@$&#%@^*$ Cows

[ollie]

Inside out road kill in the calving pasture???

 

[ollie]

Obviously it is out of a cow and pertaining to a calf I am amazed this alone remained in the cow for nine months.

 

[Jay]

Looks like a mummy. Pigs have them occasionally mixed in with the live births.

 

[PLR]

Well had the vet out...Twins that werent meant to be. Pictures below of what a mumified fetus looks like. they are each the size of a small cat. According to the vet everything is normal in the cow...she sloughed the whole works....placenta and all. The calves are normal and it appears they were between 4-5 months along when they died. Gonna give her all summer to rebreed (cause it doesnt cost anything to feed her through the summer)and then if the vet hasnt confirmed her bred and the calf viable then she will grow wheels.

Thanks for all the comments.... Ill keep ya all posted on what happens.

Warning pictures are kinda odd and not for the weak of stomach

Thanks,

Shelby

 

[ollie]

It doesn't look like any slipped calf that I have had.

 

[ollie]

Is this the same vet that called her eight months bred? Didn't you say she was suspost to calve in Jan by her last breeding date. Why would she be aborting a five month old set of twins? If she was bred to calve in Jan that means she slipped another calf somewhere along the way. If you can't sell her then shoot her to keep her from eating a producers grass.

 

[Beefy]

That aint no 10 month gestated calf, thats for sure.

 

[ollie]

On second thought you might get some money out of her another way. Call guiness book of world records . It appears to me she was carrying a twin set of prehistoric birds.

 

[Beefy]

oh sorry, just found the other responses.

Cool but kinda gross. somehow i doubt she produces a viable calf next year.

 

[Beefy]

True. it looks like an "Ass Blaster." I didnt make that up-it was on one of the Tremors movies.

 

[PLR]

This is not an Abortion.... It is a mummification... The calf has been dead in the womb for months with the mother slowly reabsorbing the fluid from the calves reducing them to the state in the pictures. If the cervix does not open when the calves die bacteria cannot enter the womb and cause the fetuses to rot. Instead they are carefully preserved. The vet figures in Dec. when she palpated them they were still larger and both of them felt like a normal calf. These things happen.

Thanks

Shelby

 

[WORANCH]

The vet figures in Dec. when she palpated them they were still larger and both of them felt like a normal calf. These things happen.

Shelby

Yes these things happen, but it would happen to that cow only once on my place .

ollie is right "If you can't sell her then shoot her to keep her from eating a producers grass."

 

[1848]

She never aborted because thier has never been any blood on her hind quarters nor afterbirth hanging... So she must have reabsorbed the calf....

Can a cow actually REABSORB an 8 month old fetus?????
Did I read that right? Known breeding date puts calving in Jan. Vet checked in DEC, confirmed preg to that date. No calf in jan and now bull is in love.
Sounds like an abortion to me. But I am no vet. Ask YOUR vet.

Yes, a cow can actually reabsorb a fetus. I bought a cow from a prominent registered sale. She was checked safe at the sale and sold as bred. I verified it upon bringing her home... When she never calved around her expected due date, I palped her (she felt heavy) and took her up to the vet, and his assitant palped her (he said 7 months) I figured the previous palps (including mine) must have been read wrong. Perhaps she would cave to a later exposure to one of my yearlings. When I took her back up to the vet after missing the "next" expected due date, the vet re-palpled and told me 7 months, but the calf was dead inside....but not just dead....it was mummified! He felt crepatis and stated she had absorbed the calf. He said he had only seen a few cases like this where it did not kill the cow, and even fewer where the calf was removed sucessfully and the cow was able to breed again. She went to the sale barn...

 

[Beefy]

what is crepatis?

 

[ga. prime]

PLR, are you hare krishna? Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it would explain why you can't ship this cow.

 

[Vicky the vet]

Crepitus is sort of a crunchy feeling on palpation...like rice crispies. It's felt, for example, with a fracture if it's grating bone on bone.

Those fetuses are definitely mummified. It is technically impossible to resorb the entire fetus because bones are already there, so the body does what it can...

Would I keep her? Are you nuts?? This female is due for slaughter if she's well enough, antibiotics/treatment to get her there if she's not. Why take the chance?

V

 

[PLR]

Clarification on a couple things.....

The only grass she is eating is mine and it needs eating otherwise we are gonna have one helluva fire season...

I dont want to ship her cause I have spent her whole life conforming her to my way of working cows. many of you work your cows with chutes and pens and horses where as mine are worked with halters and on the ground by foot. thus I need animals that arent going to try and kill me when i get near them...these are the ones that get shipped. I want an animal that I can get my hands on and treat without spending several hours chasing it around the pasture into a chute where you can get close enough to see the problem. With this way of working cows I cannot just go to the sale and buy a random cow from some other herd to fill the slot...cause older cows take years to gentle down and I dont have the resources to wait for a replacement.... so i would rather give the cow the summer to prove to me that she can have a calf than ship her. It is ulitmately easier and cheaper.

Thanks.

Shelby

 

[Bez]

PLR

I could not disagree with you more strongly, but it IS your wallet.

Bez

 

[Gale Seddon]

PLR, I hear you! Have been in your shoes. Five years ago, we had a cow deliver a mummy. Vet advised that she might not conceive again due to possible uterine scarring/damage. It took two years, but she had a healthy bull calf, and has calved three times since. Sending her down the road was not an option for us as we're talking about a rare breed and a nice cow. We were fortunate in being able to afford to give her a second chance and are glad that we did.

Now, before you all get your shorts in a knot, please understand that I realize this is not a viable option for most people with large commercial herds. We have a small herd of Dexters; each animal is an individual. Everybody's got different situations and the right to make these decisions. And I think it's great that you can work your cattle the way you do, nice to hear about that.

 

[1848]

Clarification on a couple things.....

The only grass she is eating is mine and it needs eating otherwise we are gonna have one helluva fire season...

I dont want to ship her cause I have spent her whole life conforming her to my way of working cows. many of you work your cows with chutes and pens and horses where as mine are worked with halters and on the ground by foot. thus I need animals that arent going to try and kill me when i get near them...these are the ones that get shipped. I want an animal that I can get my hands on and treat without spending several hours chasing it around the pasture into a chute where you can get close enough to see the problem. With this way of working cows I cannot just go to the sale and buy a random cow from some other herd to fill the slot...cause older cows take years to gentle down and I dont have the resources to wait for a replacement.... so i would rather give the cow the summer to prove to me that she can have a calf than ship her. It is ulitmately easier and cheaper.

Thanks.

Shelby

PLR,

I can understand your sentimental attachment, and the other reasons you gave for not wanting to ship this animal. (I have been in your shoes). However, I think when we make the committment to ship animals who are not producing, or being a monetary draw on our program (because realistically that is all she will be...at the very least for a while anyway), then we take the first step towards practical and common sense management of our herds. It's kinda like doing something for the first time, and being very apprehensive about it (what if), but by making the choice to ship an animal, that you only "hope" will be there for you a couple years down the road, helps you to create a new mindset as to what is really important. It will make you take a hard look at what you are trying to do with your cattle. If it is to sell breedstock, then shipping her is the right thing to do. For an efficient or a profitable operation it is the logical choice, and it will build confidence in your program (if you have one). It's your time and grass, but sooner or later these choices must be made. I would suggest putting the money you could get for her back into a heifer who will calve in two years (you can also settle her early on), and spend a little on a couple of cow panels and posts so that you have a secure area to work your cattle when needed (even if they are tame). We often take chances with "our" livelyhood when we work cattle w/o proper handling facilities. Many a tame animal has injured it's caretaker, especially when they hurt so bad they don't want to be handled.... Please be careful.