Question on pine needle abortion

[mtchick]

I have a 2 year old heifer that aborted her calf 6 weeks before due date. I panicked and took the calf to the vet for a necropsy to see if I could find out why. Still don't have any results 2 weeks later. Well there is a large slash pile in the cows pasture that I wanted to get burned last winter but it just didn't happen. So yesterday I'm out fixing fence and I see 2 of the yearling calves and the heifer that aborted in the slash pile taking huge mouth fulls of the old dry pine needles. I was under the impression that it was the green needles that caused the abortions, but do the dry ones do the same? The cows normally have hay 24/7 free choice, but there were a few days just before the heifer aborted that they got rather low and had to pick through the old stuff before I got a new bale out for them, and they had been out picking the new grass by the slash pile. I just never thought they would eat old dry pine needles.

 

[raykour]

I am fairly certain that the dry needles contain the same acid as the green needles on the tree.

I have a healthy supply of ponderosa pines and my cows like to strip them of their needles. This has resulted in me having to pen my cows up the last 3 months of gestation.

I have had a few pine needle abortions here, and one lingering characteristic of all of them was a retained placenta. Did this heifer hold on to the afterbirth or slough it like she should? A few years ago, I had a heifer do the same thing about the same time....except for poor little critter was born alive. That was a real heartbreaker.

Anyway, I think your suspicion is very accurate. I also have noticed that once a heifer or cow has a taste for needles they will really go after them and eating them directly from the tree seems to be learned behavior.

 

[Hook]

What type of pines? Ponderosa pines are the worst from my reading and here in fl the inly report I've heard of a bovine o any age or type dying from eating pine needles is from a needle piercing the stomach like hardware

 

[Nesikep]

We have a lot of ponderosa pines here too, and the cows do like to eat the needles.. we have had a couple abortions because of it, but luckily in the wintering areas there aren't too many pines... The pine beetle has done us a favour there!

 

[branguscowgirl]

I also believe they continue to be toxic. A friend of mine lost several calves recently to dry needles.
Sorry for your loss. Most of us also "have learned the hard way."

 

[mtchick]

Thanks for the replys. I think that what we have are ponderosa pine or close enough, they just call them Bull Mountan pine here. She did retain the placenta for almost a week, I was worried about that also, but she seems fine now. I guess first thing I need to do is get rid of the slash pile, and then fence in an area with out pines for next years calving season.

 

[branguscowgirl]

Did you happen to treat her for infection? If I had a cow with a retained placenta, I would make sure it all cleaned out and i would pak her full of uterine boluses.........

 

[mtchick]

I did call the vet about the retained placenta, she said if there was no bad smell to it that I shouldn't worry about it and it was normal. I've been keeping an eye on her and there is no discharge and she is eating fine. I'll keep watching her.

 

[raykour]

I'd say with almost absolute certainty with the retained placenta that the abortion was caused by the pine needles.

I usually fish the placentas out and give antibiotics, it is really not a hard process (if you have a chute that is!)