All hat, no cattle…

[masraum]

Originally Posted by 911 Rod

Well done!
Does the phrase 'All hat, no cattle' mean something?
Wannabe cowboy?

Yes, "all hat, no cattle" is essentially the same as "all bark, no bite" or "all show, no go."

Originally Posted by Tobra

How did you manage to get that to not happen at 0300?

I bet that was a tired cow

No kidding. Isn't that when that sort of thing usually happens/starts, somewhere is the 1200 - 0300 range?

[oldE]

Originally Posted by 911 Rod

Well done!
Does the phrase 'All hat, no cattle' mean something?
Wannabe cowboy?

More about someone who presents themselves as a landowner and owner of herds but is ,at best, a small player, or just a poser.

Best
Les

[KFC911]

I believe it refers to a Coboy with a big ol' Coboy Hat

.... a poser

[unclebilly]

Maybe it should have been ‘all cattle, no hat’…

Regardless mamma and babe are doing fine.

[stevej37]

I've never helped, but watched calf pulling when I was a teen.
Amazing how fast they recover....just like nothing happened.
Good going.


But, I also have seen when things didn't work out right.

[Billiam 911 2.8]

More young people should be exposed to the farm life. The mortality of all living things and the responsibility to care for an animal besides a pet. Save family farms and ranches.

[thingmon]

Had to use a comealong a few times. Holsteins are tough. Breach births are brutal and usually at 2am.
Well done!

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by thingmon

Had to use a comealong a few times.

[herr_oberst]

Being able to put "cattleman" on your resumé is a sign you are made up of stern stuff. I watched Mike Rowe jam his arm up the business end of a cow once, and dip his bare finger in a tuna-can of cowshirt to check for ¿what?, all in the interest of showing us dirty jobs.

[wdfifteen]

Been there a few times as a kid. We had Holstein and Ayrshire dairy cows, though, so somewhat more experienced being around humans. If dad couldn't pull the calf with a rope over its feet, we called the vet. Our vet used a jack that pushed against the cow's hips, which was pretty brutal. The calf rarely survived if we had to make the call.

[masraum]

I have no experience with birth, whether people, pets, or large animals. I don't really feel like I'm missing anything.

[stealthn]

Couldn’t you use a come-a-long tied to the fencing?

[unclebilly]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Been there a few times as a kid. We had Holstein and Ayrshire dairy cows, though, so somewhat more experienced being around humans. If dad couldn't pull the calf with a rope over its feet, we called the vet. Our vet used a jack that pushed against the cow's hips, which was pretty brutal. The calf rarely survived if we had to make the call.

We have one of those jacks and had it at the ready. We’ve used it once this year already.

We have never lost a calf with the jack. The key is to use it to pull tension and then lever it down to pull the calf out. Not just jack the calf out with it.

Photo from the interwebs…

[unclebilly]

Originally Posted by stealthn

Couldn’t you use a come-a-long tied to the fencing?

Come alongs are pretty brutal. Hard to control. The calf jack when used correctly is far easier on the cow and calf. If it was just my wife and I, we would have used the jack.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by stealthn

Couldn’t you use a come-a-long tied to the fencing?

Yeouch!!
That would be a big NO. You have to have something that moves with the cow. If she falls down or decides to lurch forward, and the calf is attached to an immovable object, it could rip her guts out.