Lost A Cow Today (graphic image)

[TexFarmer]

Yesterday I noticed one of my cows was a little sluggish coming up for feed. The day before she was fine. My cows have been on hay since November. She was up and walking around this morning but still seemed a little off. I saw her standing with her tail held up and out a few times and figured she might just be constipated. Went to check back on her at 5:00 pm this afternoon and found her dead with what looks to me like a prolapsed rectum?? Anyone seen this or have an idea what might have caused this sudden death?

Here's what I know about her:
Viral Respiratory w/Lepto vaccination: 6/18/2017
Blackleg vaccination: 5/13/2017
Dewormed: 5/13/2017
Last calved: 9/6/2017
Last serviced by my bull: 12/3/17
Age: Unknown

 

[True Grit Farms]

Hardware or maybe ate something toxic? It's been awhile since I saw that, sorry for your luck.

 

[Caustic Burno]

You will probably never know especially not knowing her age.
From your post yours are under a management plan.
If you have cows your going to loose some, just the way the game is played.
I will add with the recent temps we had put an additional stress on cattle.

 

[gizmom]

Do you unwrap your hay? I have heard of blockages from net wrap, but that is th only thing other than what some of the other posters named that comes to mind. So sorry for your loss.


Gizmom

 

[TexFarmer]

Do you unwrap your hay? I have heard of blockages from net wrap, but that is th only thing other than what some of the other posters named that comes to mind. So sorry for your loss.
Gizmom

I do unwrap all my bales. The farmer that I acquired my cattle from in December 2016 did not and he had hay string embedded all in his fields. From time to time we do find hay string in our fields from the previous farmers who did not pick up after themselves, as well as random bits of hardware. I lost an older cow last summer and we found where she had hay string bound up inside her intestines. That older cow was very emaciated and skinny and so the cause of death due to hay string causing malnourishment made sense to me. The cow that died today was one of the largest of my herd, I would grade her a BCS 6 or higher and her death was just so sudden. Unless she swallowed something like a piece of string that bound up or a piece of hardware that ruptured something inside her...

 

[ALACOWMAN]

could have been hardware.. Sorry to see it.. Those of us with em, are gonna lose em..

 

[Aaron]

You have until tomorrow at noon to have a vet come out and slice her open. Might provide some insight.

 

[TexFarmer]

Does anyone have any recommendations for for what I should do with her orphaned 4 month old calf? Pen him up and provide calf starter rations?

 

[kenny thomas]

Does anyone have any recommendations for for what I should do with her orphaned 4 month old calf? Pen him up and provide calf starter rations?

Sounds like the best option. Get another calf to keep him company.

 

[Aaron]

Does anyone have any recommendations for for what I should do with her orphaned 4 month old calf? Pen him up and provide calf starter rations?

Sounds like the best option. Get another calf to keep him company.

Water, good hay and a little ration and he will do better than he did on the cow. Get him a buddy for sure.

 

[MRRherefords]

Does anyone have any recommendations for for what I should do with her orphaned 4 month old calf? Pen him up and provide calf starter rations?

Sounds like the best option. Get another calf to keep him company.

Water, good hay and a little ration and he will do better than he did on the cow. Get him a buddy for sure.

Once he is started on feed he will be good. A buddy is always a good idea. They seem to grow better with a buddy rather than by themselves.

 

[TexFarmer]

I was told by a local cattleman that often when the cows die they bloat up and this causes what I thought was a prolapsed rectum in my picture. She could have only been dead for a couple of hours as I saw her up around 1:00 pm and found her dead at 5:00 pm. Can the animal bloat that much in such a short time to cause the anus to protrude like that on its own?

 

[Silver]

I was told by a local cattleman that often when the cows die they bloat up and this causes what I thought was a prolapsed rectum in my picture. She could have only been dead for a couple of hours as I saw her up around 1:00 pm and found her dead at 5:00 pm. Can the animal bloat that much in such a short time to cause the anus to protrude like that on its own?

Doesn't take long.

 

[TCRanch]

I was told by a local cattleman that often when the cows die they bloat up and this causes what I thought was a prolapsed rectum in my picture. She could have only been dead for a couple of hours as I saw her up around 1:00 pm and found her dead at 5:00 pm. Can the animal bloat that much in such a short time to cause the anus to protrude like that on its own?

Doesn't take long.

Sadly, yes.

 

[Silver]

Sorry for you loss. Is that exactly as you found her?

 

[TCRanch]

CB mentioned the temps and it appears as it it's muddy in the pic, she definitely has moisture on her. I'm wondering if possible pneumonia, only because one of my bulls last year was acting sluggish/just not right. Eyes were a little watery & temp was only 102.2 but took him to the vet the next day. His temp had already shot up to 105 & vet confirmed pneumonia, hefty dose of Draxxin and wasn't sure he'd make it (he did) but it was that fast. Obviously you'll never know but it always sucks to lose one and I'm sorry for your loss. I ended up with a couple orphans earlier this year and they turned out great. Definitely not as big as the other spring calves but pretty stout, healthy, independent calves.