Post by robynsa on Aug 24, 2014 11:58:35 GMT -5
I have a 22 month old long leg Dexter heifer, Frankie, that has been tricky from when we got her at 3 weeks old, with her mother. Her mother was the one that we PTS due to either hardware or kidney disease (Frankie was a year old at the time). Her mother was a fence jumper and so is Frankie. She's also the hardest to handle - not mean, but strong, and she's a pretty big girl and if she can't barge through something she'll jump over it (people included). I spent days sorting out their new grazing and today when I went to check on them, Frankie had jumped the fence. She was the only one outside and thankfully had NOT eaten the neighbours flowers but still, she was out, and grazing on the other side of the road while all the others milled around inside the fence staring at her. There is grass in the paddock but there's green grass on the other side of the road (neighbour has irrigation for his flowers).
I don't know if she's bred (she should be) but lately she's been showing some weird signs that she's coming on heat when the others come on heat, so I don't know.
I really just want to send her to the butcher. We need the beef, and I really can't be building all of my fences around ONE cow when there are another 10 that respect what I do.
If she was bred, and calved soon, I'd need to keep her until I wean the calf. My other lactating Dexter girls are feeding us and feeding their calves, so there isn't milk to spare, and our Jersey is dry. I really, truly, don't feel like bottling a calf and it would have to be with replacer.
She's also annoying me because she is a terrible bully to the calves and to Rosie, and shoves them all away from the hay and water.
I'm sure you can all see that I've pretty much made up my mind. I need her gone. She is driving me crazy.
Is it unethical to send her to the butcher if she may be bred? While I wouldn't like to see a partial or full term calf in there, and I know I'd feel really terrible, I just don't know that I would WANT these genetics in my herd in any case.
Has anyone ever dealt with something like this before? I feel really conflicted and I worry that if there IS a calf in there, I'll feel positively evil for never giving it a chance. That being said, palpation is out of the question because of how difficult she is to handle (we don't have a crush or a stanchion), so the best I could do is a blood test. But every time I look at her, I feel irritated.
What would YOU do?
I don't know if she's bred (she should be) but lately she's been showing some weird signs that she's coming on heat when the others come on heat, so I don't know.
I really just want to send her to the butcher. We need the beef, and I really can't be building all of my fences around ONE cow when there are another 10 that respect what I do.
If she was bred, and calved soon, I'd need to keep her until I wean the calf. My other lactating Dexter girls are feeding us and feeding their calves, so there isn't milk to spare, and our Jersey is dry. I really, truly, don't feel like bottling a calf and it would have to be with replacer.
She's also annoying me because she is a terrible bully to the calves and to Rosie, and shoves them all away from the hay and water.
I'm sure you can all see that I've pretty much made up my mind. I need her gone. She is driving me crazy.
Is it unethical to send her to the butcher if she may be bred? While I wouldn't like to see a partial or full term calf in there, and I know I'd feel really terrible, I just don't know that I would WANT these genetics in my herd in any case.
Has anyone ever dealt with something like this before? I feel really conflicted and I worry that if there IS a calf in there, I'll feel positively evil for never giving it a chance. That being said, palpation is out of the question because of how difficult she is to handle (we don't have a crush or a stanchion), so the best I could do is a blood test. But every time I look at her, I feel irritated.
What would YOU do?