Found a cow dead...

[Texas Gal]

in the hay meadow this morning . I don't have any idea how she died and there's not way to tell at this point with the 105+ heat we've had for the last week. I saw her along with her calf with the other cows/calves on Wednesday. what bothers me is the gate to the hay meadow was open. We never use that gate plus we haven't been in the hay meadow for a couple of weeks. No real reason for the cows to push through the gate ( which was chained) because they've just been turned into a pasture with little blue stem up to their bellies; hay meadow has little regrowth after cutting a month ago. I always hate to lose one; she was a nice 7 year who always raised a good calf( of course, it's never the ones you dislike ;-) ) On the bright side, her calf is 6 months old so he can take care of himself til I gather them for weaning.

 

[JMJ Farms]

Always hate to lose one. I hate it even worse when I don't know why. I guess cows can have strokes, heart attacks, and aneurysms, etc. just like people

Was the chain broken? Hate damaged? I guess what I'm saying is was it busted open or unchained?

 

[jltrent]

I lost a nice young bull like that. He laid dead and no reason I could figure why. Like said above they can have health problems just like humans.

 

[Texas Gal]

It was unchained. Since it was an interior gate we did not have a snap or lock on it. It just has a chain that loops around the post and fits in a notch on the gate. I guess a calf could have been licking and rubbing around on it and it came open. I always worry that someone is messing around where they don't belong and a cow ends up dead when the trespasser is shooting at hogs, etc. This hay meadow off a dead end road that runs along the side of our north pasture.

 

[cowgirl8]

So sorry...it happens.
We can cull our cows and rid all the herds of anything suspicious, odd or anything of question and we'll still lose cows.

 

[TCRanch]

Sorry to hear that and I absolutely understand it's never the ones that were on the cull list, more often a fave. And with the heat, varmints, etc there's probably no way to tell what happened. At least you don't have a bottle calf.

 

[Nesikep]

that sucks.. who knows why it happens, I did have a cow I suspected had a stroke.. in her case she got "lost" in places she knew, had difficulty walking, and would pace the corral, always clockwise and close to the fence.

I'd be worried about stray bullets, or just arseholes with guns too.. I've been seeing a few posts relating to such deaths recently.

And indeed, it's never the old hags that die, it's always the good ones

 

[greybeard]

It was unchained. Since it was an interior gate we did not have a snap or lock on it. It just has a chain that loops around the post and fits in a notch on the gate. I guess a calf could have been licking and rubbing around on it and it came open.

I always drive a spike into the latch post for the end of the chain to go on after it is in the slot.


If there is a big hole in the area that has the notch, drop the chain in the notch then run the tail end of the chain out thru the hole in the opposite direction. Even then, I still like to have a spike for the end link to go onto.

 

[Caustic Burno]

It was unchained. Since it was an interior gate we did not have a snap or lock on it. It just has a chain that loops around the post and fits in a notch on the gate. I guess a calf could have been licking and rubbing around on it and it came open.

I always drive a spike into the latch post for the end of the chain to go on after it is in the slot.




If there is a big hole in the area that has the notch, drop the chain in the notch then run the tail end of the chain out thru the hole in the opposite direction. Even then, I still like to have a spike for the end link to go onto.

Agree as I have an old cow that can open a gate as fast as you can if you just drop the chain in the slot.

 

[True Grit Farms]

A 5/16 lag bolt with 2 sides ground flat works great as a chain lock.

 

[greybeard]

A 5/16 lag bolt with 2 sides ground flat works great as a chain lock.

Yes, that too. Some of the chains that come with tube gates are on the small side and I have had to file off 2 sides of the spike heads to get the chain link to fit, but they sure won't come off easy.
Some of the chains that re permanently attached to the gates are kinda short too and I've had to replace them as I prefer to go all the way around the post and back thru the notch.

 

[1982vett]

Some of those chains....if you never replace them..... Found a gate we never use and locked with a master lock open last week. Links wore through.

 

[M.Magis]

I like something like this, but the ones I use are pointed, just makes it a little easier to get the chain on. No matter how much the wind, or a kid, rattles the gate around, it can't come unhooked unless its picked up off the hook. I usually use a heavier chain too. Its as fast and foolproof as I've tried.

 

[Chocolate Cow2]

Any chance it might have been lightening?

 

[MtnCows93]

well gates usually dont open themselves, id put a rope on that gate and tie it in such a way that youll know for sure if somebody has been in there up to no good

 

[ALACOWMAN]

Are y'all in a drought??have patches of Johnson grass???prussic acid poisoning...