calf colic, or what??

[Paulette]

Hi folks. Here's a problem . . .
A neighbor noticed two replacement heifers kicking their bellies, wheezing a bit and foaming at the mouth. The vet thought worms. The weather has been snow storm with three inches of wet snow (32 degrees) one day to warm, damp grass and sun (60 degrees) the next day. The calves have been out in it. The guy (he's experienced) gave them LA and pills (not sure if they were scour pills) at first. The calves were also droopy, acted as if they were trying to calve, in other words straining, and had a hard time getting up. Not much to go on. Anyhow this morning he found them dead.
Here's some other clues: we have hemlock here, he was feeding them meadow hay with a small amount of alfalfa.
Any ideas based on these too few facts? The vet's coming out to autopsy his calves this afternoon. I'll let you all know what happens.

 

[Beefy]

i think they bloated from alfalfa.

i had a couple do like this this winter from eating too much peanut hay and getting stopped up. got them up and ran them around a bunch and everything came out (pun intended) okay. they werent foaming at the mouth though. but they were constipated and not bloated.

 

[Karl]

Sounds like bloated calves to me too.

 

[Paulette]

Well, here is the answer. We have lots of water hemlock here and after a search around the creek the owner found exposed roots. The calves were chasing grass and discovered a new treat. One that killed them. We fight this problem all the time here and hemlock is difficult for all of us to eradicate. This always happens this time of year. We're all amazed we don't lose more animals to the stuff. One lick is deadly.