cow sling

has anybody made a homemade cow sling or have any ideas for one this is a pregnant dairy cow

Been around a few,first was a home built one.Made out of a 30"x48-60" belting,angle irons bolted on sides with log chains for lifting.This gets the job done,but alot of pressure on the belly. Other one was a store bought unit,consisting of two big circular rings that clamp over cows hip bones and lift from there.With cow being pregnant,this style might be better? Good luck Chris

neighbor had one that gripped the hips bones and pulled them up. It was kind of like scissiors, hinged that way anyway. Sure wish I had a picture of it.

Search Vern"s manufacturing they make them and you can see a pic. for a pattern.

Yeah, we have one that hooks over the hip bones, like the others are talking about. The only thing it does is make you have to haul feed and water to the cow longer, because she is going to die anyways. It has only saved 1 cow that we used it on, ended up shooting all the rest. And the one that it did save, never did walk right.

I feel sorry for you having a cow in that situation. I have dealt with way to many over the years. I will give you the advice to stay as far away from the hip lift that others have desribed. I have used them at different farms in the last 20 years and only seen it work a few times. If you onlly have to lift her once you might be ok with the hip lift but if you have to lift her several times, you might as well call the butcher. The best lift system is one that uses a sort of cradle that goes under the belly ending at the back legs, and has a piece that goes forward between the front legs to lift the brisket too. The ones I have used were made of heavy canvas and once under the cow you slid pipes thru it and lited with the pipes. I am not sure where you could by one but have seen them at several farms as well as out as World Dairy Expo. The best way I have seen for fixing a down cow was using the sling and then getting the cow into a warm water lift tank. We had one of these at the dairy on campus at MSU and it was great for downers. The warm water massaged the cows muscles and nerves while the water level drastically lowered the weight the cows feet would have to carry, so she could stand on her own. It was the closest thing to a miracle for a down cow I have ever seen. Again, I don't know who exactly sells them but I have seen then advertised.
Good luck with her.

You could probably try a couple of 3" truck tie down straps slung over a loader bucket and right under the cow at the legs. They shouldn't be too hard on the cow... but if you want my honest opinion, a good high velocity lead implant is what's needed right about now.
We've had our share of downers here over the years for one reason or another. The one's we have saved had big vet bills, never milked much (enough to pay their feed... mabey) and seldom paid their vet bills when they went to the auction.
I've about come to the conclusion that it's not worth spending much time on down cows anymore unless they've got more value in them than their udder...
Plain old cow isn't so hard to replace these days for what they're worth.
Just something to ponder...

Rod

I looked at the one on verns and it looks better. It wouldn't put as much inward pressure on the hips. And what the others have said is right. When they are down like that they are usually ready for coyote bait. We only used those hip pullers a couple of times and never had luck saving the cow. One we never could get her on her front feet and the other we could get standing and she would lay back down within minutes. ended up shooting both. beats laying and suffering, time doctoring, money for meds, feeding/watering. good luck.

we sell a sling kit we have used them for 10 years with a 50% save rate if the cow has been down 24 hours or less we rent these out in 7 counties and have many good call backes on them

I hate to sound lazy Rod but I tend to agree with you.The vet is always too happy to come out and try this and come out again to try that.If they are really nice they will even stop in on their way by to check on her progress.The cow 9 out of 10 times dies or is of no use afterwords,than next month comes the bill that would have replaced her with a usefull animal.Many a thrown out back and good money after bad have gone into down cows.Unless they are a highly marketable genetic wonder,be cautious how you handle a down cow situation.pd.

You Guys are right about the hopeless Plight ,,,,,Anymore ,, We do not Give a cow any thing more than $Drinkable $Vitamin $B-12 $booster ,with Eggs and Brandy if its a cold weather problem,And GIve It ALL YOUR BEST TO GET HER UP AND KEEP HER UP WITH plenty of SWEET feed for a couple days ,NO penicillan or other taintable drugs , unlessSHE GETS UPand Stays UP , We want to keep the option of FREE -For ALL Hamburger open ,if FEVER does NOT EXIST ,,,,That decision Should be made within 24 hours , Least ,Thats What We think,,,When A cow COMES back ,, She is an AUTOMATIC CULL ,
, , But the Dairy Cow may be different type Situation,, And We all Know If a GUYS gonna Try He has got to try in Order to have PEACE with Himself ,,HOPE IS A WONDERFUL POWER ,..,, I have a 20 "X8 ft conveyor belt that I have chained hoisted up too many Cows to the heated shop over the Years ,, My neighbors and I share it When This problem Occurs And I would lend it to to the dairy Cows aid if They want to come to Louisville KY area ,. Good Luck , And I wish you peace Regardless of the Outcome , Jim

Use the hip lifters. If she is late in the pregnancy, a strap underneath her can twist the uterus all around and then you'll have trouble/lose the calf. woodvue

Doesn't sound lazy to me, just practical.
We used to try and save every one. Vet bills over a grand sometimes. The one that broke me was a dead calf, I think about 9 or 10 years ago TODAY. The vet spent nearly 6 hours cutting the calf out. She was down for nearly 3 weeks. We fought with her every day, turning her over, Borgal on top of more Borgal. Finally she got up... and milked about 15 pounds all summer. Got fat on grass and we shipped her. Those were the days when you could get a grand for a good animal like that. This was just a heifer after all.... So at the end of the summer, we'd looked after the hatefull devil all summer to get back what she owed us on the vet bill and more or less paid her feed. We worked for nothing... So the way I look at it, even the ones you save cost you more than they're worth.
Now if I get a downer, I take a hard look at her... and if she's one of those cows that doesn't have any 'fight' in her, she might get a day. I'm not wasting my time on something that won't try.
We've found we're far better off spending our time and money on things that prevent the problems in the first place. I think most around here do the same.
It's perhpas sad to say that, but sometimes you trip over dollars to save dimes if you don't do that...

Rod

Over time it sure seems like a down cow is a dead cow. With all the vegetarians running around that want to take away all human contact with animals you can't mess around with them for too long. I agree with the earlier posts. After about two days if she doesnt want to get up it will never happen. Someone is probably watching you with a camera as well.We have found that a cow can be helped sometimes by rolling her into a loader bucket. Bigger is better. Transport her to a compost pile or straw or sand pile. Gently tip her out from two or three feet up. If she can get her feet under her in the soft bedding often times they can stand up.Before that give her some aspirin or banamine so she thinks she doesnt hurt as much. Good luck

are you located in indiana or close to it?

(quoted from post at 23:49:13 04/12/09) we sell a sling kit we have used them for 10 years with a 50% save rate if the cow has been down 24 hours or less we rent these out in 7 counties and have many good call backes on them

Click to expand...

do you still sell the sling?