Adventures with cattle 4

Allan Dick's place was not really set up for grazing animals, and he knew because he had been the leaseholder of Lilybank Station. But he wanted the grass chewed down so he bought two weaned heifer calves - they were both Hereford cross, one black with a white face and the other, a proper Hereford - red with a white face.

After they had grazed down the best grass, they escaped into the forest and grazed on the roadside. Allan tried to muster them and he enlisted my help as well. Particularly the red one was skittery and always ran off.

We expected some hunter would shoot them, but that did not happen and Allan suggested that perhaps we should target them.

In the end Allan said if I could catch them, I could have them and being a young married man in need of funds, I thought it was worth a try.

I used some cunning though. I drove my old, quiet cows up into the forest and very quickly the two renegade heifers joined them, so it was merely a matter of returning them all to my paddock, which was not a problem.

The black one settled down very quickly and was indeed - quiet. The red one was mad as a snake and if I walked into the paddock she would run off as far as she could.

'Oh she will settle down when she has calved!' I was advised, so with the others, I put her to the bull.

I noticed her as she began to calve and unfortunately her calf's hips became stuck. I walked down to try and help her but she ran to the top of the hill with her calf flapping behind her. I could not just leaver and approached again. She jumped the fence and now was alone - separated from the comfort of the other cows.

I walked towards her again slowly and she jumped another fence - all this was in Perter Anderson's property! The calf was still flapping behind her as she ran. So I took the long way and headed her off, just standing there and she bounced back over those two fences and when she saw me again she tried to clear the fence that was into the railway reserve. Her energy levels were down and her leg became caught in the fence and I saw her go down. 

Before I went down to her, I found a rope so was able to tie another leg to a fencepost. The calf was dead and I could not remove it.

I ran the vet who was busy but he advised me 'If the calf is dead, you can remove it surgically'. That meant, I had to cut the calf up to remove it!

The details are gory, and I wouldn't like to repeat it! However I removed the calf, bit by bit and I tried to clean the cow as best I could. 

I cut her from the fence and untied her and walked away. She stood up and joined the rest of the herd.

That cow was always mad and I took the first opportunity to send her to the freezing works, but not on her own, with others that were due to go.