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Post by genebo on Jun 5, 2014 23:53:16 GMT
They say that if you do anything long enough, you're bound to get hurt doing it. Well it finally came true for me today. I got cow bit!
I know, cows can't bite you, because they have no top teeth. But boy, can they pinch!
I was feeding some bread to the chickens when Eve came over to get a piece of bread. I fed her 3 pieces, and then told her, "No more!" She tried to reach her mouth in to get another slice. I turned my hand away and stuck the bread under my other arm. Eve is like all cows, she can't see straight in front of her nose. She opened her mouth wide and clamped down where the bread used to be, only it was my shirt sleeve.
Wow! did that hurt. That girl can bite down hard! She pinched a little piece of skin in between layers of shirtsleeve and proceeded to tug on it just like she was taking a bite of tough grass. It pulled the skin right off!
Eve realized something wasn't right (maybe she smelled blood), so she quit, but it was too late. I had a quarter-sized chunk of skin missing. Taken off as neatly as if a surgeon did it.
Now I have a problem. What do I do about this? Should I spread the word so people can muzzle their cows? Should I have Eve de-toothed, like some have their cows de-horned? Should I outcross her to a toothless bull to try to develop a toothless strain of Dexters?
Or should I just give her a hug and next time, let her have a 4th slice of bread?
Poor girl. I probably scared her to death when I screamed. She took off running, half-way across the pasture. I probably shouldn't have screamed, but it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. |
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Post by jamshundred on Jun 8, 2014 14:41:21 GMT
Gene,
LOL! Oh darn! I should NOT laugh. I know it hurts. Go out in the woods where it is damp. . . . . and slice a piece of moss off the base of a tree with your knife.
Don't wash it. Just lay the green side down on your wound and put a big bandaid over it and don't touch it for a few days .. .. of if you must . . . refresh the moss and re-bandage it. If it starts producing pus do not concern yourself. That is a good thing. It will heal quickly from the inside out.
I have been bitten by a Dexter too! It was a like having a hammer hit your thumb. The end of my thumb turned dark blue. I was treating a Dexter that got into the chicken house and ate the chicken feed. If you have a Dexter that has gone off feed because of rumen disorders you can force them to eat and get the rumen working again. You open their mouth, take a hand full of hay and stuff it as far back in their throat as possible. They will chew it up and swallow it. ( If you don't put it at the very back of the throat they will work it frontwards with their tongue and eventually spit it out). I didn't have the mouth held open just right and she bit down and cut my thumb with her back tooth. I screamed too!
Judy
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Post by wvdexters on Jun 12, 2014 13:18:41 GMT
Ouch!!! Oh my! Yes, I think I'd have hollered too. Poor both of you. It sounds like being bitten may be a "right of passage", but ... does a horse bite count?
As for the choices you have there I'd probably just take a few extra slices next time (and the hug of course). But anymore who knows?
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Post by Donlin Dexters on Jun 30, 2014 21:53:23 GMT
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Post by genebo on Jun 30, 2014 23:54:22 GMT
I'd ease everyone's mind by posting a current picture of the wound site, but it would be boring. There is nothing to see!
The "bite" peeled off the top layer of skin only. It looked pretty bad, bloody and all, but I've had worse road rash from falling on my bicycle.
I treated it just like road rash. Every night I used warm soapy water to wash away all scabs, then coated it with triple antibiotic and covered it with a large bandaid. It seemed like no time that fresh pink skin filled the wound. If you ran your hand over it with your eyes closed you couldn't find it.
My darling bride took a look and declared that I had an attrocious farmer's tan! My hands, face and neck looked like I was from Africa and the rest looked like I was from Greenland. She made me take my shirt off while weeding the garden one afternoon. That much sun was just enough to blend the cow bite site into the rest of my pale arm.
Eve and I are still best friends. We understand each other. She lets me know what she wants and I've learned to give it to her.
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