Last fall we had cattle dying. Cows get down and can't get up. They will eat all you bring them. We lost 10 -12 cows from Nov.- Jan. We had a 500 pound steer do the same thing. Sent him for autopsy they found nothing but a small amount of worms which they concluded would not be the cause. We moved cattle and problem stopped. We were feeding rolled hay. Several vets came and could not determine cause. One said moldy hay. As the illness progresses the cattle will lay down and thrash head with toungue hanging out.No discharge from anywhere.Hay was gathered from several fields and was not old hay. This year it has started again. The cattle was in same field and feeding this year's hay. We have mineral salt available to cattle. We found young bull down age 4 years. We moved cattle immediately. In the process we had an older cow to get down in trailer we assume from the same illness. Symptoms are the same and she is presently still alive laying in field in upright position.Cattle are wormed every spring and fall. The illness seems to not effect young calves. We really do not believe it is moldy hay as we see farmers feeding hay that we would dispose of before feeding it to our cattle. Could it be some kind of toxic plant cut with the hay or small animals caught in mowers and rolled in hay? We are a small outfit with around 150-175 head of cattle including calves and can't afford to loose cattle like this.
