Lost a healthy 2 month old calf.

[ebkyle2]

First time this has every happened and I am scratching my head. Had a healthy two month old calf just turn up dead.
Saw him less than 36 hours ago and he was just fine. No signs of any kind of illness.There is no way he had pneumonia, scours etc.

I have been racking my brain trying to figure out what might have happened.There were no signs of anything abnormal on the carcass or any kind of trauma to the body.

I guess what I am asking is have any of you folks every had something like that happen that you were able to pinpoint a cause. And I don't believe in UFOs so don't try that one.

Thanks

 

[Bullbuyer]

Happens every now and then. Sorry for your luck but there are so many possibilities - could be crush injury by other cattle or something congenital, difficult to say.

 

[Farmgirl]

Sounds like blackleg. Had the calf been vaccinated?

 

[ebkyle2]

No Blackleg shot. He was one of the older calves so I usually wait until my youngest is about 45 days old then I blackleg them all at once.

 

[Farmgirl]

Had the cow been vaccinated in the last trimester?

 

[ebkyle2]

Not for blackleg.
It is a set of cows I bought as breds.
We poured them and gave them a vibrio, lepto which would have been in the last trimester of this particular calf's mother.

 

[Farmgirl]

I am no vet and don't know your area but I would be leary of Blackleg. We vaccinated our calves early. I have seen the scenario you described. Can you or did you feel of the calf's leg. If it is BL has the sound of crumpling paper when you feel the leg(s). Kills quickly and without forewarning.

Good luck.

 

[ebkyle2]

I am not a vet either, but this is the first calf I have lost like this in over 6 years with about 100 calves per year so I am assuming blackleg isn't a big problem in my area. I have always vaccinated for it as described earlier.

No, I didn't wiggle the legs around. I thought of that this morning, but not last night about dark when I was checking cows and ran across the little bugger.

By the time I get back to it, the calf will have been dead at least 24 hours, probably longer, will the legs still be crinkly.

 

[Alice]

Wouldn't black leg cause severe bloat soon after death, or am I mixing it up with something else? Black leg around here is a problem and we vaccinate against it religiously, so truth be told, I've never seen it among our animals.

Alice

 

[GMN]

I'm thinking blackleg happens in older animals. Was this calf with other calves, or with its mother? I'm thinking congenital, a heart defect happens more often than we know. My vet told me about a case he had, with 2 calves about 6 months old, fine the nite before, the next day dead, turns out they did a necropsy, there was a heart defect, the calves they thought had comparable to heart attacks in people.

GMN

 

[Pooog1]

Has anyone ever thought of overeating? Do you vaccinate with 7-way? This is a quick killer

 

[klingoncowboy4]

Sounds like blackleg. Had the calf been vaccinated?

I know blackleg personally and the calf will be fine in the moring limpimg (but still strong) in the afternoon and dead in the evening.

Wouldn't black leg cause severe bloat

No I watched the autopsy of the first calf I had die of it and the effected leg is rotten and the leg of the other side looks as though you could eat it. Of coarse I wouldn't knowing it were a blackleg death.

I'm thinking blackleg happens in older animals.

I had it happen to a couple of calves that were almost ready to sell.

 

[milkmaid]

Blackleg is just one of several clostridiums that can cause sudden death. Could be something like types A, B, C, or D - latter two being most likely and covered in most clostridial vaccinations. Entrotoxemia (overeating) is caused by the Cl. perfringens types C and D. Then there's also gas-gangrene and malignant edema.

Vaccinating with a standard 7 way or 8 way clostridial might not be a bad idea right now.

 

[msscamp]

I guess what I am asking is have any of you folks every had something like that happen that you were able to pinpoint a cause. And I don't believe in UFOs so don't try that one.

Thanks

It happens from time to time. We had what appeared to be a perfectly healthy 2-3 month old calf a year or two back that was fine that morning, and dead that afternoon - the way he was laying looked like someone had shot him dead and he simply collapsed - except there was no bullet hole. No clue what the cause was, probably the bovine eqivalent of a heart attack.

 

[randiliana]

It happens every now and then. Usually to one of your best calves too. Our vet tells us that it could be an ulcer that ruptures in the stomach, or any number of other reasons too. For that matter it could have been a heart attack. Kind of unusual on a young calf, but stranger things have been known to happen.....

 

[Beefy]

i bet it died for a reason. your guess is as good as mine.

 

[coolpop]

I lost one like that about 2 yrs ago, she was being bottle feed, great health, found her dead the next morning. I found some half eaten/ disturbed mushrooms behind the barn, so my guess was that she had eaten those and died from that. The other calves were in great health too but stayed away from the mushrooms.

 

[mnmtranching]

My Vet told me a story. This cow/calf operator lost a couple of 3 mo old calves, all his cattle were vacinated. The guy had an old dump on his property. The calves chewed on old batterys, died of poisoning.

mnmt

 

[Texan]

My guess would be blackleg. That should always be a serious consideration when you find one of your best calves dead for no apparent reason. I lost a five week old calf about a month ago. The youngest and the earliest I can ever remember losing one to blackleg.

This one was obviously blackleg before I ever got up very close to her. She almost looked double-muscled in the hip that was facing up.

 

[Beefy]

i'd put my money on blackleg as well...