Farm Animal Safety

[sandman2234]

We had a Nubian goat when I was a kid, large enough for us to ride. He could hurt you if you didn't watch him, and he had no horns.
Having also been kicked by a Holstein cow, I can say that they also are on the list of animals to be careful around. Generally pretty docile, but a kick can disable you in an instance. My knee still remembers that kick.
David from jax

 

[N80]

MY B-I-L broke his collar bone a few years back falling off of a rearing horse he was 'test' riding. He didn't end up buying that one! His daughter got kicked by a horse and ruptured her spleen. Later, he fell off a horse and got a concussion. Sounds like a dangerous place to work, and it is, but that's just life on a cattle ranch it seems. They ride every day. Funny thing is, I don't think any of them have been hurt by the cows. He has made an effort to make his cows very tame, but cows are unpredictable and stupid even when they are tame.

I do impromptu vet work for him from time to time (injuries,down cows, sick calves, vaccinations, worming, helping with 'deliveries') and I've been knocked over a time or two by a worried cow whose calf I was working on. I've seen my B-I-L and my nieces get bowled over by cows on several occasions, but nothing serious. Seems like the horses are the source of most of their injuries. I like to pet horses and look at horses but you rarely find me on one. And I own two!

 

[Soundguy]

Same here.. I got 3 horses.. and really don't care much for riding... Though i do like taking care of them..

Soundguy

 

[JRobyn]

I thought I was the only one! Two horses; would not get on either of them for love nor money!

 

[roxynoodle]

Gosh, I love to ride. Equestrian sports are responsible for more serious injuries every year than any other sport though, including football. I always wear my helmet and if I am jumping anything over 2.5 feet I wear my protective vest, too. Horses have a very strong flight instinct, as they should, because they are fast. That flight instinct can inadvertantly hurt their human companions though. People must remember though that horses are much, much stronger than they are. We have survived through evolution by being smart and resourceful. Animals have survived because they can fight, run or fly. I have read that a 170 lb St. Bernard has the strength of 4 men that size. I think a horse has the strength of at least 20 men. And surely none of us can run more than 40mph (racehorse) or even 30mph which most horses can hit. I used to laugh at my ex husband for trying to chase the horses around the pasture. He just couldn't understand that it became a game with them. They would see him and run, and he thought he could catch them! I have never chased a horse and everytime they see me, they come to the gate and go back in the barn into their own stalls when I open it. Works a lot better that way! Heck, I learned a couple years ago I can't even catch a potbelly pig. Mind you, I had never realized that little porker could actually run, but I am here to tell you, he is much faster than I am!

 

[czechsonofagun]

We have survived through evolution by being smart and resourceful. Animals have survived because they can fight, run or fly. I have read that a 170 lb St. Bernard has the strength of 4 men that size. I think a horse has the strength of at least 20 men.

I used to tease my bodybuilding colleague with the same thing - human were able to leave caves because they had brain, not because they had muscles

But leave it to a man - he will still try to outwrestle the 1200 pound horse.

Hmmm, now when I am thinking about it - the way you work your horses, every woman in my life worked me - I think it is a female's gift to be able to direct the blind strength of animals, men ... you name it

 

[roxynoodle]

Yes, it is not really possible for a person to manhandle a horse. However, they are prey animals and we are predators and they know it. I have found that looking an unruly horse straight in the eye will make it stop in it's tracks and think, hmm, better be good. Of course a timid horse would be really frightened by this tactic. If you want to catch a timid horse, look at the ground, approach it from the side (and slowly) as one horse would approach another, pat it's shoulder and then get a lead rope on it. As long as you don't seem aggressive, the horse will probably accept your approaching it. I have a thoroughbred gelding who is terrified of men and I think it is because the trainer who put the initial dressage training on him was very rough with him (I know the trainer). He will tell you all thoroughbreds are stupid, but they aren't stupid, they are sensitive and emotional. Quiet, gentle, yet confident, wins them over a lot better. This horse was with this trainer when he was a 3 year old and now he's 25 and still terrified of men. I can have a 10 year old girl hold his lead rope while I bathe him and he's fine. If a man tries to hold it, he will rear up or pull back so hard and suddenly he has snapped thick lead ropes or broken his halter and taken off. I'm not trying to say men shouldn't train animals; many are excellent trainers. What I'm saying and this goes for both men and women are that you need to understand the animal's personality when you work with it. The drill sergeant attitude may get people to listen to you, but won't necessary get animals to do your bidding (prey animals like horses will just be scared half to death). Well, the aggressive ones (alpha mares) will just start getting more and more aggressive with you and that doesn't accomplish anything either, except for maybe a serious injury on the handler's part. There are plenty of horses that have learned that they can scare people and take advantage of them.

 

[A. Lind]

The real safety issue with in animals involves unmonitored children. My cousins and I used to terrorize the milking herd on our grandparents farm with our toy machine guns; Herding as many as forty cows at a time... Then we got the bright idea to tease the bull in a small pen.... luckily we are still alive. But the most dangerous thing I remember from my childhood was chasing my cousin who had purposely angered me behind the barn, he had maped out where the manure stoped outside the milking barn, the lagoon was 8' deep in spring, this was April. He ran just around the edge and I in my anger took the shortest route. Yep.... I almost drowned in the quick-sh@t!

 

[Soundguy]

Yikes!

Soundguy

 

[whodat90]

I raised quite a few chickens to have running around the backyard eating ticks, giving eggs, etc. Turned out to have too many roosters. I figured I'd let them decide who got the hatchet, and they did. One we named jack, but that was only half his name He took a liking to chasing my son (8 years old) and later, my wife. That was pretty funny right there; he wouldn't look you in the eye or chase you when you were looking, but turn your back and here he comes! Went out the other day and as my wife was walking in the house he came across the yard, jumped up and kicked her in the azz. She turned around and started chasing him, kicking whenever she got the chance. Then the turkey took offense that his flock was being messed with, so he chased my wife. Quite the train there, chicken, wife, turkey, all running in circles. Kinda tom and jerry. Honestly, I think he just liked being chased. He was a frizzle mix, so fairly small. Finally got tired of him and one day went out there with the pellet rifle and shot him. All the other chickens came and did the dead-guy-dance on his body, and once they were finished I had the kids grab the body up and huck it in the woods. Sent them back in the yard, and finished up. Realized that I left the pellet rifle outside and went to get it. On the way back in the house I found one of the big buff orpington roosters doing the dance at my daughter. Normally she would have just kicked him, but the turkey was interested to see what was going to happen and that freaked her out (she's 6) Well, I already had the rifle in hand so he went too. Even the turkey got into the dead-guy-dance that time. I took off his head, and had the kids pluck it, we had chicken for dinner that night. The rest of the roosters seem much more laid back now. One other thing, getting a turkey seemed to have pretty much fixed most of the roosters. The gobbler is kind of a wuss, but it's a rare sight to look out in the yard and not see the turkey hen chasing down one or another of the chickens for some infraction. She runs a pretty tight yard.
whodat

One other thing, a friend of mine was telling me about roosters never losing their fight. Said he knew a guy with a rooster that one day decided to fight him. They fought, and predictably the rooster lost. Same thing the next day, and every day after that. One day the rooster attacked, the guy kicked, but he missed the bird. The rooster was so used to taking a beating he just fell on the ground squaking and flapping. Never did stop attacking the guy though. You have to admire spirit like that.