JW IN VA":ungfef4c said:
WalnutCrest":ungfef4c said:
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.