Lost a Calf yesterday

[LCCattle]

Not sure where you are in Fla but a friend of mine in the panhandle told me they are finding purple mint, which is toxic to cattle in some bought hay.

 

[Rafter S]

So sorry... i hate that part of the business.
We lost a yearling heifer a couple years ago. She bloated. Thats pretty easy to diagnose. We have a friend who's lost several new calves to blackleg...She lost 3, when the 4th died she took it to the vet. So it was vet diagnosed. Kind of hard to prevent it if they are getting it before they are old enough to vaccinate.

You said your friend is losing new calves. Does that mean newborns? I'm certainly not saying it can't happen, but I've never heard of very small calves getting blackleg.

 

[melking]

I am moved beyond words at all of the responses. Thanks so much.

 

[talltimber]

Yes sir, sorry about your bad luck.

 

[Caustic Burno]

I am moved beyond words at all of the responses. Thanks so much.

If you ever suspect Blackleg feel the back legs it will feel like a bag of Frito's under the skin.

It usually doesn't effect cattle until 3 or 4 months of age and they should be vaccinated twice between 3 and 6 months.
If it is blackleg Houston we have a problem as it is caused by a spore that is living on your place.

 

[melking]

I was told by someone that if the vultures were on here then it most likely wasn't poison. I found her because of the vultures so I am not sure if that means anything. The other 1 year old on the lease seems to be fine, as do the 2 year olds. I guess it is one of those things and I than you all for your help and compassion.

On another note, since I am somewhat of a geek, I have been researching cattle prices for the last 20 years and trying to determine if there is any common factors that affect prices. I really haven't found much, but I did find it interesting that over all the price of cattle has risen about 2.35% per year for the last 20 years. Did I get this right?

 

[Gunner]

This is probably a long shot but I talked to a friend at the feed store Saturday morning. He lost 4 calves last week. Vet diagnosed it as poisoning from licking lead plates, probably from an old battery that the case had disintegrated. Sorry about your loss.

 

[melking]

Wow! Gunner that really sucks for your friend.

 

[Gunner]

Yes, it does. He only has about 15 cows.

 

[Jogeephus]

This is probably a long shot but I talked to a friend at the feed store Saturday morning. He lost 4 calves last week. Vet diagnosed it as poisoning from licking lead plates, probably from an old battery that the case had disintegrated. Sorry about your loss.

I had that very same thing happen on farm I look after. Pasture is about 400 acres with 300 of that being woods pasture. Cows kept randomly dying like blackleg but it clearly wasn't that. I think we lost a total of six before a sharp vet connected the dots between the deaths and some recent logging we had done on the land. He suggested a battery and we looked around at the old loading ramps and sure enough the loggers had left a battery there. From what I gathered the cows would like the battery like a salt block and it would end up poisoning them somehow. Disposed of the battery and the deaths ended. Can't swear to this but I'm pretty sure we had buzzards on these cattle because that is how we found them.

I don't like guessing on what kills an animal but I think it was mentioned you had cleared some land so it would be possible you stirred up some nails or something like that. Had a nail punctured the calves foot it could have gotten tetanus and though rare I think it possible for this to kill a yearling if you haven't vaccinated for tetanus. Just hope and pray you didn't stir up an old battery.

 

[fitz]

Not sure where you are in Fla but a friend of mine in the panhandle told me they are finding purple mint, which is toxic to cattle in some bought hay.

Sorry for the loss melking. LCCattle makes a good point. That purple (perilla/beefsteak) mint can cause some problems.