SHE'S GOTTA GO!

WE BOUGHT A LOAD OF CATTLE AND THEY WERE DELIVERED BACK A FEW WEEKS AGO - BRED COWS AND WEANED CALVES...THEY CAME FROM TERRELL, TX (about 3 hours away) THEY WERE UNLOADED, THE PAYMENT WAS MADE AND THE SHIPPER GOT BACK ON THE ROAD. WE KEPT THEM UP AT THE BARN FOR A FEW DAYS TO JUST ACCLIMATE.

THE NEXT MORNING, WE NOTICED IMMEDIATELY THAT ONE OF THE MAMA COWS WAS DOWN AND NOT JUST RESTING. I MADE HER GET UP AND REALIZED THAT SHE WAS NOT DOING WELL. SHE WAS CARRYING HER BACK RIGHT LEG - AND IT LOOKED LIKE IT WAS HER HIP.

AFTER A COUPLE MORE DAYS OF OBSERVATION, WE TURNED THE REST OF THEM OUT INTO THE BIG PASTURE, BUT KEPT HER UP. SHE WAS MAD. SHE IS ALWAYS MAD!

SHE ALSO HAD THIS HUGE BALL-LIKE GROWTH EXTENDING FROM HER LEFT HIP...

WE DECIDED TO HAUL HER INTO TOWN TO LET THE VET TAKE A GANDER. SINCE WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF MAKING SOME PERMANENT CHUTES, DYKE HAD TO FASHION A TEMPORARY ONE OUT OF SOME PANELS.

(Do ya like the buffalo skulls on the fence in this picture? You can read about that whole escapade in one of my Red River Chronicles listed in my other posts in the sidebar.) DYKE BACKED THE TRAILER TO THE CHUTE AND THAT'S WHEN THE "FUN" STARTED...SHE WAS NOT GOING IN THAT TRAILER FOR NUTHIN'! I THINK SHE REMEMBERED THE PILGRIMAGE FROM TERRELL AND SHE WASN'T LETTIN' THAT HAPPEN AGAIN! SHE SNORTED, FROTHED AT THE MOUTH AND CHARGED AT BOTH ME AND DYKE. I WAS THE FIRST "VICTIM TARGET" AND LUCKILY I WAS ABLE TO GET OUT OF THE WAY BEFORE SHE PLOWED ME OVER! OOOO, WAS SHE CRAZED!

A FLEETING THOUGHT OF "MAD COW DISEASE" WASHED OVER ME...I HAVE WORKED A LOT OF CATTLE AND SHE JUST DIDN'T FIT THE BILL FOR THE NORM...SOMETHIN' WAS WRONG WITH THIS DANG COW! SHOOT FIRE...WHY DIDN'T WE FULLY EXAMINE EACH ONE BEFORE THE SHIPPER LEFT THE FARM...THIS ONE WOULD CERTAINLY HAVE BEEN RELOADED!

DYKE PLAYED "VICTIM" SEVERAL TIMES! HER RAGE ESCALATED WITH EVERY SNORT AND SLINGING OF HER UGLY HEAD! FINALLY AFTER A DOZEN ATTEMPTS, SHE RAN THROUGH THE CHUTE AND INTO THE TRAILER. GOTCHA...YOU WILD MANIAC!

DR. MATTHEWS COULD TELL RIGHT AWAY (I guess that's why he gets the big money and not me.) IT WASN'T HER HIP, BUT HER HOOF. BEFORE HE CHECKED THAT, I TOLD HIM SHE WAS SUPOSSED TO BE BRED, SO HE PULLED ON ONE OF THOSE LATEX GLOVES THAT GO CLEAR UP TO YOUR UPPER ARM AND IN HE WENT! HE TWISTED HIS ARM A BIT AND FINALLY WAS "IN HER" ALMOST UP TO HIS SHOULDER. "YUP, SHE'S GOT A BIG BABY IN THERE...PROBABLY 3 MONTHS BRED." WELL, THAT WAS GOOD...ATLEAST WE GOT WHAT WE PAID FOR...HE SLOWLY BACKED HIS ARM OUT AND REMOVED THE MANURE CAKED GLOVE. ON TO THE NEXT AILMENT...

HE CLIPPED THE TIP OF HER HOOF OFF AND DARK BLOOD AND PUSS INSTANTLY SQUIRTED OUT. HE DABBED SOME ON HIS FINGER AND OFFERED IT TO ME TO SMELL..."THIS AIN'T CHANNELL #5, HERE TAKE A WIFF"...OH MY GOODNESS...TALK ABOUT RANK! SHOOT!

WHEN HE CHECKED THAT BIG BALL LIKE GROWTH, HE SAID IT WAS A BLOOD CLOT FROM WHERE SHE WAS PROBABLY BUMPED OR FELL DOWN IN THE TRAILER OR SOMETHING. HE GRABBED A SCALPEL AND PROCEEDED TO DRIVE IT INTO THE MASS. IMMEDIATELY, BLOOD, PUSS AND STRINGS OF WHITE COLORED TISSUE POURED FORTH. HE SAID THE WHITE STUFF WAS THE ACTUAL CLOT. HE PUSHED AND SQUEEZED -LIKE A GIANT ZIT- UNTIL IT WAS MOSTLY DRAINED. NOW SHE HAD THIS GAPING HOLE IN HER HIND END, AND A DRAINING HOOF...YEE-HAW!

SHE GOT A HUGE DOSE OF ANTIBIOTICS AND WE WERE ON OUR WAY.

MAD WASN'T EVEN THE APPROPRIATE WORD NOW. INCENSED, INSANE, RABID-LIKE, DERRANGED AND VIOLENT WERE NOW THE ADJECTIVES! IT TOOK 3 GUYS AND A HOTSHOT TO GET HER BACK IN THE DANG TRAILER!

MMMmmmm...CAN'T WAIT TO GET HOME AND DEAL WITH THIS ONE! SHE'S STILL UP AT THE BARN, BUT DYKE OPENED HER AREA UP TO THE SIDE PASTURE SO THAT SHE COULD GET UP AND AROUND AND GRAZE.

SHE HAS ACTUALLY GOTTEN DYKE THROWN ONTO THE GROUND ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS WHEN HE HAS ENTERED THE PEN TO CHECK HER... AS SOON AS SHE CALVES AND THAT BABY GETS WEANED, SHE'S GOTTA GO!