electrocution

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BIGMUD

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Is it Possible for a calf to be electrocuted by sticking his tongue in a outlet?????

I went to chore yesterday afternoon and thier lay's a 450lb steer dead as a door nail. I am thinking electrocuted because the breaker was thrown and they way he was laying he dropped instantly.

so far 2006 sucks!!!!
 
I am finding that out the hard way.

We have had cattle in that barn for about 6-7 years now, this was a first
 
Thanks for the insight, need to relocate a couple in our barn.
Just the job for a rainy afternoon.
Hard to figure a calf's tongue being the size it is getting inside an outlet...unless it didn't have a cover on it, was it covered? They tend to chew wires alot, had to replace the spark plug wires on the tractor last summer, only left unattended for a couple of minutes and they had all of them off and chewed beyond future use. DMc
 
I'm trying to be a little skeptical of 120 volts taking down a 450# calf unless there was a really good connection. But then on the other hand how else would you explain the breaker blowing. 220 volt service ?

Anyway it might be if the calf was standing in water or mud and if a drippy nose or wet tongue was nuzzling the outlet.

They love chewing wires: I lost the light and brake wires from the tongue of my trailer to them. Have since learned to tie them up out of reach of the little buggers.

Jay
 
J-CCCC":32fky5ys said:
I'm trying to be a little skeptical of 120 volts taking down a 450# calf unless there was a really good connection. But then on the other hand how else would you explain the breaker blowing. 220 volt service ?

Anyway it might be if the calf was standing in water or mud and if a drippy nose or wet tongue was nuzzling the outlet.

They love chewing wires: I lost the light and brake wires from the tongue of my trailer to them. Have since learned to tie them up out of reach of the little buggers.

Jay
Click to expand...

I too am having a hard time thinking 110 could do this unless he was standing in water. I can see a wet tongue having enough slobber to make a connection through a cover. But as bad of an electrian as I am I've been hit with 110 a few times and I'm only 260 lbs. 220 may be a different story.

Alan
 
BIGMUD":2lgxqb8v said:
We are dealing with some slop in the pens right now, I think that probably helped
Click to expand...

That may do it, like a toaster thrown in a bath tub.

Seems like every year the young day or two old calves have to touch the hot wire with their tongue.

Sorry for your loss.

Alan
 
It's not the volts but the "Current" that is flowing in an electrical line that kills. Think............."Amps".

A spark plug may carry 10,000 volts but generally doesn't kill.
 
I am sorry too for your loss. I have become a sissy. I put inexspensive GFI outlets everywhere. I also put my barn outlets above my head on the wall where the cattle may be when I let them in.

This may be a good one for Myth Busters.

Bret
 
Big....,

I feel that is unlikely. While they will lick around an outlet if it is to low.... getting into the wires is remote...assuming it was covered with a plate. I would look for something else as cause.

Breaker blown may have been concidental. All duplexes in around a barn should be GFI only and up high away from the animals.....and for your safety also.
 
I vote for something else as well, UNLESS, there was a constant current that the calf could not some how escape.......like humans, there is a way to tell if you still have the calf, and want to do some digging around (literally inside the calf)....let me know via PM, and I will ask the missus what those tell tale signs are again.

Sorry bout yr loss, no matter how it happened! :(
 
MikeC,

You are correct that current is a killer, but current only exists if there is a voltage present and a load through which the current can flow. More correctly POWER is the killer.

Power is the combination of voltage and current.. Mathmatically: Power= current multiplied by voltage. Given a constant load (in this case MUD's calf) 240 volts would deliver twice the power of a 120 volt circuit.

That 20,000 plus volt pulse to the spark plug is so short that little power is delivered but it could kill under some circumstances.

The wires on those (stick man like) Power Transmission Towers would melt an elephant because they can deliver an enormous amount of power ( enough to power cities) VoltageXCurrent. Unless you are very knowledgeable of electrical safety practices don't mess with the 220 volt service to your Milker, Compressor,A/c, Range, Oven and other equipment that requires high power input. Come to think of it that applies to working on 120 volt services as well.

By the way Ground Fault Isolation (GFI) breakers and outlets will not help you live if you grab a hot wire. You will get the same power delivered whether it is a GFI or regular breaker or outlet. All GFI accomplishes is to tell you if there is a faulty circuit but it only does that only if you exercise the buttons according to instructions.

Don't go throwing that toaster attached to a GFI outlet into the bath tub: the result would be the same as what happened
when you did it when attached to the old standard outlet.

The condition of the calfs heart can tell you if it was killed by electrical shock. Melt tracks ... I'd look for burns on the nose or tongue.

Sorry about the loss MUD.

Jay
[/b]
 
I spent Friday relocating mine to over my head, I think that should prevent any more problems
 
120 can kill a calf. If its standing in water or muck the current crossing the heart will be enough to stop it. 220 is nothing more than 2 - 120 lines. Chances are when people say they got hit by 220 did not but were only hit by one side 120 to ground. As someone mentioned before its the current that kills. 1 tenth of 1 amp across a heart can stop it. Higher currents and there will be a exit wound. I doubt you will find one in this case. Now back to the point. if the outlet had a cover on it it would be hard to get into the "hot" part of the plug. If the tounge was really wet with slobber it wouldn't be impossible. Slobber would be a good conductor. AS mentioned before all wiring within critter reach should be protected. I ran emt conduit in my barn. A outside outlet cover also needs to be installed. It has flaps over the plug when not in use. This would be a quick fix for less than $3.00 if the wiring is protected.
 
Could it have been the wire? Calves are always chewing wire. My trailer harnesses get messed up and the wire is always flattened. Calves seem to love chewing wire especially at about 6 months old. I figure its teething. Anyway, wiring is more of a concern than outlets.
 

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