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Wow, my steer has stumped my vets

Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2023 8:10 pm
by 12th Man
One of my longhorns hasn’t been with the herd the past few days. I found him last week and put him in the corral so my vet could come out and look at him. Apparently he didn’t like it in there by himself and jumped the 4.5’ top rail. His left horn is pointed downward. My vet(s) have never seen this. He either got kicked by on of the horses or got it stuck in something and broke it getting loose.

It looks normal going into his skull, no sign of swelling or head trauma. Just a huge what happened to you. He's also not eating much and is very skinny. Don't know if this has anything to do with it or it's something else. Doc is running blood work on him to see what's going on unless it's head trauma!

The normal picture was from last spring, the one pointed downward a day ago!

Anyone ever seen this?

Re: Wow, my steer has stumped my vets

Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2023 9:29 pm
by Diver43
Not knowing a thing about cows, I can only say, hope the vet sorts it out. It does look odd though

Re: Wow, my steer has stumped my vets

Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2023 10:12 pm
by Jayhawker
Handsome critter...looking a bit worse for wear though....

Re: Wow, my steer has stumped my vets

Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2023 11:49 pm
by 12th Man
yes he is. I was hoping to keep him in the corral and give him a high protein diet and some other things the vet prescribed. He won't stay and the other cows will munch it as quick as I put it out.

Hopefully he'll start turning the corner.

Re: Wow, my steer has stumped my vets

Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2023 11:53 pm
by Jayhawker
Good luck...hope that all works out...

When we lived in Kansas we had a loose longhorn that was looking for love all over the county...sucker could jump a barb wire fence like a frigging deer...

Re: Wow, my steer has stumped my vets

Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2023 3:43 am
by Kansashunter
A few things come to mind but I am sure your vet has checked them all ready. He sure is sick so I hope the vet figures it out soon. I can't imagine a horn coming loose at the base but that is a lot of horn.

Re: Wow, my steer has stumped my vets

Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2023 3:36 pm
by Wambli Ska
An infection at the base would soften the tissue but I’m sure you vet has checked for that.

Re: Wow, my steer has stumped my vets

Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2023 11:25 pm
by PFD45
.

Re: Wow, my steer has stumped my vets

Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2023 11:26 pm
by PFD45
PFD45 wrote: Wed Aug 09, 2023 11:25 pm I'm picturing some sort of a truss.

Throw a lariat around both horns, put a truckers knot on it and cinch it up. :lol:

Or maybe a Lunch-Lady grade brasserie?

I do hope he gets better.

Re: Wow, my steer has stumped my vets

Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2023 5:16 pm
by Kansashunter
any updates yet? If it makes you feel any better I lost a bull recently, don't know what happened to him as I could never find him. None of the neighbors have him and the only thing I can think of is lightning. This was only his second season.

Re: Wow, my steer has stumped my vets

Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2023 6:20 pm
by Varmintmist
Peyroni's

Re: Wow, my steer has stumped my vets

Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2023 1:45 pm
by 12th Man
Sorry, been on a road trip back to VA to visit family for the past week. The vet is coming out next Tuesday to draw blood. He's very gentle to be around minus those horns when he turns his head. Most anyone can hand feed him cattle cubes. The goal is to get him in the corral with some cattle cubes and for her to draw blood. Not sure how he'll react when the needle goes in our if he'll feel it. Then they'll analyze the blood and we should know. I'll keep you posted.

Sorry to hear about your bull. I lost a momma calving two years ago. I was on a business trip and my buddy found her. She must have died during the night.

Re: Wow, my steer has stumped my vets

Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2023 3:15 pm
by 12th Man
We figured out what is going on with our longhorn. I went to feed him some cattle cubes with safe guard mixed in as a d-wormer. With his horn bent downward, it prevents his head from getting to the ground. It actually stops 8 to 10" or so before the ground. We think he's not able to eat enough browsing off the top of the grass and cactus.

Apparently just cutting off a horn on a longhorn sounds simple. However, it will bleed bigtime and can get infected. My vet is researching the best way do it. Hopefully we'll have him taken care of next week.

Re: Wow, my steer has stumped my vets

Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2023 6:06 pm
by Zee
Hamburger

Re: Wow, my steer has stumped my vets

Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2023 6:20 pm
by 12th Man
Nope, the three original long horns we purchased in '13 were 375lb calves when they arrived. We raised them for ten years. All are gentle as can be. They'll eat of your hands and love head and back scratches. Just got to be really careful with their horns. I will say when other two long horns came in my vet said "wow, those are two of the most impressive long horns she'd seen in a while"! Both have wing spans over 10', the largest one she said had to go 2600 to 2800 lbs. I took her word for it being close as she's the vet at sale barn. They'll all live out their lives here.

Re: Wow, my steer has stumped my vets

Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2023 12:09 am
by Kansashunter
Could you use a small elevated feeder while figuring out what to do. Taking off the horn is easy but dealing with what is left is not. A fine tooth sawzall works good but as big as those are I wouldn't want to do it. Good luck.

Re: Wow, my steer has stumped my vets

Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2023 4:02 pm
by Wambli Ska
Can’t they do a partial cut? Only cut like half of the existing horn on both sides? Just curious…

Re: Wow, my steer has stumped my vets

Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2023 5:28 am
by 12th Man
I got a call from the vet today. We have a plan in place. We're only going to take the 2.5 to 3' or so. Just enough so he can get his mouth to the ground and not hit the stub on the ground. Looks like Tuesday or Wed next week. Since he's extremely friendly with me, I'll be giving him his shot to make him go night night. We'll Sawzall off the horn, cauterize it with a propane torch and wrap it up good so it doesn't get infected. It looks as though I'll be doing most of the work under the supervision of my vet. I'll keep everyone posted as to how it goes.

Re: Wow, my steer has stumped my vets

Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2023 3:05 pm
by Wambli Ska
Best of luck! Praying for a quick recovery.

Re: Wow, my steer has stumped my vets

Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2023 3:45 pm
by Kansashunter
That's cheating having him take a nap. I hope it goes well and safe for all involved. My only advice would be how I give shots to horses is to stab in the needle in them without the syringe and then if he jumps or you need to move you can and then attach the syringe to the needle.

Re: Wow, my steer has stumped my vets

Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2023 9:50 pm
by jbp-ohio
Image


Image

Re: Wow, my steer has stumped my vets

Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2023 12:32 pm
by 12th Man
Where do I get a light saber :)

Re: Wow, my steer has stumped my vets

Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2023 1:04 pm
by GrapeApe
12th Man wrote: Fri Sep 01, 2023 12:32 pm Where do I get a light saber :)
From a galaxy far far away :lol:

Re: Wow, my steer has stumped my vets

Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2023 7:29 pm
by jbp-ohio
12th Man wrote: Fri Sep 01, 2023 12:32 pm Where do I get a light saber :)
We're getting there........

https://youtu.be/8qtUzxU8-6c?si=rs5mBuR8Tn69Zewn

Re: Wow, my steer has stumped my vets

Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2023 8:01 pm
by CPJ 2.0
And soon, the vet is gonna stump your steer.