. I was holding the light and pulling the cows skin for him, and after fiddling with it for a bit he practically threw the knife down in disgust. I had my Case folding razor with a 1 1/2" Damascus steel blade in my pocket, and it was honed with a paper thin edge that would shave every hair from the arm without even touching the skin. I offered it to him, calling it my scalpel, both because I save it for minor surgical jobs on myself, and to let him understand it was different from the knife he had just been using. The short blade would also offer far more control, and the flat point wouldnt accidentally stab the cow. He touched it to the calfs hide, and the flesh just parted before it like the red sea. Now were getting somewhere! A few slices all around and the nasty job was practically done, except for the stuff holding the bones together. The edge got turned/rolled pretty bad as he hurriedly hacked at the bone, but I didnt expect it to hold up to that. The blade was ground about as thin as an old disposable Gillette razor
With the unsavory deed done, he handed my knife back. That made all the difference. That knife of yours saved the day, he said. In fact, he repeated it at least two more times as we continued working.
We still had a hell of a time getting the calf out the rest of the way, and unfortunately in the process we mustve caused a uterine tear. The vets advice: throw her on the trailer with the bloated steer & get her to the butcher shop 1st thing in the morning. Thats hella good news. But at least she wasnt dead right there in the shed, like she probably wouldve been if Dad hadnt checked on her. Got to bed around 5 AM after a hot shower. Saved the day alright Cutting up a poor baby calf before its even born, tearing up the mother so bad we gotta butcher her Life on the farm aint always easy, but theres usually a lesson to be learned somewhere.
Bah. Sorry for all the negativity.
Not been feeling to happy these days
Dad called at about 11:30pm, and said he had a pregnant heifer that wasnt acting right. He asked whether I could come help him if it looked like shed have trouble with the calf. About 1:30 I was still up working on something, and I got the call.
So I got into my grubby farm clothes, and found dad at the barn trying to rope the cow. We got her lashed to the wall posts so we could work with her, and we could see the calfs feet, but it wasnt coming any more. Dad felt around to make sure it was head first, and looped the small puller chains on its hooves. We hooked up the puller, which is basically a winch type arrangement, to try pulling the calf to help it along. We werent getting anywhere, and dad discovered that the calfs head had flipped back. He couldnt get it back straight. Im pretty sure the calf is dead
So we call up the vet at 2 AM, for his second trip out to our place that day. He had been there earlier to work on a steer that kept bloating. Had to cut a hole in its side & put a tube in to let the gas out- just long enough to get him to the butcher shop in the morning, that is.
After some more useless efforts, he declared the calf was just way too big for that young heifer, and there was no way hed be coming out normally. The calf had been dead a couple days, do he decided to cut the calfs head off so thered be more room for the rest of its body to fit. This is the sort of thing no farmer wants to hear. Its bad all around. But since wed woke the vet up in the middle of the night on an emergency call, he forgot some of his equipment at home. Im gonna need a hunting knife or something to saw the head off Wouldnt you know it- I didnt have anything that fit that description. I had folders in my pockets, and my bowie, khukri, & hatchet in my car, but no medium sized blades. Dad ran in the house and got his old Schrade trailing point knife while the vet started winching the calf partway out. He started cutting at the neck, sawing back and forth, and dads knife just wasnt working out. I didnt inspect it, but Im guessing it still had the dull factory edge on it, and I was worried about the point hitting the cow until he started trying to give the cow an episiotomy. I was holding the light and pulling the cows skin for him, and after fiddling with it for a bit he practically threw the knife down in disgust. I had my Case folding razor with a 1 1/2" Damascus steel blade in my pocket, and it was honed with a paper thin edge that would shave every hair from the arm without even touching the skin. I offered it to him, calling it my scalpel, both because I save it for minor surgical jobs on myself, and to let him understand it was different from the knife he had just been using. The short blade would also offer far more control, and the flat point wouldnt accidentally stab the cow. He touched it to the calfs hide, and the flesh just parted before it like the red sea. Now were getting somewhere! A few slices all around and the nasty job was practically done, except for the stuff holding the bones together. The edge got turned/rolled pretty bad as he hurriedly hacked at the bone, but I didnt expect it to hold up to that. The blade was ground about as thin as an old disposable Gillette razor
With the unsavory deed done, he handed my knife back. That made all the difference. That knife of yours saved the day, he said. In fact, he repeated it at least two more times as we continued working.
We still had a hell of a time getting the calf out the rest of the way, and unfortunately in the process we mustve caused a uterine tear. The vets advice: throw her on the trailer with the bloated steer & get her to the butcher shop 1st thing in the morning. Thats hella good news. But at least she wasnt dead right there in the shed, like she probably wouldve been if Dad hadnt checked on her. Got to bed around 5 AM after a hot shower. Saved the day alright Cutting up a poor baby calf before its even born, tearing up the mother so bad we gotta butcher her Life on the farm aint always easy, but theres usually a lesson to be learned somewhere.
Bah. Sorry for all the negativity.
Not been feeling to happy these days
