One of my cows died today need some input

[Chapin81]

7am my guy calls me and says one of the older cows died while giving birth in the middle of the night when no one was around and her insides came out. The last time he saw her was at around 715pm the night before and she was fine eating walking around with the rest of the herd. he found the calf about 500 feet from where the cow was. He took the female calf back to the house and is being bottle fed. The cow is one of the older ones I think 7-8 births maybe even more. What's this reason this occurs. Is it ok to post pics they are graphic. Is there a way to prevent this?

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Yes, you may post pictures.

 

[Buck Randall]

I assume you're describing a uterine prolapse, which is mostly just bad luck. Nothing to do with genetics or management.

 

[Chapin81]

7am my guy calls me and says one of the older cows died while giving birth in the middle of the night when no one was around and her insides came out. The last time he saw her was at around 715pm the night before and she was fine eating walking around with the rest of the herd. he found the calf about 500 feet from where the cow was. He took the female calf back to the house and is being bottle fed. The cow is one of the older ones I think 7-8 births maybe even more. What's this reason this occurs. Is it ok to post pics they are graphic. Is there a way to prevent this?

 

[Chapin81]

I assume you're describing a uterine prolapse, which is mostly just bad luck. Nothing to do with genetics or management.

Is that what this is ??

 

[bird dog]

Yes that what it is. They bleed out pretty quick.

 

[kenny thomas]

I know some say it's not genetics but I seem to have noticed it more in some breeds.
And to me 7-8 calves doesn't make her an old cow.

 

[Caustic Burno]

I know some say it's not genetics but I seem to have noticed it more in some breeds.
And to me 7-8 calves doesn't make her an old cow.

Especially being Brahman that's not old.

 

[Buck Randall]

I know some say it's not genetics but I seem to have noticed it more in some breeds.
And to me 7-8 calves doesn't make her an old cow.

You'll see it more often in cows that have a large calf and/or get milk fever, so definitely some predisposing factors on a breed level. A Holstein is a lot more likely to have a uterine prolapse than a Longhorn, but on the individual level, there's no genetic basis to say one Holstein is more likely to prolapse than another.

 

[farmerjan]

It seems the luck of the draw sometimes. Had one prolapse as a 3or 4th calver... not a difficult birth either it didn't seem. But it does seem to happen more often with a difficult birth or big calf.... and that calf in the picture looked right good sized....

Sorry for the loss, we don't babysit our older/experienced cows like we do the heifers, we'd have lost her if she was here, so don't feel bad.
If you are going to have LIVE stock.... you are going to have DEAD stock.

 

[TCRanch]

Another recent thread. And sorry for your loss. I calve out my heifers in the barn so I can watch them carefully but not my older cows.

https://cattletoday.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=123426

 

[Chapin81]

Thank you everyone for you responses and input. It's greatly appreciated.