Cow died

[Anonymous]

I am very new to having cattle (1 month) I live in N.E. Florida. I have 4 cows. My oldest female, Blondie,age unknown, looks to be full size. Blondie had a calf a year ago in April. Saturday she went down. She had white mucus coming from her nose and a little bit from her eye. She would defecate where she lay on her side. Saturday i could get her to roll up briefly on to her middle but then with out a prop she would roll back on to her side. She had shallow breathing. We tried to give her fresh water and hay but to no avail. We have been feeding our cows a mixture of 1 bale of hay a day along with Sweet feed and loafes of bread. However my husband was sick on Thursday and I went out to feed them. With him sick i didnt make the trek out to the barn to give them hay and sweet feed, insted i fed them abunch of bread. Blondie is a hog and would force all of the others away to get to the food. I think she gluttoned herself. My Dad said she may be impacted(?) and bloated. But with the liquid manure she had i didnt think that was the case. In one of my books she exibited the signs of shipping fever. She died late yesterday. I just would like some ideas of what it may have been. Did i feed them too much bread? Not enough hay? I have some antibotics (we gave her 2 shots) should i give the other 3 a shot too?

Your help is much appriciated.

Thanks,
Susan

 

[dun]

Sure sounds like pneumonia to me. What antibiotics did you use? The best bet is to talk to a good large animal vet in your area.
It's too late now, but bloat is evidenced by a swelling in the left side near the top just behind the ribs.

dun

 

[Perry]

I had a calf that went down because it ate too much bread. It walked like it was drunk before it went down. Vet came out and gave it an IV after looking and smelling the manure he knew exactly what was wrong. He said he treats 7 or 8 cows a year. He told me to give her Milk of Magnesia and penicillin for two days. I had to force feed and water her but on the 4th day she got up and was doing good. I have been feeding bread to our cows for years and this is the only incident I had.

 

[TXBobcat]

What is the benefit of feeding bread? I have seen several discussions about feeding bread to cows on this board over the past few months. Seems like more often than not, problems result from it. :?

 

[dun]

Although there are other things too, it is basicly grain. It's cheap and an additional source of nutrition. I would think in order for it to actaully become a reliable part of the diet you would need a steady supply.

dun

What is the benefit of feeding bread? I have seen several discussions about feeding bread to cows on this board over the past few months. Seems like more often than not, problems result from it. :?

 

[Anonymous]

My parents used to have cattle, way before i was born and they said to go to the distcount bread store and buy "hogs feed" I guess the reason as to why to feed them bread is because its cheap and it tides them over. For $5.00 i get about 30-50 loafs of bread. But i guess i feed them too much. But my other cows are smaller than the one that died and they seem to be ok. A bit of slightly runny poop. Needless to say i am going to back off the bread. If my cow that died had pneumonia i will try to give the others antibiotics if that is ok. Im not sure of the name of it. It was a red and white box. Said it treats shipping fever and some other ailments.

Going to call a cattle vet here in a bit

Susan

 

[Anonymous]

Cattle, as ruminants, need HAY or GRASS as their #1 food. Necessary for rumen to function properly. Any OTHER "feed" should only be used as a supplement and in liminted quantities.

Cheap food is not always better. You can't starve a profit out of livestock and you can't produce a quality conformation animal using a lot of non-standard feeds.

Reminder: What did they teach in Animal Science/Nutrition 101???

 

[A. delaGarza]

cookies is also a good and cheap way to feed your cattle

What is the benefit of feeding bread? I have seen several discussions about feeding bread to cows on this board over the past few months. Seems like more often than not, problems result from it. :?

 

[Dyann]

Sorry about the cow dying.. bovines cannot breath when they lay flat on their sides.. it strangles them. I dont mean laying on their sides for a few minutes... they all do that.. but when they cant stay upright it will kill them. Sounds like she had pneumonia .. mycotil and banamine works quick on that. Also sounds like she gave it up... might want to have her autopsied.. pasturella is contagoius and looks like pnuemonia...

 

[Anonymous]

I talked to the vet yesterday. He said it could have been a number of things. His main concern was when were the cows last given their worm meds. Being that i bought the property a month ago i havent a clue. He said i should de-worm them just in case. He said if i fed them so much bread on Thursday it shouldnt have gone down that quick. Oh well. Im just going to have to go to auction and get me a new calf. The other 3 seem to be fine just sad.

Thanks,
Susan