Out Around the Barn

If you are lucky enough to have a farm or ranch and own livestock of any kind then, you know about expenses and the unexpected kind. 

Just like our children, we must care for our animals.  They need good nutrition and vaccinations.  Our animals need to be de-wormed at least twice a year and when they are under the weather, may need antibiotics or other meds to get them back on their feet. 

This, I am learning more about everyday with my own animals.  We have a fair size herd of cattle and we do what we can to keep them healthy, they get their vaccines and de-wormed regularly.  But even then, problems arise and new steps have to be taken when one is under the weather or injured. 

If you have followed my website farm blog at: www.outaroundthebarn.com or on this blog, you will recall some of the misfortunate happenings I have had with my own personal stock.

First, there was Rusty Rose, my Longhorn cow for 5 years.  She got her left hind leg caught in a hay feeder and it froze.  This was in January of 2008, on the coldest day of the year.  She eventually lost the leg but, we did everything we could to save her since she was only 8 weeks away from delivering her calf.  I wasn’t sure she could even raise him but, she surprised us by the third day and then it was nothing to her.  She hobbled around on three legs until we weaned him and done well. 

When this happened, it was time consuming, antibiotics twice daily, we had to find a place to stall her with enough room for her to try to move around in and so we could lift her with a hip lift to get her on her feet two times a day.  We had to provide extra bedding and hay for her and we had to keep her separate from the herd.  The estimated cost of this project was close to $1,000.00. 

Next, we have my horse, Blaze, a nine year old Quarter Horse.  He didn’t come up to eat with the herd and we had just had a severe storm come through the night before.  We went in search for him and found him in the rubble, he could not walk.  He was barely standing.  We finally got him loaded onto the trailer and got him to the barn.  His left hind fetlock was swollen and there was a small cut above the hoof on the backside.  We doctored him and bandaged his fetlock and put him in a stall to keep an eye on him.  The next day the swelling was three times larger.  We soaked his foot in Epson salts and bran to reduce the swelling and called the Vet to get some antibiotics.  After a week, he was no better, so we loaded him up, which took a while to do, and to the Veternary we went.  X-rays and blood samples were taken.  No broken bones were found but he carried his leg like there was a serious break.  Somehow, he had detached his Flexer ligament, this may not be the correct name, it’s the main ligament.  It had either torn into or snapped.  This was a major problem.  We had to find a Farrier to come and fit him with a special shoe, an egg shoe, and keep it on him for several months.  A few days later, we got the test results back and found that he had a serious staph and psuedamonius infection.  The antibiotics changed.  We ended up with three rounds of this medicine before the infection was gone.  We had to continue soaking his leg twice daily and wrapping it carefully for safety and protection.  We, also, had to put a boot on him, mostly only during the day.  His right leg, also, had to be wrapped to protect it from damage of stress and the extra weight.  We had to keep him separate from the other horses and keep him stalled so that he could be watched closely. 

I was told it would take, at least, 8 – 9 months for this to heal and they were right.  It has now been 10 months and he is doing well.  He has gotten his spirit back and I will be working with him more so that I can,  eventually, get a saddle back on him.   We, now, move him daily out into the small lot by the barn so that he can eat grass and move around more.  It has taken a lot of time and extra expense to get him well.  I estimated that the total cost of this little adventure was close to $2,000.00.  Definately, not a regular expense on the farm.

Now, we have my meager goat herd of 10, seven nannys, two kids, and a billy.  We are getting ready to casterate our two little ones and de-horn them here in the next few days.  All of them have been de-wormed twice, except for the babies, and we have had no major issues until now.  Mr. Ed, our billy, has Foot Rot.  He had to bring this with him since we have had no problems before, I have owned him for approximately 4 weeks now.  The weather is wet and muddy and to keep his hooves clean is a chore.  It is a good thing he is gentle and friendly. 

The treatment for this I have found is keeping the hooves trimmed and as clean and dry as possible, soak their feet or let them walk through a water bath of Epson salts or a Copper Sulfate mixture of 450 grams to one gallon of water, at least, 2 – 3 times a week and rounds of antibiotics such as;  pen-strep,  oxytetracycline, or a combination sulfa.  The antibiotics must be consistant for a week.  Cortisone can be used but, you must be careful.  It can cause abortion in pregnant does and should be used no more than four days. 

There may just be one that is infected and you can do the treatment on that one alone but, the whole herd can get this.  It is best to let them all walk through the water bath to prevent problems down the road.  Also, for preventive measures, an iodine supplement should be given to them, an iodized salt block is not enough.  This is our cheapest project estimated around $200.00.

These are my personal experiences with my livestock and not to be confused as medical advice.  These are some of the treatments that have worked for us.

So to get back to the basic message of this article, I must say that owning livestock is not cheap.  The unexpected expenses of the farm supplies that you have to purchase can get extremely high but you know that is the price we have to pay to keep our livestock healthy.  You can stock up and keep on hand the ones that you know you will need and there are many companies available to help you do just that.  There are also the medications that you can only get from you veternary and you should always discuss any problems with him/her before treatment. 

It is not cheap to own and operate a farm or ranch but the end results are amazing.  I just gave estimated amounts of the expenses we have paid to heal our animals, this does not include the feed, extra hay, extra straw or the extra time.  Would I do it again?  You better believe it!  It is a wonderful feeling to look out across the barnyard or pasture and see your livestock grazing and feel that swell of pride in your chest.  It then makes it all worthwhile.