Lost a Heifer...QUESTION

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K2011

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Today we found one of our heifers dead. She was lying right by a fence and we have no idea what happend to her and never will, about a week ago we had a big storm come through and she didn't look all that great (just had her head hanging down low and ears low. but that was normal considering it was raining and all the other cows where doing it to) but otherwise she looked to be in good condition...it's pretty strange...seems like she died quite quickly too b/c we saw her only a few days ago (3 or 4) and now she is by a fence that the cows never even really spend to much time by...just like she was walking threw and died...weird...but it's a shame we had to lose her...she was one of the more "pretty" ones...

df8effe9.jpg
 
Aw, I'm sorry. I'm a big pansy when it comes to my cattle dying. She puffy around the neck or jaw or anything? I used to see the droopiness on livestock affected with ergot is all.
 
K2011":7lyr8u5x said:
Today we found one of our heifers dead. She was lying right by a fence and we have no idea what happend to her and never will, about a week ago we had a big storm come through and she didn't look all that great (just had her head hanging down low and ears low. but that was normal considering it was raining and all the other cows where doing it to) but otherwise she looked to be in good condition...it's pretty strange...seems like she died quite quickly too b/c we saw her only a few days ago (3 or 4) and now she is by a fence that the cows never even really spend to much time by...just like she was walking threw and died...weird...but it's a shame we had to lose her...she was one of the more "pretty" ones...

df8effe9.jpg

storm? did the temps change pretty quick? If so I would say pneumonia got her. Especially since you say she looked droopy for 3-4 days.
 
I would say pneumonia as well. In the pic of her you can see she is not in top form, notice that her ears are droopy compared to the calf behind her. She probably was coming down with something and running a fever at the time of the pic. The storm and cold temps and being wet was probably more than her immune system could handle and so she went down fast.

That is the thing about pneumonia it can take them really fast if there are not in peak health to begin with.


Sorry about you calf she was a cutie.

Randiliana posted a thread about illness in calves; it was a check list and how to asses and when to treat. I will try to find it and bump it up.
 
cowman30":2btd7xhj said:
K2011":2btd7xhj said:
Today we found one of our heifers dead. She was lying right by a fence and we have no idea what happend to her and never will, about a week ago we had a big storm come through and she didn't look all that great (just had her head hanging down low and ears low. but that was normal considering it was raining and all the other cows where doing it to) but otherwise she looked to be in good condition...it's pretty strange...seems like she died quite quickly too b/c we saw her only a few days ago (3 or 4) and now she is by a fence that the cows never even really spend to much time by...just like she was walking threw and died...weird...but it's a shame we had to lose her...she was one of the more "pretty" ones...

df8effe9.jpg

storm? did the temps change pretty quick? If so I would say pneumonia got her. Especially since you say she looked droopy for 3-4 days.[/quote]

She didn't look droopy for 3-4 days...we saw her 3-4 days ago (when we where last out there) The temps did get a little cool but really not enough in my opinion to really "get her" but that still is a possibility...
 
It's been a while since she died now and NOTHING has really touched her...I mean when we 1st found her she was past the 'bloating' stage and was 'popped' (something was kinda eatting on her but really not a lot at all) and today she looks exactly the same....I've heard that if lightning strikes a cow that nothing will eat it...???? anyone else heard this
 
K2011":2cyvt83x said:
I've heard that if lightning strikes a cow that nothing will eat it...???? anyone else heard this

That is a new one. We've had cattle struck by lightning over the years, but I don't recall scavengers not eating them.
 
We had one cow that we put down that the cyotes and ravens did not feast on. We figure it was because she was full of sickness. We had the vet out for, i think bull testing, and got her to look at this cow. She thought it was some type of cancer by the way she was going down hill, and yet no pnemonia. I say thought cause the vet had figured not to do any tests because she would not recover, no other animals were sick, so it was not contagious, and she thought the $ spent were not worth it. Hubby dragged her out to the back 40 off pasture, and nothing touched it.
 
Mind if I ask what was on the other side of the fence? We had a cow that spent to much time in a bean field. Died one day, nothing ever touched her carcass.
 
CattleHand":3i5rv50e said:
Mind if I ask what was on the other side of the fence? We had a cow that spent to much time in a bean field. Died one day, nothing ever touched her carcass.

Just our neighbor's cattle pasture (a small section of woods and open areas, nothing real 'appealing') he has been keeping his 1st calf heifers in there....but even his cattle don't spend to much time in that spot/area...
 
lol.. y'all think she looks "droopy", but unless I miss my guess, that's a Simbrah! Her ears are supposed to look like that.

Sorry for your loss... do you have a lot of clover?
 
TheBullLady":ufaou1f5 said:
lol.. y'all think she looks "droopy", but unless I miss my guess, that's a Simbrah! Her ears are supposed to look like that.

Sorry for your loss... do you have a lot of clover?

You got it! lol yep she was a Simbrah....and no we don't really have to much clover around..
 
TreecuttingJB3-21-09011.jpg
This calf was born 1/26/09. Yesterday afternoon I found her laying down. I went up to her and got her to stand. She walked a few feet and laid back down.She was breathing heavy and seemed to be bloated some. I got the vet to come out at about 8 PM and he said he thought it was pneumonia. He gave her 3 shots .One was Nuflor,and I think Banamine. I checked her at 6:30 am this morning and she was dead.It's very disappointing as she was my best heifer calf this year. I saw her 2 or 3 days earlier and she was fine.
 

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