well it has nothing to do with Easter really

got the call Friday while at lunch vet was just leaving and this one needed put down for a twisted stomach

so that is what I have been doing this weekend down to just packaging now

That’s to bad Pete, at least you were able to use her.

Hopefully you were able to get some good meat.

At least you can put something in the freezer instead of putting it all in the ground, been though that one.

did about a hundred in ground maybe fifteen , twenty more in steaks.

she was not a big one

it was a salvage job for sure , she was just caked in mud


@Horn , the knives were very helpful

I am wondering if I should name my rifle Bessy now this one has shot more cows than deer

I set it up to be my Go Gun , a rifle ready the second you grab it , turns out when I need to go on short notice it is to drive to the farm and put down a cow.

308 bolt action with a Hornady cheek riser bag that holds 2 mags and 5 spare rounds in loops so the gun is always ready to roll

Man I hate Shootn those animals you feed every day….been a while since I shot one..fingahs crossed

Which stomach was twisted? They can do DA surgeries for displaced abomasiums if that was it was. Twisted intestines not a good thing. DAs are not cheap but can save a cow if the cow is or was valuable.
To save money when we diagnosed a DA we many times got them back to the right side by rolling them.

Bryce

why I get the call , I am in charge of shooting not feeding.

my friend really doesn't like doing it , I think he feels like he will mess it up and the animal will suffer so U out it right where it needs to be and it's lights out and I can salvage all the meat I can.

I didn't get to talk to the vet on this one , these are all beef and not dairy I don't know what the numbers work out to but when they don't work I get the call.

I also handle trapping and anything else that needs to be shot.

I can tell you the stomach was very full of air when I gutted her every bit of space filled by the stomach which didn't seem to have anything in it , I didn't cut at it just got it out

something was keeping it from passing that gas along

Got a .22 lr for pigs , sheep and goats but step up to .22 mag for cattle and horses if they are standing otherwise just the long rifle.

Glad it worked out for you it sure isn't the best part of owning livestock.

had a guy call me on Friday and had one with a busted hind legs. got it all cut ,ground,and on the freezer last night.
hate seeing them like that but makes me feel better knowing its not going on the bone pile. got a couple boxes ready to deliver to some folks on my way to work tomorrow.

I don't have a 22mag , I have other things that would work , but the 308 is handy and ready to go any time
I would rather go overkill and have him feel better about it being a lights out operation than not go over kill.

definitely better that they get used than go to waste
they are all going to the butcher eventually nature of the beef business , but butcher slots are now booked near a year in advance so an animal that might have been sent at first sign of any issue now has no place to go.
good that some of us can use that meat

Glad You got the Meat

GreenCountyPete butcher shops anywhere near here are a year to year and a half out also. I grew up cutting meat for my grandfather and grandmother, and got some of the tools when my brother closed the family business. Don't have a cooler but it's cool enough I let her hang off the back porch over night. From pulling the trigger to in the freezer took about 8 hours with help from the kids.

Jmack thatz all im missing too is the cooler. Its next on the buy list

It's a tough call thats for sure. The last one Dad and I had to put down and bury was a first time heifer down with calf, lost both. Dad always warned not to get attached but failed to follow his own advice many times. That one hurt as he'd basically hand raised that one.

Ive noticed the older the rancher the less deep the cut come cull day. Those good old cows always seem to get one more year.