A Run-in with a Cow

My Farmer had a run-in with one of his cows a few weeks ago. This is not a new thing. He has had many run-ins with his cows and a few times with his bulls. This one was different. He says it was the hardest he has ever been hit.

Working with cattle can be very dangerous. My Farmer has always told me to never turn your back on the animal and always be prepared for the unexpected. Which is extremely good advice. Yet sometimes, no matter how prepared or careful you think you are, shit happens.

We were working all the cattle, cows calves and bulls, meaning we were giving booster shots to all of them. A preventive, wellness thing that we do. One thing we hate more than anything is to watch a cow or calf become sick and die from a disease that could have been prevented with a vaccine. Our process of working them is this; we run them into the corral, sort them off, and run one at a time through the squeeze chute to give them their shots. This also lets us get a good general look at each one of them.

My Farmer was the one running the animals into the alley way and up to the chute. Things were actually going really well. The cows were moving smoothly through the process. At the time, I remember thinking that I bet the Farmer’s Almanac says today is a good day to work cattle. (It does actually say things like this) Then it was Miss Ruin It All’s turn. There always has to be that one that messes up a good thing. Miss Ruin It All was not wanting to follow the rest. She had escaped around my Farmer once and figured she could do it again.

My Farmer’s trusty side kick Cooper helped push the cow to the alley entrance. As my Farmer went to swing the gate to lock her in, the cow turned around as she had before, only this time, instead of turning away from the gate, she turned into it. This caused her to run smack dap into my Farmer. He had ahold of the gate and could not get out of her way. She hit my Farmer hard, right in the chest and kept on going with purpose.

I turned and looked just as they connected. I so wish I had a picture. My Farmer was riding high on the cows head, feet completely in the air, as they disappeared behind the corral fence. As I said before, my Farmer has had many run-ins with his cows and it has always turned out OK. He has always jumped right up and gone back after them, to teach them who is boss. So my first reaction was he’s fine, just keep paying attention to my job at hand. But after a second when I did not hear any cussing or hollering, I yelled at my son and took off running. I knew he was hurt. We found my Farmer laying flat on his back not moving. A good 40 feet from the original impact.

A very scary moment for me. That’s when I realize…I really should know more about emergency care stuff then I do. Especially when he uttered the words “I can’t breath”. Holy shit. What do you do for that! That’s a bit more serious then a cut finger that I can slap a Band-Aid on!!!

He laid there for a while, informed me that he was able to breathe and finally was able to stand up. He was lucky the cow just threw him off and took off to the other end of the pen. She didn’t step on him or pound him into the ground or the fence. He didn’t seem to have any broken bones, that we could tell, but he was very sore. My Farmer and son tried one more time to get Miss Ruin It All up the alleyway. She gave them both a look and a head shake and they just opened the gate and let her out. Showing her who was boss was not worth the hurt that day. If she gets blackleg and dies, it’s her own fault. She didn’t have to be so pissy.

As the day went on, my Farmer was not looking so good, but he kept going. He just moved real slow and was humped over a bit. Well….a lot.
Thankfully our other son showed up to help and we were able to finished working the rest of the cows and the calves.

My Farmer is still a bit sore but doing good. He had bruises show up on places that never hurt in the first place, so he admitted that he was injured a bit more than he thought. He very possibly could have broken or fractured some ribs, so we kept a close eye on him. The hardest part was making sure he did not do anything too strenuous, which is really hard for him. If it had been me, I would have been laid up on the couch for weeks! Thinking about it, they also would have had to hauled me out of the corral on a stretcher. But that’s me. My Farmer can’t just sit idle. My Farmer doesn’t know how to do that.

My Farmer says that was the hardest he had ever been hit by a cow. Hopefully it stays as his worse hit. The whole incident made me think. What would we have done if he had been really hurt? It’s scary to think about it. I would have to do all the things around here that he does. There is NO WAY I could do his job! He better be more careful. He needs to think about me! Right!?! That would not be nice.

As I joke about this, I know that I should not. There are people out there that this scenario has happened and the spouse did step up and take over doing everything. I completely respect those in that position. It would be so hard. Stressful, emotional, and so difficult. Life continues to go on on the farm if you are hurt or not. The work still needs done. The crops still need harvested, the cows still need attention, those things can not be put on hold while a person heals. I am thankful in knowing that if something did happen to my Farmer to were he was unable to do his duties, I do have a network of awesome family and friends that would step up and help. That, I am extremely grateful.

Presently, my Farmer is doing good and improving everyday. At the end of the day, he can tell if he did anything a bit to strenuous during the day, so he still does hurt a little.

As for me, I am counting my blessings. My Farmer is not seriously injured AND he finally did something that I witnessed so I could blog about it!!! Believe it or not, those are actually his words!! Yep, he did say it. Crazy right?!? Maybe he is liking becoming famous as my Farmer and your Farmer. (wink, wink)

Yep, all is well here on the farm now. Things happen every so often to make you be thankful for what you have. That’s what I believe. I am very thankful for my Farmer, my family, and this life of…..Livin’ the Life, the Farm Life that is.