Injured leg

Tuesday I noticed one of my cows sitting alone in the south pasture with no other cattle nearby.  By the time I walked over the herd came and all the cattle milled around and I lost track of the single cow.

Wednesday I saw her alone again in the south pasture.  She got up and started to walk by the time I entered the south pasture.  I walked over to see if she was ok as she was moving slowly.  I saw she had a limp and was favoring her right back leg.  I couldn't get close as she tried walking faster the closer I got.  So I let her be.

I wanted to get her into the corral for a better look and to restrict her walking.  But the cattle stayed closer to the river all day.

Thursday morning I got up relatively early.  One cow was alone at the salt feeder so I went out in the chilly frosty morning.  Once out there I discovered this was not the cow with the limp.  The herd was in the middle to river side of the south pasture.  I found the limping cow to one side.  She still limped.  Since she was near the herd she let me get closer.  Her leg did not look swollen but she certainly favored her leg and if she tried to move too fast sometimes her leg wanted to give way.  I couldn't see if anything was in her hoof.

As I got nearer the house the herd came to the east side of the south pasture.  I went back out and opened the gate to the hayfield.  All the cattle except the limping cow came through the gate and followed me to the fence by the barn.  I waited.  The herd drifted off.  The limping cow didn't connect the dots to go through the gate and instead came right to the south pasture fence.

I went out and encouraged her to follow me through the gate.  By the time she got near the gate the herd came to check out me and my pail of salt blocks. So she stood and watched.

*sigh*

So I had to herd her through the gate.

She joined the herd and off they went.  Then they noticed the neighbor's cattle across the road and most of them ran along the fence and mooed at them.

After a long tour along the fence of the hayfield's parameters they came back to the fence by the barn with the limping cow trailing.

Time to let them into the corral.  The entire herd except for the limping cow slowly made their way into the corral.  I waited.  And waited.  The limping cow saw the herd in the corral but she had no interest in joining them.   She preferred to hang closer to the horses across the fence in the middle pasture.

I had to herd her into the corral.  But slowly as she was limping.

After I had all the cattle in the corral Dan stopped by to look the cow over.  She was laying on the ground and her calf was trying to suck from her udder which was partially exposed.   It was good her calf was there as I didn't know which calf was her.  Usually the calves stick together except when they drink from mom.

Her leg looked good and her hoof was clear with nothing stuck in it.  It appears she may have stepped in something and twisted it, or less likely Beulah or another cow rammed her badly bruising her leg.

I am keeping her in the corral for the time being so she doesn't have to walk much to give her a chance to heal.  I separated the limping cow and her calf from the herd, and after the herd had their early afternoon siesta in the warm sun, they returned to the south pasture.

For now the horses will have to be content with the north and middle pastures, where they spend the majority of their time anyway.