Death loss to Johnson Grass

[Bigfoot]

acorns in the vicinity?
(They usually cause a really poopy rear end tho)

Big mast crop this year.

 

[MurraysMutts]

Mold would have to something terrible to kill em.
Usually just causes abortions in bred cows.

 

[Bigfoot]

Mold would have to something terrible to kill em.
Usually just causes abortions in bred cows.

There were abortions, as well as mature cows and 10 month old calves lost.

 

[sstterry]

Vet advised to burn the remaining hay, and torch the ground the hay was fed on.

Do you know anything else ( I realize info is sparse) but there has to be a reason for the reaction to the Johnson grass.

 

[MurraysMutts]

Gosh. I feed a LOT of johnson grass and have fed some pretty moldy hay when I had to.
Can't imagine..
Theres gotta be something else going on.

 

[Bigfoot]

Do you know anything else ( I realize info is sparse) but there has to be a reason for the reaction to the Johnson grass.

I'm ready for info myself, but it won't be til the weekend.

 

[A.J.]

Sorry to hear about him losing some like that. That would be a kick to the gut. Prussic acid and nitrates are the only two things I'm aware of to be concerned with johnsongrass. Prussic acid will dissipate in hay over time. Nitrates won't. I've known guys that lost several from nitrate poisoning in johnsongrass hay before. They can go pretty quick. Was all the hay from the same field? I would try multiple samples of the hay to make sure before burning or dumping it if there is a bunch of hay.

 

[wbvs58]

From my distant memory of toxicology Prussic acid causes the membranes to be a crimson colour, nitites/nitrates they are more of a muddy brown colour. It should have been evident in the freshly dead and dying. Multiple deaths like you have described certainly sounds like one of the above. Were they hungry when fed the hay? Most toxic crashes occur in hungry animals.

Ken

 

[Ebenezer]

This is like Monday morning quarterbacking. Let the Vet tell the answer.

 

[Banjo]

What about buckeyes? I almost lost one recently to buckeyes? i had 3 or4 buckeyes trees in one area that I didn't know about till my Vet mentioned that may be the problem. it was.

 

[angus9259]

It sounds to me like we're looking for a reason a cow died. Sometimes they just die.

 

[angus9259]

This is like Monday morning quarterbacking. Let the Vet tell the answer.

I don't see evidence in what the vet said other than to torch a bunch of hay and the hayground. Sometimes vets are wrong and that's an expensive mistake.

 

[MurraysMutts]

I'm interested in the rest of the story.
Dang sure wouldnt want that happening to anyone. I'd definitely test the hay for prussic acid and nitrates again. Much better than making a hasty decision.

I'm sure more info will come along shortly

 

[greybeard]

acorns?

It sounds to me like we're looking for a reason a cow died. Sometimes they just die.

It didn't sound like 'a cow' to me. The OP stated "pretty significant death loss".
I suppose 1 deceased animal could be 'significant' if there were only 2-4 total but that's not the way I read the initial post.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

We had an outbreak of anaplasmosis this summer that put a serious dent in our numbers.

 

[Bigfoot]

Sorry to hear about him losing some like that. That would be a kick to the gut. Prussic acid and nitrates are the only two things I'm aware of to be concerned with johnsongrass. Prussic acid will dissipate in hay over time. Nitrates won't. I've known guys that lost several from nitrate poisoning in johnsongrass hay before. They can go pretty quick. Was all the hay from the same field? I would try multiple samples of the hay to make sure before burning or dumping it if there is a bunch of hay.

Same field. I texted him this morning, but he's in about the same canoe I'm in these days, he works too much to really respond. Maybe by tonight I'll have a more clear picture

 

[Bigfoot]

From my distant memory of toxicology Prussic acid causes the membranes to be a crimson colour, nitites/nitrates they are more of a muddy brown colour. It should have been evident in the freshly dead and dying. Multiple deaths like you have described certainly sounds like one of the above. Were they hungry when fed the hay? Most toxic crashes occur in hungry animals.

Ken

Vet saw the deceased animals, not sure if any were sent for a diagnosis. He's had hay out for a few weeks, but they were'nt hitting it very hard (I took my hay up for the same reason, they just weren't interested). I assume they didn't eat much, but it must have been enough.

 

[Bigfoot]

What about buckeyes? I almost lost one recently to buckeyes? i had 3 or4 buckeyes trees in one area that I didn't know about till my Vet mentioned that may be the problem. it was.

No buckeyes. Plenty of acorns.

 

[Bigfoot]

Got an answer, short and sweet He said mold on Johnson grass, per the vet.
An indterminate amount of abortions, a few mature cows, and a few feb and march calves.

I have fed sudex that was nothing but mold. guess I won't do that again.

 

[CalumetFarms]

Got an answer, short and sweet He said mold on Johnson grass, per the vet.
An indterminate amount of abortions, a few mature cows, and a few feb and march calves.

I have fed sudex that was nothing but mold. guess I won't do that again.

Crazy that it molded so much so fast if it was just put up this summer. I've got hay from couple years ago, molded enough that the cows just won't eat it.
Guess that's another thing to look out for