REDUX: Ow Now Brown Cow! By Paul Wald

Hey there folks! A quick note preceding this post~
As we mentioned before, in the process of moving and revamping our site, we somehow lost some of our original posts. Well, that wasn't good enough for us, so through techno-wizardry, we managed to find them, and we're posting them AGAIN, daily;  we thought this was a great way for more recent readers to catch up on older posts. Plus, we wouldn't dare remove some our writers' informative works, since it seems lots of our long-time readers enjoy them, too! You'll see our "reposts" titled REDUX. We hope you enjoy them!

By Paul Wald of Salt Creek Life

Hello fellow ruralists!  Since this is my first submission at Renegade Farmer, I thought safety might be a good subject to touch on.

I still live on the same large farm I grew up on 40 years ago.    In that amount of time you learn a few things from your elders.  I offer the following…

While trying to force a 500 pound steer from a chute, my dad (who had been straddling the calf on 2 gates) slipped and landed squarely on the calf’s back.  The steer rocketed from the chute with my father attached, still facing us, but getting smaller as he approached the horizon.  His dismount was not pretty.  He was sore, but once we found his black horn-rimmed glasses, he felt a little better.


In another episode, I remember Dad trying to get a 16 foot gate shut before a very anxious cow could get through.  He almost had the gate latched when she hit.  I have never been too good with formulas, equations, or trajectories, but in our test we found:  One 1800 lb cow impacting the center of a 16’ gate with a 200 lb farmer attached, creates enough force to launch said famer 30 feet, and one pair of 1950’s style glasses 40 feet.

All joking aside, large animals can be dangerous.  My aunt broke her arm when she got it between a cow and a gate.  My dad broke his ankle in sort of the same manner.  Use these tips…

1. Never Turn Your Back On Large Stock
2. Don’t Assume You Know How Your Animals Will Behave Under Stress
3. Always Update Your Eyewear, Or Your Children Will Make Fun Of You In A Blog 20 Years Later!