Interesting reaction to dead heifer

[Lucky_P]

Deadstock disposal is a tough issue all over the place, and greatly complicated by federal & state regulations that essentially put the renderers out of the deadstock processing business. We worked extensively with Griffin Industries when the changes and squeeze were being sent down from FDA - deadstock removal/processing was only about 1% of their business, and the new regulations were so onerous that it made it impossible for them to continue doing it. The unannounced inspections and potential fines for each and every violation were staggering.

I don't blame folks for dragging them to an isolated, out-of-view spot, and letting nature take its course. But, being a good environmental steward, as most of us are, I'd encourage folks to be cognizant of water quality issues & the like - don't dump 'em in a sinkhole, or in the creek - and ideally, they oughta be in a place out of sight of folks who are unfamiliar with the life-and-death processes that occur daily on a farm or ranch and could possibly be disturbed by seeing that carcass and the decomposition/scavenging process.

Our county has managed to get a few grants, and the county fiscal court has, for the past several years, contracted with an outfit to do deadstock pickup, hauling them to the landfill; county pays them a flat rate of several thousand dollars a year, and the producers have to pay $35/head pickup fee. And, as bigfoot said, there's been some issues with 'timeliness'; I saw the county financial officer at the fair not long ago, and he was telling me about some of the problems they've encountered with the pickup contractor.
It's not a perfect system, and I don't know how long the county will continue to support it -but most of the adjoining counties have no options other than either following the guidelines set out by the state... or violating them.

 

[AllForage]

You can cover them in a manure pile and it will decompose all but the largest bones.

I have to agree with this. Woodchips, old hay, and/or bedding pack to cover animal. It's just plain polite and will help discourage coyotes and other vermin. Personally I would poly wire the cows away from it. Whether legal or not, composting is a very good option.

Luckily with the dairies around here we have a good rendering service. Cows are free and calves cost 20 bucks I think. They are quick in the summer to pickup. Won't take sheep though so I compost them.

 

[branguscowgirl]

Our local rendering service is quite costly.......$250. Per animal. I just recently had one of my horses put down.
North State Rendering was one of the features on " Mike Rowes Dirty Jobs." (I think they earn their money after seeing it!)
I have buried them on the property, and also done as Ron has. (Being careful of contamination.) But where I live now, it is just not possible.

 

[inyati13]

Deadstock disposal is a tough issue all over the place, and greatly complicated by federal & state regulations that essentially put the renderers out of the deadstock processing business. We worked extensively with Griffin Industries when the changes and squeeze were being sent down from FDA - deadstock removal/processing was only about 1% of their business, and the new regulations were so onerous that it made it impossible for them to continue doing it. The unannounced inspections and potential fines for each and every violation were staggering.

I don't blame folks for dragging them to an isolated, out-of-view spot, and letting nature take its course. But, being a good environmental steward, as most of us are, I'd encourage folks to be cognizant of water quality issues & the like - don't dump 'em in a sinkhole, or in the creek - and ideally, they oughta be in a place out of sight of folks who are unfamiliar with the life-and-death processes that occur daily on a farm or ranch and could possibly be disturbed by seeing that carcass and the decomposition/scavenging process.

Our county has managed to get a few grants, and the county fiscal court has, for the past several years, contracted with an outfit to do deadstock pickup, hauling them to the landfill; county pays them a flat rate of several thousand dollars a year, and the producers have to pay $35/head pickup fee. And, as bigfoot said, there's been some issues with 'timeliness'; I saw the county financial officer at the fair not long ago, and he was telling me about some of the problems they've encountered with the pickup contractor.
It's not a perfect system, and I don't know how long the county will continue to support it -but most of the adjoining counties have no options other than either following the guidelines set out by the state... or violating them.

Lucky, small world. Old man Griffin started in my home county, Pendleton. I was not close friends with his children but I went to high school with them. One of his daughters was in my high school class (68). I have a brother that worked at their original facility.

Lucky, I endorse everything you have stated. I would certainly like to see a way to get back to the rendering. I am not familiar with the current status. Originally, the Griffin facility made dead animals into fertilizer. Why is that a problem? Livestock is not consuming it and pathogens are going to have long been oxidized.

I learned from the experience. My plan in the future is to incinerate. Not going to waste time looking for a hauler, there is none!

 

[Lucky_P]

Ron,
As long as I've been in the business - there was a small Griffin plant a mile or two from our first home in Giles Co. TN, and I once was alongside a Griffin truck in Atlanta traffic - they've been in the business of 'recycling' animal carcasses and offal - which were primarily processed into meat & bone meal, 'tankage', or... if you look at the list of ingredients on your dog food bag... animal protein digest. They also pick up waste grease/oil from restaurants, etc.
Probably not many ladies would be thrilled to know that the oils in some of their cosemetics & lipsticks came from dead cows or the fryer at Mickey D's.

All the hysteria over BSE essentially put them out of the deadstock removal and processing business. They may still be servicing slaughterhouses that handle cattle under 30 months of age, but small custom slaughter operations, and those that process cull cows/bulls are no longer allowed to send certain specific parts of those animals for inclusion in ANY animal feed, for ANY species. The requirements and regulatory hoops they have to go through to ensure that none of those 'excluded materials' (brain, spinal cord, spinal column, spleen, portions of the intestinal tract) get into the rendering chain are so onerous that most just opt to pay to send everything to a permitted landfill rather than deal with the threat of incredible fines and unannounced inspections by FDA agents.
This, over a 'disease' that has killed less than 200 people(only 229 cases diagnosed, some are still alive), worldwide, since it came on the scene in the 1980s.

 

[skyhightree1]

cattle definitely know death and bulls especially IMO.. I have drug them in the woods as well. I don't like doing it cause the buzzards think if a cow is down they are eligible to be eaten. I will bury if I can.

 

[talltimber]

That would be hard to watch. Sad deal. I hate it for you.

 

[glacierridge]

When my cow Holly lost her first calf, she tried desperately to lick it alive.

She then refused to eat for nearly a week.
My brother thought she might die on him.
They aren't like us, but they do morn.

Sorry for the loss.

 

[cloud9cattle]

On another note outside of death. I have had one get out a time or two and have had good luck with them always standing on the other side of the fence wanting to get back in. I believe they are like family and they do love one another. On the other hand ive also had the herd in the past that seemed to never really gel had cows that seemed to all be independent. Very interesting dynamic.

 

[Ozhorse]

To follow the thread a little off topic with the last post, I have found that the cows like to be kept with their "sisters", the cows they grew up with from calves and were weaned with. I find that in a big paddock, if I put in two "sister" groups, and if the cows are in more than one group, each group will be (mostly) a sister group. I find this important in putting out bulls in big rough paddocks. I note that can mean that the cows will split up and could be a few kilometres away from the bull. If there are cycling cows in both groups then some cows are going to miss out. If they all like being together then the bull has better access, particularly when the cows are still focused on their very young babies. I am guessing that they will creche better with cows they like and think are family.

I also notice that if I group the cows on some other criteria, that are from different rearing groups or properties, that I see the same as Cloud9 does, that they dont gell and various ones go off by themselves.

Re: waiting by the gate when they have been "out". Yup, seen that plenty. Like the bull who went over the fence to fix a few empty cows at the neighbours place, then stood at the gate for 3 days until I let him back in (had to find the gate key).

I think they feel guilty. When the neighbours cows get in and I don't know where the broken fence is, I sort of annoy them, gently, and follow them, are sure as anything they will start heading for home, and go back over the fence where they got in.

Merino sheep I think also feel guilty. They are well known for staying in paddocks when the fences are bad. I have seen where a gate was left open on a sheep camp for days and they did not even go through it.

 

[Talin]

I went to a lecture on composting carcasses basically above ground put them in some old hay fenced to keep the pile intact and add some water in 4-6 months nothing but small bone pieces. Haven't tried it but seems fairly easy

 

[Nesikep]

I think our neighbors start to know the drill around here.. BANG!, and a couple minutes later the backhoe is at work!, Do it for cows as well as 'other' animals. Frozen ground doesn't work well though.

Cows definitely an 'emptiness' when a member of the herd dies. The big steer I sold to a friend a couple years back became best friends with his bull, and the bull went ballistic for days after Joules was put in the freezer. By friend put the hide in a burn pile, and the bull was out there in a torrential rain, digging it all back up.

I definitely notice the "sister groups" too, and there are some cows that other cows just CAN'T STAND to be around (CT is a bit like that). My old cow was always VERY aware of what was going on at the "udder end", and always knew if there was a milk thief around. One year she had a bit a late calf, so I left her with her calf (a replacement heifer), and the rest of the freshly weaned replacement heifers together. She had 1 granddaughter there, and would let her nurse.. I have a very good picture of this 16 year old cow, about 1300 lbs, with two 650 lb heifers nursing on her,.. sure made her look good! I also find cows are 'nicer' to their close relatives.

I used to have a pretty spooky heifer that was halterbroke, and I'd lead her around the yard to eat grass. One day we skinned a deer in front of the shop, and she NEVER AGAIN would go by the place, always had to walk around the long way. I think some are far more sensitive than others.

 

[selenahill21]

This is interesting! Can someone show me a regulations on how we are supposed to dispose carcasses? Apparently, carcass removal has been a huge issue since the news about carcass removal leads to $417,000 lawsuit. Phone books are a million-dollar information market. Errors in phone books have resulted in everything from decreased listings to regulatory investigations. Phone book provider Dex has been filed suit against for incorrectly listing a BBQ diner below "carcass removal".

 

[baptistebruno]

I had also faced the same situation when I found a dead deer on my lawn. But fortunately, I got to know about Urban Wildlife Control that offers dead animal removal services in Atlanta.

deaddeerremovalatl[dot]com

 

[darcelina4]

We usually bury dead animals. If it is smaller, I hand dig the hole. It is all sand where I live. Big ones we have a neighbor (80 years young) with a backhoe that buries them. In January, my 31 year old thoroughbred mare died. It was really cold (15 degrees) with ice and snow and 25 mile an hour wind. He was sick and could not come out in that weather. We had our other neighbor drag out to the back of the pasture where there is a big depression so noone would see the body from the road. A few days later the backhoe guy said he could come over. We looked at the horse and another neighbors starving dogs were eating her. We decided not to bury her but to feed those poor dogs. It was so cold so no bad odor. Then in may a 25 year old thoroughbred mare died. We had the backhoe guy bury her right away..... Back in June 2007, we had a 2 month old colt die from pneumonia. I was cash strapped so I spent 6 hours digging a hole. If was 5 feet deep, 4 ft wide by 4ft wide. My sister came and helped me get the body out of the barn, drug with the truck out to hole, and in the hole. The horses were all freaking out. She had a big stick and had to keep waving them back. I spent 2 more hours putting the dirt back over him. Them it started to rain. It was about 1am by this time. We got 12 inches of rain in the next 24 hours. In the morning my dad was sick so we took him to the hospital. We were busy with work and seeing my dad at the hospital for a few days so I just watered horses and only fed a few. They had round bales already. Then the horrid smell was here. I made me vomit. With all the rain, the colt had blew up with gas and floated up through the sand to the surface. He was half out of the ground. It was too muddy near the gates to get in with a tractor to cover him. I had to get hydrated lime and put over him to curb the stench. A month later another old horse died. When the backhoe guy finished burying her, he pushed dirt over the ribs still stinking out of the ground from the colt. This is why farming can be so yucky sometimes. But as for the original post, I do see animals freak out and cry endlessly when another is dead. When the 31 year old mare died, her penmate was in a big depression for about a month.