I had a cow abort.

[shawn_boroviak]

I had a seven year old cow who was due to calve in September. I noticed a few days ago that she had some discharge but didn't think a whole lot about it. Then the following day she was acting as though she was back in heat. While walking the fence line the next day I found some body parts of a very small calf. The question I have at this point is if she has aborted this calf will it become a trend? Should I keep her or let her go?

 

[JW IN VA]

A ,to/from your vet is in order.Do the blood test for various diseases (Lepto,Bruselosis,Neosporia) If that is clear then its probably just a fluke,poison weed,hard hit in the side,etc.

 

[A.J.]

Sorry to hear that. A lot of it would depend on her previous track record if she were mine. If she has raised a good calf every year and not given you any trouble, I would be inclined to give her another shot. If not, I would send her down the road and get some money towards her replacement. Its always concerning when one aborts, but it could be caused by anything from something wrong with the cow or calf to getting hit by another cow or something she ate. She might raise another 10 calves without any issues, or she might not. Always a guessing game. Might be worthwhile to check with your vet about tests to rule out some things.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

We had a cow that was 177 days bred that aborted a few weeks ago. I found the placenta hanging out of her, and then she led me to the calf. A really nice bull calf, Broker sired, with a white face. I collected the calf (the size of a small dog), pulled some placenta from the cow and took them to the vet. We have had several cows slip pregnancies, but usually earlier (60 to 90 days). We got the results back this week, NOTHING. No viral reason, no bacterial reason. We have a ton of Ladino clover, and of course our fescue is really hot (in the leaf). My vet said it is likely either of those (Ladino clover is high in estrogen). He also shared with me that there are numerous other producers that are in our same position.

 

[Jessica06]

If she's a pretty good cow, I'd be inclined to give her another chance. We had an Angus cow do the exact same thing a couple years ago. Calving like clockwork now. Sometimes it's just impossible to figure out why they do it.

 

[dun]

We've had 2 abort over the years. One aborted during a horrbile ice storm with thunder and lightening. She went on to stay in the herd for 6 more years with never a blip on the radar. The other aborted on April 1 as a coming 2 year old, bred her back and she aborted again on April 1 the next year. Sold her a slughter cow. Grannys last daughter, really POed me to lose one of hers.

 

[WalnutCrest]

Neospora seems to be more common the more I talk to people. If that's what it is, cut her head off. Don't sell her as breeding stock.

 

[JW IN VA]

Neospora seems to be more common the more I talk to people. If that's what it is, cut her head off. Don't sell her as breeding stock.

Not to argue, but why not just pound the cow-slaughter only? Am I missing something? My understanding is its carried by canine type animals-cows pick it up from their feces.Cows can't give it to other cows - only to their calves.Unless I misunderstood the slaughter wouldn't hurt anyone unless they used the brain?

 

[Lucky_P]

At this stage, about all you can do, with regard to trying to get a diagnosis is have a serum sample from the cow submitted for testing - Lepto, Neospora, BVD, IBR; and it still may not give you a definitive diagnosis.
As FSR detailed, even when we (lab diagnosticians) get everything we need - PLACENTA, fetus, maternal serum - it's often a frustratingly unfruitful exercise, with regard to definitively identifying the cause. Anymore, I approach most abortion/stillbirth cases with the intent of 'ruling out' infectious causes that the producer/veterinarian can do anything about by way of vaccination, management, antibiotics, etc. If I get a definitive diagnosis, it's gravy...They're not all infectious in nature...pinning down environmental/nutritional/management issues is tough to do.

Have been diagnosing Neospora-induced abortions with increasing frequency in our service area for the past 5 years or so; usually sporadic, individual animals - but I had two in my herd abort to it within a week of one another two years ago, and saw one Neospora abortion 'storm' a couple of years back, with nearly 1/2 of a group of 200 aborting over a short timeframe.

Can't recall the last time I diagnosed a Lepto abortion; it's been years...
Haven't seen a Brucella abortion since about 1980...and that one came out of a Brucellosis research herd.
Couple of years back, we had a producer losing late term AI/ET calves...found nothing...then, a few days later, the cows started dying of Anaplasmosis...giving us the definitive diagnosis. Saw a (fatal)case of anaplasmosis in a 2.5yr old bull today...

Commercial herd here...she'd leave, for economic reasons - you'll have to feed her through the next two winters to get a calf to weaning age...IF she doesn't repeat this performance; too little ROI. Certainly, if she's seropositive for Neospora, subsequent abortions could be a possibility, and I'd recommend pounding her out.
No problem, with any of those disease possibilities, with regard to slaughter, processing and consumption.

 

[WalnutCrest]

Neospora seems to be more common the more I talk to people. If that's what it is, cut her head off. Don't sell her as breeding stock.

Not to argue, but why not just pound the cow-slaughter only? Am I missing something? My understanding is its carried by canine type animals-cows pick it up from their feces.Cows can't give it to other cows - only to their calves.Unless I misunderstood the slaughter wouldn't hurt anyone unless they used the brain?

Pound her out = yes.

Take her to a special cow sale at your barn and market her as an open cow that someone might reasonably suspect is a possible good breeder for his herd = no.

I'm tired of hearing guys talk about selling cows they know are sick or have some sort of heritable disease (which neospora is; it's heritable in utero from mom to daughter) at the sale barn, proudly stating that, "I made the problem I bought from someone else the problem that someone else bought from me." Not saying I heard anyone HERE say that ... but, I've heard those words (or similar words) be uttered from the mouths of people in my neck of the woods.

A man I know locally just sends his neospora positive heifers straight to the feed yard and feeds them out there, by passing the sale barn.

You do NOT want a cow to abort on your place as the aborted tissues can be eaten by dogs / coyotes / wolves / etc. and spread the problem to your herd and your neighbors' herds.

Just trying to encourage the OP (whom I don't know) to hold himself to a high standard. Nothing fancier than that.

 

[Lucky_P]

Thank you, WC.
Good words of advice.

We should all do the right thing, even when no one is watching.

 

[WalnutCrest]

Thank you, WC.
Good words of advice.

:nod:

We should all do the right thing, even when no one is watching.

+1

 

[JW IN VA]

Neospora seems to be more common the more I talk to people. If that's what it is, cut her head off. Don't sell her as breeding stock.

Not to argue, but why not just pound the cow-slaughter only? Am I missing something? My understanding is its carried by canine type animals-cows pick it up from their feces.Cows can't give it to other cows - only to their calves.Unless I misunderstood the slaughter wouldn't hurt anyone unless they used the brain?

Pound her out = yes.

Take her to a special cow sale at your barn and market her as an open cow that someone might reasonably suspect is a possible good breeder for his herd = no.

I'm tired of hearing guys talk about selling cows they know are sick or have some sort of heritable disease (which neospora is; it's heritable in utero from mom to daughter) at the sale barn, proudly stating that, "I made the problem I bought from someone else the problem that someone else bought from me." Not saying I heard anyone HERE say that ... but, I've heard those words (or similar words) be uttered from the mouths of people in my neck of the woods.

A man I know locally just sends his neospora positive heifers straight to the feed yard and feeds them out there, by passing the sale barn.

You do NOT want a cow to abort on your place as the aborted tissues can be eaten by dogs / coyotes / wolves / etc. and spread the problem to your herd and your neighbors' herds.

Just trying to encourage the OP (whom I don't know) to hold himself to a high standard. Nothing fancier than that.

When I have sold positive cows,I told the stockyard to sell them as" slaughter only" cattle and why.I don't want them in someone else's herd.

 

[WalnutCrest]

In case anyone reading doesn't know, the beef from a neospora positive female is fine to eat.