Never seen this before

[VAStocker]

Got 44 steers from a local stock yard and 26 of the 44 were running a fever (104.5-107.0) any where in that range. I expect to get a few fevers with each load but this was alot more than normal. The cattle did not spend more than 12 hours in the same pen and were bought in 3 seperate groups so they weren't pened together at the market for very long, and from the looks of thing like back tag #'s and ear tags the calves came from different farms for the most part. All were 400-500 lbs. and looked good other than the fever a few runny noses but that was it. I can't explain it. Maybe the gestation period for different infections is alot shorter than I thought. But I never thought this short.

 

[Roadapple]

I'm waiting on CB on this one.

 

[Alice]

Can't stress cause a higher temperature? A dang sale barn could stress anything out...And I don't know about how things are where you are, but heat and dust and that lousy pollen really cause havoc here with respiratory problems...fever, running nose, eyes, coughing. I'm just speculating here...well, and I'm going on what I've seen with one or two of the few animals I've got left...and what I noticed at the auction I went to yesterday.

Alice

 

[msscamp]

Can't stress cause a higher temperature?
Alice

Not usually. The danger of stress is that it tends to overtax the immune system and allow any illness/disease the cattle may have come in contact with to gain a foothold and develop into a full blown illness - especially if the previous health program is not up to par.

 

[Alice]

Can't stress cause a higher temperature?
Alice

Not usually. The danger of stress is that it tends to overtax the immune system and allow any illness/disease the cattle may have come in contact with to gain a foothold and develop into a full blown illness - especially if the previous health program is not up to par.

Then could that be a possible cause of what is being described here?

Alice

 

[msscamp]

Can't stress cause a higher temperature?
Alice

Not usually. The danger of stress is that it tends to overtax the immune system and allow any illness/disease the cattle may have come in contact with to gain a foothold and develop into a full blown illness - especially if the previous health program is not up to par.

Then could that be a possible cause of what is being described here?

Alice

Absolutely. Think of how quickly you come down with a cold when your stressed as opposed to when you're not. Same thing with animals, stress compromises the immune system and allows disease/illness to gain strength. Stress is why calves tend to scour during times of rain and snow in cooler weather - they get wet, become chilled, that stresses them and their immune systems can't fight off the bugs as well as it could if the stress had not occured.

 

[Alice]

Can't stress cause a higher temperature?
Alice

Not usually. The danger of stress is that it tends to overtax the immune system and allow any illness/disease the cattle may have come in contact with to gain a foothold and develop into a full blown illness - especially if the previous health program is not up to par.

Then could that be a possible cause of what is being described here?

Alice

Absolutely. Think of how quickly you come down with a cold when your stressed as opposed to when you're not. Same thing with animals, stress compromises the immune system and allows disease/illness to gain strength. Stress is why calves tend to scour during times of rain and snow in cooler weather - they get wet, become chilled, that stresses them and their immune systems can't fight off the bugs as well as it could if the stress had not occured.

Thanks, Msscamp. I've always been a big believer that stress was a big contributor to illnesses in calves and calves doing poorly when I bring them home from the sale barn. When my calves get loaded at the sale barn I stand there and watch those people, mostly kids/college kids, load the calves. If I see one of them handle one roughly, he or she gets the sharp side of my tongue and the lecture: "Look, bubba, I paid good money for that calf. This calf has already been thru getting dumped on a trailer, dumped off a trailer, prodded with hot shots, run thru a ring and frightened to death, then stuck in a holdng pen with a jillion other calves. Now you rough it up...and I get to go home and spend more time and money treating it for the scours that I can assure you will happen now. What's your name, anyway?"

The big calf buyer around here isn't even that nice when he sees his calves get roughed up and stressed. My brother saw him once come close to hitting someone for it.

These holstein calves bought at the sale barn are hard enough to keep alive as it is, dangit...and I'll get off my soap box now. Ahem, ok, I'm cool...I'm cool.

Thanks agin, msscamp...I feel a bit more validtion in my stress theory now...and those kids had better watch out...ahem, ok, I'm cool, I'm cool...

Alice

 

[dj]

Alice repeat as often as necessary.
serenity now,serenity now,serenity now..........

 

[Alice]

Alice repeat as often as necessary.
serenity now,serenity now,serenity now..........

You're right, dj...deep breaths, deep breaths.

I'll save it for this afternoon at the sale barn...and instead of the lecture, I'll just smack 'em. Great stress reliever!

Alice

 

[dj]

The culprits are three different bacteria that are usually harmless--Pasteurella haemolytica, P. multocida, and Haemophilus somnus. Normally present in cows' nasal cavities, these bacteria usually don't cause problems--until the young animals are readied for shipment. Then the stress of handling and shipping takes a toll on their immune systems, and the bacteria move into their lungs and cause pneumonia.

VAStocker not saying this is or isn't. Could some of those calves already been through a sale barn? maybe.
In this area several people buy in AR on Thur and sell in MO on Sat. And since it can be a week before calves are showing symptoms?maybe?

 

[dj]

Alice repeat as often as necessary.
serenity now,serenity now,serenity now..........

You're right, dj...deep breaths, deep breaths.

I'll save it for this afternoon at the sale barn...and instead of the lecture, I'll just smack 'em. Great stress reliever!

Alice

A smack with a paddle will get their attention. A hot shot would give more satisfaction?

 

[Alice]

Alice repeat as often as necessary.
serenity now,serenity now,serenity now..........

You're right, dj...deep breaths, deep breaths.

I'll save it for this afternoon at the sale barn...and instead of the lecture, I'll just smack 'em. Great stress reliever!

Alice

A smack with a paddle will get their attention. A hot shot would give more satisfaction?

I caught a kid misusing a hot shot once and started in on him. He told me that the battery didn't work in it. I told him to let me have the thing and I'd test it on him...someone came up and grabbed the hot shot from him and sent him to the other side of the sale barn. I must've had a crazed look in my eye...

Wish I could've bumped that kid...just one little zap...over, and over and over...

I know, I know...serenity now, serenity now, serenity now...

Alice

 

[susie]

I once saw one of the sales barn guys hot shot a heifer in the eye :shock: I might've had to go hot shot him if it was my cow.

Susie

 

[Alice]

I once saw one of the sales barn guys hot shot a heifer in the eye :shock: I might've had to go hot shot him if it was my cow.

Susie

Susie,

The man that runs the auction barn that we frequent from time to time will fire anyone that hotshots a heifer. He actually threw down on someone he saw doing it.

Alice

 

[Howdyjabo]

That is odd........ and scarey
Hold on to your britches--- you may be in for a wild ride

Might concider a metaphaltic treatment on the whole group.

Traders can get real creative-- I'd check back with the salebarn and double check the source of all those calves.
We had one trader that came in early and would pick tags out of the book- so he had none together.

Go thru and pull off the sale tags-- see if they were placed over a bald spot
And check to see if all the tags are in the same area-- different stockyards place them differently-- when you see a back tag in the wrong spot go thru the salebarn- Don't buy it.

 

[dun]

I'm wondring if they may have been just over heated form standing around at the salebarn without water then a hot trailer ride home.

dun

 

[msscamp]

Can't stress cause a higher temperature?
Alice

Not usually. The danger of stress is that it tends to overtax the immune system and allow any illness/disease the cattle may have come in contact with to gain a foothold and develop into a full blown illness - especially if the previous health program is not up to par.

Then could that be a possible cause of what is being described here?

Alice

Absolutely. Think of how quickly you come down with a cold when your stressed as opposed to when you're not. Same thing with animals, stress compromises the immune system and allows disease/illness to gain strength. Stress is why calves tend to scour during times of rain and snow in cooler weather - they get wet, become chilled, that stresses them and their immune systems can't fight off the bugs as well as it could if the stress had not occured.

Thanks, Msscamp. I've always been a big believer that stress was a big contributor to illnesses in calves and calves doing poorly when I bring them home from the sale barn. When my calves get loaded at the sale barn I stand there and watch those people, mostly kids/college kids, load the calves. If I see one of them handle one roughly, he or she gets the sharp side of my tongue and the lecture: "Look, bubba, I paid good money for that calf. This calf has already been thru getting dumped on a trailer, dumped off a trailer, prodded with hot shots, run thru a ring and frightened to death, then stuck in a holdng pen with a jillion other calves. Now you rough it up...and I get to go home and spend more time and money treating it for the scours that I can assure you will happen now. What's your name, anyway?"

The big calf buyer around here isn't even that nice when he sees his calves get roughed up and stressed. My brother saw him once come close to hitting someone for it.

These holstein calves bought at the sale barn are hard enough to keep alive as it is, dangit...and I'll get off my soap box now. Ahem, ok, I'm cool...I'm cool.

Thanks agin, msscamp...I feel a bit more validtion in my stress theory now...and those kids had better watch out...ahem, ok, I'm cool, I'm cool...

Alice

You're welcome. Google stress + illnesses in animals, I'm pretty certain you will find you are on the right track with your thoughts. I don't know if this is possible in your area or not, but anytime we buy cattle from the salebarn we generally wait for an off peak time and tend to load our own - much less stress on the animals that way. Might be something to talk to the salebarn about depending on what you're buying and the shape the animal is in. Just a thought.

 

[msscamp]

I'm wondring if they may have been just over heated form standing around at the salebarn without water then a hot trailer ride home.

dun

Very definite possibility. I would think the owner and the buyer would have checked the pen to make sure the cattle had water? I know we do, but I must admit that I'm making an assumption here.

 

[Alice]

Can't stress cause a higher temperature?
Alice

Not usually. The danger of stress is that it tends to overtax the immune system and allow any illness/disease the cattle may have come in contact with to gain a foothold and develop into a full blown illness - especially if the previous health program is not up to par.

Then could that be a possible cause of what is being described here?

Alice

Loading our own...that might be a definite possibility. Thank you!

Alice

Absolutely. Think of how quickly you come down with a cold when your stressed as opposed to when you're not. Same thing with animals, stress compromises the immune system and allows disease/illness to gain strength. Stress is why calves tend to scour during times of rain and snow in cooler weather - they get wet, become chilled, that stresses them and their immune systems can't fight off the bugs as well as it could if the stress had not occured.

Thanks, Msscamp. I've always been a big believer that stress was a big contributor to illnesses in calves and calves doing poorly when I bring them home from the sale barn. When my calves get loaded at the sale barn I stand there and watch those people, mostly kids/college kids, load the calves. If I see one of them handle one roughly, he or she gets the sharp side of my tongue and the lecture: "Look, bubba, I paid good money for that calf. This calf has already been thru getting dumped on a trailer, dumped off a trailer, prodded with hot shots, run thru a ring and frightened to death, then stuck in a holdng pen with a jillion other calves. Now you rough it up...and I get to go home and spend more time and money treating it for the scours that I can assure you will happen now. What's your name, anyway?"

The big calf buyer around here isn't even that nice when he sees his calves get roughed up and stressed. My brother saw him once come close to hitting someone for it.

These holstein calves bought at the sale barn are hard enough to keep alive as it is, dangit...and I'll get off my soap box now. Ahem, ok, I'm cool...I'm cool.

Thanks agin, msscamp...I feel a bit more validtion in my stress theory now...and those kids had better watch out...ahem, ok, I'm cool, I'm cool...

Alice

You're welcome. Google stress + illnesses in animals, I'm pretty certain you will find you are on the right track with your thoughts. I don't know if this is possible in your area or not, but anytime we buy cattle from the salebarn we generally wait for an off peak time and tend to load our own - much less stress on the animals that way. Might be something to talk to the salebarn about depending on what you're buying and the shape the animal is in. Just a thought.

 

[msscamp]

Loading our own...that might be a definite possibility. Thank you!

Alice

No problem!