I was just thinking....................

[dun]

For a while, anytime someone would talk about cows losing condition the standard reason suggested was hardware, then it was Johnes, lately it's been parasites. What do you think the next fad reason given will be?

 

[3waycross]

Nutrisystems.

Good question though.

 

[Anonymous]

Parasitic metal worms only known to exist in cattle with johnes. In all seriousness, I see pics of all these fat and happy cows with calves on their sides, yet don't see ANY like that in my travels here. I would like to see some real world pics of late nursing early bred cows with calves.

 

[upfrombottom]

I think it already started, I've seen several post about water quality, including some I made. Air quality may be next, seems if you hear, read, or watch TV, whatever people are raving about at the time, is unconsciously burned in the brain.

I remember back when the government was trying to find a place to get rid of the toxic waste from the Cold War, all the news coverage and hype that was in the airwaves. My son was in the first grade and wanted to have his birthday party at Chuckie Cheese's in Memphis. We loaded a bunch of his friends from school up and went there. As we were loading up to start the trip back, my wife was telling them to all put their seat belts on, when one of the boys said," Yea, put them on because the police will get us. They got my Dad for driving while toxic wasted." :lol:

 

[MistyMorning]

I'm going to agree with upfrombottom on water quality.

 

[Roadapple]

And here I thought it was because they wer'nt black. I never thought about johnes, hardware and such.

 

[Beefy]

in my case its b/c it wont effin rain.

 

[ANAZAZI]

Parasitic metal worms only known to exist in cattle with johnes. .

Those are called SQUORMS.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

hooknline - it's an area "thing". We have lush pastures STILL. We just weaned our calves 2 weeks ago. My cows are probably in a BCS of at least 6 to 6.5 and will start calving 1-15 (?) Cows were in excellent condition when we pulled the calves (which I will be getting their weights tomorrow) and have been totally pigging out on lush clover/grass fields since then. I thought their consumption would slow down now that they are dried up, but NOT! Of course, grass is such high quality, it's going right thru them quickly & they just keep eating. :shock:
When visiting my Mom in Florida, I only saw light muscled, small and/or thin cattle. I was NOT impressed. I'm sure there must be some down there that are good quality, just none on the roads we traveled. But, if the cattle don't have good eating - they won't be in good BCS.
Southern & Eastern NY, and surrounding states have been feeding hay since mid summer because of lack of rain. And in this area, the corn is probably the best it's been.

 

[dun]

hooknline - it's an area "thing". We have lush pastures STILL. We just weaned our calves 2 weeks ago. My cows are probably in a BCS of at least 6 to 6.5 and will start calving 1-15 (?) Cows were in excellent condition when we pulled the calves (which I will be getting their weights tomorrow) and have been totally pigging out on lush clover/grass fields since then. I thought their consumption would slow down now that they are dried up, but NOT! Of course, grass is such high quality, it's going right thru them quickly & they just keep eating. :shock:
When visiting my Mom in Florida, I only saw light muscled, small and/or thin cattle. I was NOT impressed. I'm sure there must be some down there that are good quality, just none on the roads we traveled. But, if the cattle don't have good eating - they won't be in good BCS.
Southern & Eastern NY, and surrounding states have been feeding hay since mid summer because of lack of rain. And in this area, the corn is probably the best it's been.

It's also a management thing. Managing the forage, not so much the cattle.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Absolutely! we wouldn't have "lush" pastures right now if we didn't "manage" them. But, we also have had the weather for growth that some have not had.
Our Amish neighbor is in "awe" of our pastures - his, on the other side of the fence, are all weeds right now. But, he is just getting established. Getting the fencing built, but doesn't have enough livestock, and hasn't been mowing. Not that we do much in the way of mowing - some fields, once a year.

 

[cfpinz]

For a while, anytime someone would talk about cows losing condition the standard reason suggested was hardware, then it was Johnes, lately it's been parasites. What do you think the next fad reason given will be?

Too much black angus influence.

 

[Anonymous]

Maybe I should have started a new topic, but this also seems to fit with Duns. Here's my take on why the cattle down here don't look as good as the cattle up north. First off, hide and hair are thicker up north and can hide a lot. Second, along the lines of Duns thoughts, the soil down here is sand mainly, and the nutrients run right through. Our grass never looks as full and lush as some of the northern climates with better soil. My fields are much better than most I see around, and I pay more attention to the grass than I do the cattle.most around here just thro up a fence and call it good, turn the cows on it and that's it. The only cattle I see that come close to those up north are those that are being fattened, but never any that are just out in the fields.I think that down here the cattle need to be seriously supplemented to look like those up north because of the grass we have here.and on the subject of grass, we mainly have bahia and bermuda, neither of which are known to be high in nutrients. But every year my fields are looking better and better, and I'm lucky enough to be in or near a river bottom. Even at that a 2 ft elevation change means mostly sand instead of black dirt
Just some observations and thought

 

[Chuckie]

I heard "their microbe's are off."

 

[novaman]

I heard "their microbe's are off."

I think this could be a legitimate problem in some cases. You have to feed the bugs (microbes) first.

 

[KNERSIE]

in my case its b/c it wont effin rain.

Thats the case here, add a heavy parasite load to that and the cattle will be more susceptible to contract Johne's. How's that for an answer dun?

 

[ANAZAZI]

If I see cattle that loose condition fast I think it is lungworm, it is a horrid pest that runs them down in weeks.

 

[Chuckie]

Novaman,
I agree with you all the way, but they need something to work with. I think if I had a microscope and could look at their microbes, they would be holding signs that said, "We will work for food!"
Chuckie

 

[Keren]

in my case its b/c it wont effin rain.

Why doesnt ct have a 'like' button??

 

[Beefy]

in my case its b/c it wont effin rain.

Why doesnt ct have a 'like' button??

we need a 'like' button and also a 'nobody cares' button!