Cold weather cure phenomenon

[ranchwabble]

:???: – Yesterday I was talking to fellow rancher who was saying that cattle will cure themselves of sickness if there is a cold snap for more that a few days. Has anyone heard about this? Is there any information out there or is this just an old wives' tail?

 

[Aaron]

:???: – Yesterday I was talking to fellow rancher who was saying that cattle will cure themselves of sickness if there is a cold snap for more that a few days. Has anyone heard about this? Is there any information out there or is this just an old wives' tail?

He is spot on. Cattle that are sick going into cold weather will either die or survive. :lol: So either way it will probably eliminate your problem. I have a poor doing steer that got fever about 3 weeks after birth and while he was healthy looking all summer, I think he must have gotten a bad dose of pneumonia in the fall and has just been hanging on this winter. He has endured a lot of -30F to -40F days so far this winter, in the open, and is still kicking, so he must be a survivor. :cowboy:

 

[1982vett]

:lol: Aaron, I saw that earlier and thought the same thing. :lol:

 

[Workinonit Farm]

Has anyone heard about this? Is there any information out there or is this just an old wives' tail?

I'm inclined to say that it's an old wive's tale. If you look at it a different way, as Aaron stated the animal will die or survive, but I don't believe that the cold air is the cure.

That's right up there with "hollow horn" and "hollow Tail" and the cures for those ails. Cut the tail and slather it with turpentine and lard. Cut the horn right to the skull and fill with either turpentine and lard or fill it with kerosene. :roll:

Katherine

 

[kenny thomas]

But you got to remember that when they doctored them for hollow tail they also put them up and fed them good feed until they got better. I think it was hollow belly.

 

[dun]

Next time someone gets the flu I'll go sit outside in a snowbank and see how well it cures them.

 

[jerry27150]

knew one old vet that claimed if any cattle got pneumonia in a barn just turn them outside and they would straighen up. read about one guy that got lockjaw years ago before modern medicine & the doctors claimed he wouldn't live through the night & he had people pack ice around his neck that night & he lived through it. so you be the judge

 

[larryshoat]

Has anyone heard about this? Is there any information out there or is this just an old wives' tail?

I'm inclined to say that it's an old wive's tale. If you look at it a different way, as Aaron stated the animal will die or survive, but I don't believe that the cold air is the cure.

That's right up there with "hollow horn" and "hollow Tail" and the cures for those ails. Cut the tail and slather it with turpentine and lard. Cut the horn right to the skull and fill with either turpentine and lard or fill it with kerosene. :roll:

Katherine

Now Katherine you ought to know that the best cure for "holler horn" and "wolf in the tail" is gun powder :lol2: .

Larry

 

[iowafarmer]

Well cold dry weather isn't bad for cattle and it will help with lung trouble cause cold dry air is easy to breath. What is bad for cattle is if they are inside under a roof crowded and they heat the place up and it gets steamy and then they walk outside into the really cold weather that is where they get pneumonia.

 

[angus9259]

Well cold dry weather isn't bad for cattle and it will help with lung trouble cause cold dry air is easy to breath. What is bad for cattle is if they are inside under a roof crowded and they heat the place up and it gets steamy and then they walk outside into the really cold weather that is where they get pneumonia.

Same experience. I don't think cold weather will "cure" anything, but it does a lot less damage than 40 degrees and rain. Also, I can't tell which cattle hate worse . . . today - which is 15 degrees and dry or 90 degrees and humid. At least right now there are no flies.

 

[novaman]

Well cold dry weather isn't bad for cattle and it will help with lung trouble cause cold dry air is easy to breath. What is bad for cattle is if they are inside under a roof crowded and they heat the place up and it gets steamy and then they walk outside into the really cold weather that is where they get pneumonia.

Same experience. I don't think cold weather will "cure" anything, but it does a lot less damage than 40 degrees and rain. Also, I can't tell which cattle hate worse . . . today - which is 15 degrees and dry or 90 degrees and humid. At least right now there are no flies.

I'm not a cow but if I were I think I would prefer 15 degrees over 90. It is much easier for them to hide behind windbreaks with a belly full of hay to keep them warm then it is to find a way to get rid of flies, cool off, and maintain high enough intake to be productive (probably more of a dairy than beef problem).

 

[Workinonit Farm]

Now Katherine you ought to know that the best cure for "holler horn" and "wolf in the tail" is gun powder :lol2: .

There's a new one! :lol: Well, next time one of mine gets a case of the hollows I'll get some gun powder and give that try. :lol2:

Kenny, I think your on to something there with 'hollow belly' .

Katherine

 

[angus9259]

:???: – Yesterday I was talking to fellow rancher who was saying that cattle will cure themselves of sickness if there is a cold snap for more that a few days. Has anyone heard about this? Is there any information out there or is this just an old wives' tail?

Some very non scientific data. Just went through a cold rainy snap here - calves and yearlings got real snotty noses - big opaque goober snot. Now it's 14 degrees with a windchill of 1 and not a snotty goober nose in the group . . . and it's not just froze up in their nostrils either ;-)

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

:???: – Yesterday I was talking to fellow rancher who was saying that cattle will cure themselves of sickness if there is a cold snap for more that a few days. Has anyone heard about this? Is there any information out there or is this just an old wives' tail?

Some very non scientific data. Just went through a cold rainy snap here - calves and yearlings got real snotty noses - big opaque goober snot. Now it's 14 degrees with a windchill of 1 and not a snotty goober nose in the group . . . and it's not just froze up in their nostrils either ;-)

But, that's because the "stress" has been taken away & gave them time to get better. Hard to get better in cold rainy weather.