Calf Died Suddenly

[SpringHill Farms]

Just had a 4 month old purebred angus heifer die all of a sudden. I had just fed the cows and calves corn and was over feeding some goats when all of a sudden one of my calves started running around in a big circle bawling very loudly then she just dropped to her side and was convulsing. She couldn't hold her head up. She was mouthing a lot and breathing hard. I let her drink out of a bucket. I even poured water on her not knowing if she just got too hot. The way she acted when she was running around was like she was stung by a bee. I'm wondering if she could of had a reaction. It was very hot here today. (close to 100 degrees) When I walked over to feed the cattle they were all laying in the shade and I had just said to myself "what a wonderful looking calve she was" and not 25 minutes later she was dead. Pretty disturbing to watch her die like that. One minute I was praising her for being a good calf and the next minute I'm digging a hole for her. Have any of you great cattlemen and women had any similar experiences?

 

[Howdyjabo]

I saw a horse die from an embolism(brain clot)-- looked alot like what you described.

 

[mnmtranching]

I'm a so so cattleman, but never seen death like that. I've heard that Black leg is sudden. I think blood clot of heart problem. Maybe bee sting or snake. Maybe someone has more on this.

mnmt

 

[feelnrite]

I would say blackleg. It seems that the best calf is usually the one to die. Did she swell quickly after she died? If so I would say that would be it.

 

[AngusLimoX]

Don't know much about your operation, but even a small guy might consider a post, doesn't cost much, may save some of the rest of your calves, and you may find out for sure even if not contagious.

Your call. But if it happened to one of my best I wouldn't be stickin her in a hole so quick if ya got 30 or 40 more to go the same way?

 

[TheBullLady]

I doubt it was blackleg.. I've seen that firsthand, and they don't die like that.

It sounds like some sort of major organ failure.. some times things just happen. With that quick of a death, I doubt it could have been prevented in any case.

Sorry for your lose. Seems like the best ones are always the ones you loose.

 

[Beefy]

I doubt it was blackleg.. I've seen that firsthand, and they don't die like that.

It sounds like some sort of major organ failure.. some times things just happen. With that quick of a death, I doubt it could have been prevented in any case.

Sorry for your lose. Seems like the best ones are always the ones you loose.

i agree. it sounds nothing like blackleg. and thats what i was thinking coming into the post from the title, "another blackleg". it does sound like some type of organ failure, my guess is maybe even hardware. could she have eaten anything at that feeding? (and hardware is usually one of the last things i consider)

 

[SpringHill Farms]

I have went over this a million times in my mind. I can't figure out what happened to her. I agree I should have had a autopsy done on her, but it has been around 100 degrees the last 4 days here. When I buried her yesterday she was looking and smelling pretty bad. I wouldn't really want to haul her in that state. All the cows/calves had finished eating the grain and were standing around like normal. That's when this calf just started running around bawling and fell over. I was only 20 yards away the whole time. I would of heard her if she was choking or gagging on something. I'm leaning toward the heat now. All the cows have access to the automatic waterer and there was plenty of shade. I looked up symptoms of blackleg and I agree I don't think that was the case. This calf was looking great. I've had lots of calves that you can tell aren't feeling that great, but this was not the case with this calf. I'm thinking heat and maybe that caused a organ failure. I'm now trying to get the cow to take a holstein bull calf and so far it's going pretty well. Thanks for all your suggestions and help.

 

[AngusLimoX]

I have went over this a million times in my mind. I can't figure out what happened to her. I agree I should have had a autopsy done on her, but it has been around 100 degrees the last 4 days here. When I buried her yesterday she was looking and smelling pretty bad.

Getting the same heat here Springhill, pretty much winds me going to the barn ( smog warnings too ).

With the humidity there is no way to perspire body temps down. ( And with all the thunderstorms no way to finish first cut! ).

Just wondering, if you cut back on grain intake, will that back off body temps? Does diet have an effect on that? I have heard that on a high protein diets you can feel the heat coming off them, wonder if there is anything to that.

Sorry again about the calf, good luck with the rest, this weather's gotta break soon!

 

[feelnrite]

The age of the calf would just about rule out hardware. I have seen cattle get a little crazy right before death with blackleg. Maybe run through a fence and fall over dead. The age is right for blackleg too. The key would have been the rapid swelling after death.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

have they been grazing drought stressed johnson grass or some other sorgum like sudan?

 

[SpringHill Farms]

There was no swelling after death. These cows and calves are in a lot ( not a feedlot) being feed alfalfa/grass hay. There was foam coming out of her nostril the day after her death,but I believe that to just be normal. One of the posts above said maybe feeding grain could have heated her up too bad. Her body was hot, but she was a black angus and the sun had warmed her black coat up. I guess it's just part of the business.

 

[IluvABbeef]

We had a calf die suddenly from having a big ball of twine in its stomach.

 

[Saltydawg]

Sounds like Heat Stroke to me.

Body temperature gets too hot and the nervous system will start to shut down. Loss of coordination, convulsions, rapid shallow breathing, and death.

I copied this from another article about heat stress in cows;



Bob Collier, professor of environmental physiology in the Animal Science Department at the University of Arizona in Tucson, is a leading expert on animal heat stress. He cites the extended period of high temperatures over 100 degrees accompanied by excessive humidity.

He said that when the air temperature goes higher than the cow's normal temperature of 101.5 degrees, the cow will begin to be stressed.

"The cow may stagger and become disoriented," Collier. "This may lead to nerve damage and death from heat stroke."

Collier added that heat stressed cows begin to breath faster and pant. "But in temperatures over 90 degrees, they rely on evaporation more than breathing to keep cool and when high humidity slows evaporation, they are in trouble."

Collier said that Arizona's dairy herd suffers little damage despite temperatures often exceeding 100 degrees.

"Our dairy producers use a combination of fans and water to cool their cows," he said. "At extraordinary high temperatures, fans alone are the worst thing you can use. They in fact raise the cow temperature. Fans with water increase evaporation and cooling."