Foot Rot

Just over a week ago I noticed a cow that was limping. One hind leg was swollen and I knew she had foot rot. Cattle can pick up infection if there is a break in the skin. If they are standing in wet, boggy or muddy areas for long periods of time, they are more prone to getting foot rot. This group of cows are in a deep wooded canyon pasture. I had no means to doctor her by myself. When Daniel got home from work we went out to find her. Instead of saddling all the horses and dragging the kids along, we decided to let them sit in the truck and wait. Here we are at the trailer before we headed out and left the kids to watch a movie while they waited. We don't do this often, but today we had no idea where the cows were or how long it might take.

What do ya know, here she is. You can see the swelling on that back foot.

She did take off, but didn't get very far. AND I'm happy to say that I caught her by both back feet on the first try! I'm telling you it's the rope! I insisted on using a stiffer rope instead of the rope my husband bought me for my birthday. I hope he wasn't offended.... but I think he was happy when I caught quickly! 

I recently mentioned to him that I need a medical dart gun for things like this when he's not available to rope with me. He really doesn't want to get one because he's afraid we'll stop using the horses. After I caught on the first throw he even said this: "We don't need a d$#! dart gun, I got my wife!" Made me feel  great! But I still want one...

Yep, she had it pretty bad. A shot of LA 300 and we let her go.

Off to find her calf. Your welcome girlie! I love my cows.

Heading back we took the long way home in search for anything else that was lame or sick. Kinda reminds me of being at my home in the mountains of Idaho.

We like to have fun every now and then.

No more lame or sick cows, so we called it a day. It's nice when things go as planned. Doesn't happen often, but we'll take it when it does.