Oil Well and Cattle

I grew up on a small farm in Bloomingdale, Michigan. It was sixty acres of almost six or seven different soil types. I admit that one was a small patch of peat moss muck. I could tell you all of the soil types back in my undergraduate days. I took a soils class at Michigan State University.  Our farm went from blue gumbo clay, to sandy loam to sand hill and of course, the muck I referred to earlier. We had a diverse sort of improved pasture set up for the cows and an occasional horse. The grass did have to share with the cattail swampy area. This was the result of many years of salt water run off form the worn out seldom-pumping oil well on our property.  The people that made money off this well were the first people to get a check from the wildcatters that came through in the late thirties.  The well would fill the holding tank maybe twice a year.  The royalty check would be $12.50 if the tanks were completely full when the tanker would drive back to get a load. This was far enough back when twenty dollars was a good piece of change.  I feel old typing that.  No, I did not go to school barefoot.  I got to ride the big bus to kindergarten. We had milk, cookies and a nap for the exertion, not a bad trade.

I do remember that the oil riggers and drivers that visited our farm were a talkative lot. They would talk so much they would forget to close the gates the way they found them. It might have been from the headaches from drinking a beverage the night before. They were a hard looking lot. I would classify them as slightly above the boogieman and the Gypsies that were bantered about.  I grew to appreciate those myths were perpetuated by older children and adults to keep us short munchkins in awe of strangers. 

I did learn about how cows and raw material oil products were not a good mix. It really is a thick black sticky material when it gets out of the ground. The process used was to have a mechanical pump working as an industrial size water pump. This pump would bring up a salty oil brine mixture. This would be pumped into a settling tank area.  In addition, as you know oil and water are not compatible given the chance they will be attracted and seek their own substance. They will separate by the difference in specific gravity. The oil dudes would come out, set levers, gauges, and pump times.  This was a great system when every thing worked. When pumps or pipes broke, there was an oil bath that over flowed into the dirt retaining area. If the dirt moat retained the liquid, it was somewhat okay.  It would be pumped back through the system. Enough times and this would result in either soil saturation or erosion of the dyke. When it went over the top, it really would flush through and dissolve the dirt embankment. The cattail swampy area would get a coating of oil and salt.  If you understand ruminants you know they like salt licks.  The problem with this type of pica or craving for dirt with the salt saturated in it is they pick up petroleum raw by products. Cattle will bloat because of the interference with the cellular critters in the rumen. You really are feeding the microorganisms in the rumen. Feed them a steady diet of green fiber plants called grass and most legumes and they are very happy.  A large does of grain or in this case, oil products and you develop a bad bellyache. The bacteria and other organisms are sensitive to oil and die. Mess with the pH levels by a sudden diet change or add a toxic material and you shut down digestion. You may have heard the old saw that constipation is what makes alligators mean. You get a bunch of cows with bellyaches and the next thing you know their owners are not feeling so good either.

We called Dr Dickie  our farm veterinarian to come out and drench the cows with his special concoction. We would also tie a sick through the cows mouth and run the rope up around the poll (top of the head) and back down to the other side of the mouth. This was done because the stick looked like a bit for horses. We used it because it acted like an irritant to the cows. This caused them to carry on as if they were chewing gum. It was the chewing action wanted as it stimulated saliva production to wash the esophagus.  Keeping the esophagus lubricated also allowed belching which would release bloat pressure. If the cows would make it for twenty-four to forty-eight hours, they would pull through. There was always a chance of esophageal stricture from oil induced scaring.  We were lucky we never lost any cows to oil intoxication. 

Our cattle would graze up to the edge of the retaining wall.  They knew the fence was not electric. We did have one cow that really liked salty stuff. It was almost a relief when the well got beyond production age. It was a relief not having cows loose because the oil people left the gate open. Our cows did not really need the assistance they were talented enough to know the weak spots in our fencing. They seemed to tell when weeds were shorting out the fence and would gallivant in the corn or bean fields. This would go on until we children would get home. Then we would trouble shoot for the escape spot and repair it.

There were many oil wells where and when I grew up. It seemed like every other or every third or fourth farm had an oil well. I did not realize oil wells were not all over Michigan until I was in my older teens. The wells were old then.  If any remain, they would be rusted up and would only make marginal scrap steel.

It was a great life experience dealing with cattle and oil people. I was able to tell people we were into oil and cattle. This let us nickname our place as the "ranch". It was country living at its finest. Oil royalty check and the milk check every two weeks it sounds good. It was a wonderful start to and an adult life. Both of those checks and you still needed a day job. What was marvelous was all seven of us kids grew up knowing that if you wanted money you had to work a full hour to be paid.  Besides those oil people would be slimy, dirty and reeked of raw oil.

I will take the farming part; I understood the deal. On second thought college sounded like a better trade.
For more information about a specific case, consult your veterinarian.         
The outside of a pet is good for the inside of a human.