O- Who has used a self-piercing weaning ring?

[Lannie]

Anybody? And can you tell me how they go in? Do WE have to poke through his septum, or is it something that you tighten gradually over a period of days? I can only find a picture in the Jeffers catalog, but it doesn't say how to use it. It looks like there's a tiny screw on one side of it, and I can't imagine having to try to poke through his nose, then tighten an itty-bitty screw while trying to restrain a 600 lb. writhing (in pain) steer.

Obviously, the reason I'm asking is that Seven's nose bling is out again this morning. He's evidently catching it on the fence, because every time I find it, that's where it is - right next to the fence. But he won't stop nursing when he gets it out, so once again I'm back to square one with the letdown thing. Just when we had a good routine going again, too... I'm at my wits end with this one. I really don't want to send him to the butcher this early, just when our grass is coming in and we could be feeding him for free.

We've thought of electrifying the cow pen and putting him in there, but that would mean we'd have to feed him hay all through the summer, and once what we have now is gone, there isn't anymore until first cutting in July or early August. I still need to keep some hay as "treats" for milking, so I can't keep him in the pen and feed him hay. I could put him in with the horses, but we only have barbed wire separating the horse and cow pastures, and he could nurse through it. We don't have the money to put field fencing along there because it's so long. We'd need about 3 rolls of 300' fencing, and we can't afford that.

So it's either the butcher, or a weaning ring that won't come out accidentally. Rich is having doubts that he could poke anything through Seven's nose, especially given how bad he fights when we even try to get the plastic ring in. Not "fighting," actually, but you know, throwing his head around, trying to avoid the ring. The only way I have to restrain him is to snub him up tight to a post or one of the boards in a stall, but he can still thrash pretty good that way.

Any ideas, other than a trip to the butcher?

Thanks!

~Lannie

[Claire]

You do the piercing- basically you push the sharp end through his nose and put the screw in. He'll need to be tied up really, really well. Like in the stanchion and then haltered with his head tightly to one side.

Could you split off a section of pasture for him with electric fencing?

[Janene]

Time to think outside of the box! How about asking one of the neighbors that has pasture next to yours if you can toss him in with their bovines for the summer? (Milk and/or cheese might be a great way to pay for it.....) Worst they can say is: Nope!
This way he gets to eat his grass, you get your (bigger) beef and no more weaning issues!

As for the pierced ring.....IF he learns to flip it up, he still might try to nurse.....and mine always lost his by getting it caught on the fence, too.
Janene

[crowinghen]

Could you put him in with the horses and run a strand of electrical fencing to keep him from putting his head through?
I have a battery powered fencer that I use a deep cycle marine battery on- it works great and was probably a hundred dollars or 125 for both , or buy a solar powered fencer and run some cheap wire.... just a thought.

susie

[Lannie]

Susie! Duh! ;D

I tell you, when I have an "urgent" problem, it never fails that my brain just does a complete disconnect. We already have a charger, we just have to move it over to the cow barn so it's closer to the divider fence, and I don't think we have enough wire to do the whole length, but that's not very expensive. We can pick some up when we go shopping the end of this month. And we still have a BUNCH of insulators, so we should be all set.

THANK YOU! That way, he'd still be here (I could put him in with Joe's cows once he moves them over here, but his place is so huge...), and he'd have Bandit and Cricket for company, ACROSS THE FENCE, or the horses. Horus (the Arab) actually seems to like Cricket and Seven, and spends a lot of time with his head hanging over the fence visiting with them anyway. And it would give them both someone else to play with. Horus needs to run and play, and so does Seven! PERFECT SOLUTION!

We'll have to run the wire above the Poochie Portals between the pastures, so hopefully it will still work. If he just zaps his nose once, I think it will keep him away from the fence, or at least at a respectful distance. I just don't want to zap either of the dogs, because I depend on them being able to go from one pasture to the other when they're patrolling or chasing something.

But this might actually work! Thanks again!

~Lannie ;D

[crowinghen]

Great!! Sounds like it night work out well!!



Susie

[simone947]

we use self piercing rings, but I use a sharp scalpel or knife to pierce their nose before i put the ring it, it takes brute strength to push that ring through as its not very sharp just pointed.

[Lesli]

Well it will be great if you don't have to pierce the nose, BUT if you do, be sure to get the calf ring and not the cow sized ring no matter how large Seven is because it will flip up higher than his nose and not poke him enough to hurt. Peekaboo had the calf ring --it made her cry like a baby, Rich and I cried too but she was fine in a matter of seconds and in minutes was eating grass and just fine. Sammy had the larger cow one since we had ordered it at the same time and we were thinking he is a bull we don't want to have to change it later, well he sucked till he went to the butcher at 16 months.

[Lannie]

There is NO WAY either Rich or I are going to be poking a hole through Seven's septum with a knife. So the piercing ring is right out. We'll do the run of electric down the length of the cross fence and just put him in with the horses. He'll be fine with them, and it will be much less stress on us humans!

~Lannie

[Shawn]

Why don't you take him over to one of your cow neighbors and throw him in the squeeze chute and get the ring in that way.

[Lannie]

Nah, we'll just use the electric fence. I can't cut an animal (that's still alive). That's one of the reasons I never pursued vet school. I wouldn't be able to do surgery. The other reason was I knew I'd never be able to euthanize one, either. The electric wire should keep him on the other side of the fence, and with the grass coming in strong now, I think it will distract him some. If he has a belly full of grass, he won't be NEEDING milk. I didn't say he wouldn't WANT it, but he won't NEED it.

If it doesn't work, I'll take all the "I told you so"s you can dish out!

~Lannie