Lost Calf

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J-CCCC

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Lost the first calf born this season.. Possibly finished off by coyotes. Saw the cow with water bag hanging about two hours before sunset and planned to hunt her up around 10 PM to make sure there was no problem. About dark a heavy ground fog rolled in so I decided not to check on her. Lots of feral hogs down in the bottom thicket :so decided to wait till daylight. About ten in the morning the cow came up for feed call. Looked good and obviously had dropped the calf. Later she went back to the bottoms. Then about noon she came up and grazed with the herd and laid down to rest. I decided to take a look at the calf and walked the bottoms carefully and found nothing. Figured she was good at hiding the calf and gave it up.

About noon I saw a half dozen Mexican white tip buzzards circling over the bottom and again searched for the calf with no luck. Gave up! By 2 pm after the cow stayed up with the herd I decided either the calf was dead or abandoned, so went back for the third look.. Looking for evidence of struggle and such. Found a large leg part probably hind leg. Tissue eaten under the skin and fragmented bone above the upper joint more than likely means coyote.

I suspect the calf was large and the yotes working from the fog got it during birth. There weren't tracks in the immediate vicinity. No evidence of coyote or buzzard activity.

Cow is okay!! I'm looking for a baby calf to put on her.

Jay
 
Thats how it is--the one time you decide she will be fine on her own something like that happens. i know too well. Buzzards are pretty good at strowing calf parts around (ever seen them play tug of war for supper?) and also cleaning under the hide after they eat out the butt and eyes.. they can also cause fractures to bone. but could have been a coyote or hog even just as easily. since you didnt find the rest of the calf who knows. coyote could have drug it off. sucks.
 
Beefy,

I looked all over the area where the cow apparently dropped the calf. Couldn't find any tracks hog, yote, or buzzard. Leaves around the leg remain weren't disturbed like a drag. I feel pretty certain the calf was dead on arrival or pulled from the cow during the fog. You couldn't see 10 foot in front of you. Hogs would have surely left tracks. I figure the buzzards came in late and may not have gotten in on the fun.


Jay
 
Oh Lord, dont say anything about a BLEEEEEEEP on here. i have seen one too but this thread will be 8 pages long now. edit that out if you can!! if it had been a you know what, the calf would have been carried off and covered up wtih leaves or hung in a tree.

my guess is she had a dead calf for whatever reason and scavengers took care of it while she was gone. is she one to hide a calf and leave or does she normally stick with it? was she right on time or a little early?
 
Your right about the need for editing.. Your turn!

She was right on time. Last calf she wasn't real tight with but she was down there much of the morning after this time, so probably didn't abandon it. Her muzzle was wet up about 6 inches: I figure that means she she could have cleared it but may only mean she cleaned up the placenta. She,s still carrying the water sack.

Jay
 
if shes still carrying a "water sack" that is probably her retained placenta which is fairly common with calving difficulties and/or premature calving. can also indicate a deficiency. She probably had a dead calf, cleaned it, decided it wasnt going to get up, went to eat, and came back to check on it again. of course this is all just speculation and i should have been a detective.
 
What type of boluses do you use if a heifer/cow has retained her placenta? I don't mean to hijack the thread, but we had a surprise yesterday morning - 2 year old heifer calved anywhere from 2-3 weeks premature. As of tonight she does not appear to have shed the placenta. I know it's treatable, but I don't have a lot of experience with this as I don't remember ever having this problem before. I will discuss with the vet tomorrow to see what he suggests, but I was just wondering how you handled this type of situation?
 
msscamp":1oqmd3vw said:
What type of boluses do you use if a heifer/cow has retained her placenta? I don't mean to hijack the thread, but we had a surprise yesterday morning - 2 year old heifer calved anywhere from 2-3 weeks premature. As of tonight she does not appear to have shed the placenta. I know it's treatable, but I don't have a lot of experience with this as I don't remember ever having this problem before. I will discuss with the vet tomorrow to see what he suggests, but I was just wondering how you handled this type of situation?

Many years ago the conventional method was to manually detach and remove it. Now it's been determined that the best method is to leave it alone and let nature take it's course. We tie it up so that it won;t drag the ground and it eventually detaches and falls out from the added weight of the placenta and time.

dun
 
i rarely do anything for retained placenta unless it gets super dooper nasty. some people give oxytocin, some treat with vitamin E. i try to keep plenty of minerals out to avoid deficiency but with early calves those cows just seem prone to RP. In the past i have pulled it out at feeding time while the cow was distracted. yes, i am brave. now i give them a week to pass it on their own. mother nature has a way of taking care of things you know.. i tend to neglect my cows more than others on this board ive noticed, though.
 
It's not dragging on the ground. There is only about 3-4" visible, but she has been like this since early yesterday morning. Ok, I'll take a chill pill and see what happens. Thanks guys!

PS They have free choice access to a good loose mineral constantly. I just refilled the feeder tonight, as a matter of fact! :lol: :lol:
 
J-CCCC, I'm very sorry to hear about the loss of your calf. That pretty much bites the big one! I also apologize for hi-jacking the thread. :oops:
 
I looked all over the area where the cow apparently dropped the calf. Couldn't find any tracks hog, yote, or buzzard. Leaves around the leg remain weren't disturbed like a drag. I feel pretty certain the calf was dead on arrival or pulled from the cow during the fog. You couldn't see 10 foot in front of you. Hogs would have surely left tracks. I figure the buzzards came in late and may not have gotten in on the fun.

Hmmm, this one got me thinking. Could it have been a............., naw I won't even say it. Learned my lesson the last time :lol: !!

Take care,

J

BTW- Beefy, 8 pages??
 
Naw, none of the strange lights or eerie sounds. No contacts from the calf knapers but then they usuallyl don't leave a leg do they?
 
sometimes they go out on a limb and leave clues behind to throw you off.
 
J-CCC sorry to hear about your loss. I personally WOULD NOT purchase a calf to put on her. You can get a perfectly healthy calf, that never gets sick, but you are bringing NEW bugs to your farm, that your other cattle may not have any resistance to. so if you might be having more calves soon, the newborns can get sick.
MsCamp - Dun is right. Just leave her alone, period, unless she runs a fever and goes off feed. Any antibiotics are detrimental to the natural cleaning process. The bugs in her system will "eat away" the rotting parts & peices left inside of her. If you treat her, you kill the good bugs and there goes the natural cleaning process. And you really should not 'pull' it out. If it gets too long, you can cut it off part way or like Dun says, tie it up in a knot. It can get REALLLLLY stinky, but just ignore unless she gets sick, than you have to treat, but this is VERY rare.
 
Msscamp,
No worries, highjacking adds interest! The afterbirth was pulled by the cow. After feeding the calf I'm grafting onto her she was walking backward out of the chute and stepped on it with a front hoof. Yeah, it had gotten pretty long but it was only three or four days since losing the calf.

I,ve seen it hang for up to 10 maybe 12 days after the calf was delivered. Have never pulled it. I think if it went beyond that I'd watch the cows behavior/symptons. If standing humped for long time or if temperature is high, definately call the veternarian.

Replacement calf and cow are doing well in getting acquainted;
time will tell if the graft works.

Jay
 
Thanks J-CCC. :)

Our heifer finally passed her placenta. I knew not to pull it out manually so that wasn't even an option. I appreciate all the responses and help! :)
 

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