? foundering

[morecows]

lost one of the cafes last week. The guy I bought the place from said he got in with the pigs and got in to the feed.He raised this calf on the bottle and its maybe been thirty days off. Found him last night w/ the buzzards. I dont know what foundering means? The old man says this is what killed him. One of my concerns are the mother died at about four years old, the previous owner said the moma cow maybe died from a snake bite ! The bull died at 5 years old, He didnt know why.

My question is what is foundering ?
Could eating too much Kill the calf ?
Could something else be wrong ?

This may be some dumb questions ,Im new at raising cattle !

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Foundering happens to horses more so than cattle, but it does happen. I'm not a good one to answer this because I don't know the technical terms/reasons for foundering. If an animal has an ABRUPT change in diet - example 1 -horse that's been on hay & grain and turned out on LUSH green spring grass can deffinately founder. example 2 - all of a sudden start feeding high quality alfalfa hay, they can founder. They can die or be permanently crippled.
A little harder to founder a bovine, but same principal. When they "founder", their system produces too much of something & they can die or it will set up a fever in their feet. This in turn damages something in the growth of the foot, and they will always have bad feet - the hoof grows way too fast & curls up causing them to be lame for the rest of their lives, needing constant hoof care. (poor explaination, but basic)
But, ABRUPT change in cattle diet, can also cause them to bloat & die.
Without an autopsy, you can only guess.

 

[morecows]

Jeanne, thanks for your help.

 

[TheBullLady]

"Foundering" is actually a result of overeating, not a disease itself.

The calf no doubt over ate.. which probably caused bloat or a blockage of some sort that probably killed him. And you never know what exactly the pigs were eating. If the calf had over-eat and lived through it, founder would have been a result.

 

[morecows]

ok I understand , foundering could be a side afect of overeating

 

[J&T Farm]

ok I understand , foundering could be a side afect of overeating

Or any shock to their system.

 

[Susie David]

Foundered cattle are an indication that acute acidosis occurred 40-60 days previously. Acidosis is caused by a rapid production and absorbtion of acids from the rumen when cattle consume to much starch (primarily grain) or sugar in a short amount of time. There are all sorts of problems associated with acidosis including sudden death. This why any changes in feed are introduced gradually to avoid this condition as well as bloat and the good o'l lush pasture squirts. Got carried way....DMc

 

[msscamp]

lost one of the cafes last week. The guy I bought the place from said he got in with the pigs and got in to the feed.He raised this calf on the bottle and its maybe been thirty days off. Found him last night w/ the buzzards. I dont know what foundering means? The old man says this is what killed him. One of my concerns are the mother died at about four years old, the previous owner said the moma cow maybe died from a snake bite ! The bull died at 5 years old, He didnt know why.

My question is what is foundering ?
Could eating too much Kill the calf ?
Could something else be wrong ?

This may be some dumb questions ,Im new at raising cattle !

Over eating of grain (and probably other things as well) can absolutely kill a calf - or a cow, bull, any bovine animal. Cattle are ruminent's, that means they actually have 4 different compartments in their stomachs to keep it simple. When they eat, the food goes to the rumen. Eventually they will get enough, lay down, regurgitate that rough-chewed food and 'chew their cud'. They are actually chewing the food ingested earler in order to ready it for actual digestion (and it serves as a thumbs up that all is well with the animal). It then goes to a different compartment in their stomachs. (I know I don't have all the technical terms right, but it will give you an idea of how their digestion system works). As with all ruminents, bacteria is necessary for digestion to work properly. When an animal is suddenly started on grain he/she does not have the bacteria necessary to digest a previously unfed food (usually grain). That's why it's important to start them off at small quantities (1-2% of their total body weight) and build up gradually. If one does not do this, acidosis is the result. Acidosis is a condition when the ph levels of the body are screwed up and the fluids in the body become very acidic and it can and will kill an animal. The same thing can happen if an animal is used to grain and the grain is suddenly stopped. Does that help? I'm also including a link that explains acidosis in more depth.

http://ianrpubs.unl.edu/animaldisease/g1047.htm

 

[mitchwi]

I found this thread while doing a search for founder. Here's the situation...my husband was talking to a buddy of his who has a small herd of beef. My husband was relaying the info to me this morning and said his buddy thought he had a cow that was "foundering".

What can you do if this happens?? If anything? I am trying to get more info about the cow in question to see if this is the correct identification of problem.