mysterious dead heifer..

[jmbadavis]

Husband got home this morning around 10:30 am and found my sons' 8 month old heifer dead. When I did chores this morning, she was fine, ate her grain and nursed, we were planning on weaning her in the next couple weeks. She had received all her normal vaccinations a couple weeks ago. Not sure what happened this morning. Trying to think of anything that has changed but she has been on the same grain, same pasture, nothing has changed. We have called the vet to come out to post her. Husband said she has blood coming out her nose and she is not laying flat, her legs are about at an 85 degree upward. Very strange how within a couple hours she could of just died for no apparent reason. The hard part will be telling my son when he gets home from school.

 

[bigbull338]

check her front legs an shoulders to see if they are mushy.if her shoulders are musy its blackleg.but what puzzles me is the blood coming from her nose.good thing your having the vet out to post the heifer.

 

[Beefy]

blackleg is my first guess as well.

 

[GMN]

Was she with a larger animal in the pen? Maybe she got stepped on.

GMN

 

[Rangenerd]

The first things that I thought of when I read that your calf was pointing to the sky that quick was. The blood coming from the nose could be caused by the pressure on the lungs and heart.

1) bloat

2) Overeating. For lack of a better defination it is food poising. Like blackleg it is caused by a clostridial bacteria. In young calves, You will find a bloody section in there gut. They usually pass bloody scoures. You will see them kick at there stomachs. In older cows they blow up like bloat. If nothing touches the dead animal (ie coyotes, buzzards, ect) and they rot down without being eaten it's overeating.

3) ate something toxic. I don't know what the toxic plants are in your area but you might want to check and see if there are any in your feed or pasture. Here in NE California I would be looking for death camas or the like.

 

[gabby]

Blackleg kills 'em quick, but that was darn quick. Bloated with legs sticking out and bloody nostrils sounds like blackleg.

 

[Beefy]

did her normal vaccinations include blackleg?

 

[MikeC]

Sounds like Bloat to me.

 

[Alice]

Quick question...doesn't black leg cause quick and severe bloat...I mean once they've gone on the meet their maker? We vaccinate like crazy for blackleg so we haven't had the problem, but I'm remembering something....

Alice

 

[MikeC]

Quick question...doesn't black leg cause quick and severe bloat...I mean once they've gone on the meet their maker? We vaccinate like crazy for blackleg so we haven't had the problem, but I'm remembering something....

Alice

Autolysis sets in rapidly in any dead animal. Faster in high temps.

I think Clostridium/Blackleg is a function of severe bloat.

 

[Wewild]

When I did chores this morning, she was fine,

The black leg I've seen ain't that quick. They seem to drag a leg for a day.

Hope it's not BL. Get them vac now anyway. It's cheap insurance.

 

[Wewild]

check her front legs an shoulders to see if they are mushy.if her shoulders are musy its blackleg.but what puzzles me is the blood coming from her nose.good thing your having the vet out to post the heifer.

This is a good way to tell if it is BL

 

[Roadapple]

Signs of Blackleg are: in the first 24 hrs there may be obvious lameness, a swelling of upper legs, and a slight dragging of hind feet, swellings that feel hot and look painful are obvious. Something else to think about is anthrax; signs, usually an animal drops dead for no apparent reason. Carcass will bloat very quickly and bloody discharges the color of tar coming out the rectum, nose and other body openings.Classic sign is "a sawhorse appearance on its side" appearance, a failure of blood to clot, and a failure of rigor mortis to set in as quickly as normally expected. One form of disease is so rapid only 1 to 2 hrs. from infection till death. extremely contagious to man as well as animals. Not saying thats what it is, but something to think about. My guess is bloat, but would'nt think so if she was eating same ration and amount.

 

[Beefy]

anytime i hear legs sticking up in the air i think blackleg, bloat, anthrax and lightning in that order. they will all have a bloated appearance. (* i dont know for sure that ive seen a real case of anthrax though)

 

[Beefy]

Signs of Blackleg are: in the first 24 hrs there may be obvious lameness, a swelling of upper legs, and a slight dragging of hind feet, swellings that feel hot and look painful are obvious. Something else to think about is anthrax; signs, usually an animal drops dead for no apparent reason. Carcass will bloat very quickly and bloody discharges the color of tar coming out the rectum, nose and other body openings.Classic sign is "a sawhorse appearance on its side" appearance, a failure of blood to clot, and a failure of rigor mortis to set in as quickly as normally expected. One form of disease is so rapid only 1 to 2 hrs. from infection till death. extremely contagious to man as well as animals. Not saying thats what it is, but something to think about. My guess is bloat, but would'nt think so if she was eating same ration and amount.

i thought with anthrax rigor mortis set in faster than normal and that gave it the sawhorse appearance...

 

[bigbull338]

check her front legs an shoulders to see if they are mushy.if her shoulders are musy its blackleg.but what puzzles me is the blood coming from her nose.good thing your having the vet out to post the heifer.

This is a good way to tell if it is BL

ill go yall 1 better on blackleg but you wont beleive me.ive had a 4yr jersey holstein cow die from blacklegg.milked her that morning.she went to the water trough got a drank went a few feet an died.she was fine in the barn no limping lameness nothing.found her when we shut rge holding lot gates.checked her an both her front shoulders was mushy.we go blavkleg in a grown cow weird.so we talked to the vet an he goes yes on a rare case cows can get blackleg.

 

[jmbadavis]

The vet came out in the afternoon to post her. He says she got in a low spot in the pasture, couldn't get herself over to get up, bloated. Does this happen? I am relatively new to beef. He says if a cow gets in a corn row, they can't get themselves up and will bloat. Although as he continued to look, he found infection in one of her stomachs which may have made her on the weaker side. I never noticed her showing any signs of being sick. But he did say that I would of eventually notice her getting sicker from the infection. He could not find any exterior punctures. Not sure if one of the younger steers she was with gave her a good push in the side, then the bruise turned to an infection? We really have no idea. Glad we had the vet out so at least we know. Just very frustrating. Yes she was vaccinated for blackleg.

 

[hillbilly beef man]

I had a ten month old steer feeder calf do the same thing. He was vaccinated for black leg. I fed him on Thursday morning and he was fine. Came home Thursday evening and he was lying with his feet in the air, grave yard dead. I should have had a vet check him, but I was quitting feeder steers that year anyway. The bad part about it was that I was going to take him to the market the Saturday before that, but there was not room in the trailer. So I was going to wait a week. If ifs and buts ……..

 

[bigbull338]

The vet came out in the afternoon to post her. He says she got in a low spot in the pasture, couldn't get herself over to get up, bloated. Does this happen? I am relatively new to beef. He says if a cow gets in a corn row, they can't get themselves up and will bloat. Although as he continued to look, he found infection in one of her stomachs which may have made her on the weaker side. I never noticed her showing any signs of being sick. But he did say that I would of eventually notice her getting sicker from the infection. He could not find any exterior punctures. Not sure if one of the younger steers she was with gave her a good push in the side, then the bruise turned to an infection? We really have no idea. Glad we had the vet out so at least we know. Just very frustrating. Yes she was vaccinated for blackleg.

yes a heifer or cow can lay down onn a hill or low place.an get their feet out from under them an cant get up.an that will cause them to bloat an die.unless you catch them an can get them on level ground an feet under them an get them up.

 

[Victoria]

Seems to happen more frequently during calving. Had one last year that I caught just in time, the calf was dead and half out the cow was stuck. Pulled the calf out, got a chain around her and got her up, she had the shakes for awhile but made it through the ordeal. The one about 5 years ago wasn't so lucky.