There isn't a day that passes that I'm not thankful for Lorenzo's expertise and abilities. This was especially true this afternoon, when it was time to vaccinate all five of our cattle for bovine warts plus the usual annual vaccines and worming.
Unfortunately, our squeeze chute, a device that makes it infinitely easier to vaccinate cattle, was in the lower pasture with the two Black Angus heifers. Since one of the heifers, Libbey, sprouted an active case of bovine warts in early May, running the Charolais cattle through the chute was risky, especially for the Charolais calf, Tip.
Working with cattle can be dangerous work, especially shots, so putting a containment system together using the fence and our existing cattle panels was an important task.
Lorenzo's catch pen and simple manual squeeze chute with a rope butt bar worked like a charm. First, using grain as a lure, Lorenzo directed the Charolais cattle into the catch pen and haltered the adults, Tad and Daisy. Next, starting with Tad, Lorenzo positioned the steer in the chute and wrapped the halter lead rope around a sturdy fench post. I looped the butt rope from one panel to the next, forming a "no back" bar. With Tad in place, Dr. Steve Vredenberg commenced a four shot series.
The big steer bellowed as he bunched and swayed, but the whole process was over swiftly. Lorenzo relaxed his hold on Tad's lead and unwrapped it from the fence post. Before Lorenzo could open the side panel of the chute, Tad backed up and it was my turn to hang on tight (Dr. Steve later pointed out that dallying the butt rope around the panel more than once actually provides more leverage -- SO TRUE).
In short order, Tad was out of the chute and tied to a fence post where he serenely watched as Dr. Steve vaccinated Daisy.
With Daisy tied to a fence post, it was the calf, Tip's, turn. Tip is a baby, but make no mistake, he's two-hundred-fifty pounds of raw power -- especially when he's scared. Lorenzo herded Tip into the chute and as we were talking with Dr. Steve about how to halter the not-so-little bugger, the calf dropped to his knees and stuck his head through the panel. Dr. Steve recognized an opportunity and hollered: "Push him up against the fence!" Lorenzo did so as Dr. Steve spryly vaulted over the fence, loaded syringes in hand.
Lorenzo braced his body against Tip's as Dr. Steve swiftly delivered the vaccines. It was all over in less than a minute. Afterward, Dr. Steve haltered Tip and gently guided his head back through the panel. Tip set back and fought Lorenzo's hold, but Lorenzo prevailed.
At Dr. Steve's direction, Lorenzo tied Tip to the central post in the temporray cattle shelter. We left him there and went to vaccinate the Black Angus heifers, which was blissfully uneventful. Dr. Steve even commented that he, too, thought Libbey's warts looked like they were going in the right direction.
Afterwards, when we checked on Tip, he had tugged on the post enough to be subdued. Lorenzo worked with Tip for a bit before releasing him.
All in all, our cattle vaccine day was a huge success thanks to Lorenzo's knowledge of cattle, his elegant temporary chute system, Dr. Steve's expertise and swift, efficient shots, and our combined efforts.
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