They are all dead

[Jogeephus]

My friend's herd is dead. Began dying Saturday immediately after feeding them some 12% store bought ration. Cows began bloating within an hour of eating the feed and many lay dead by the feed trough. Only thing left standing are the nursing calves. Also, Monday morning when the folks in the white suits came out and quarantined the area they also found a sack full of dead birds laying around the feed trough as well.

I don't want to say to much at this time before the autopsies and pathology work is back out of fairness to all those involved. Suffice it to say this has shattered my friend's dreams and he could definintely use a few prayers. I should know what caused this by the end of the week - probably sooner - but have any of you ever heard of such? Feed was purchased from a reputable company.

 

[Wewild]

That is terrible. We will remember him in prayers as well as others on here.

 

[popsjp]

Never heard of this happening but I sure feel for your friend.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Is there any way ant poison got mixed in with the feed, Amdro will kill them Black Flag Dead.

 

[larryshoat]

What a shock ! I will remember him in my prayers .

Larry

 

[milkmaid]

Sorry to hear it; that's an awful thing to have happen.

Closest thing that comes to mind is botulism... I've heard tales of over 400 cows on a dairy dying in a night due to botulism (turned out a dead cat had been mixed up in the TMR ration). My next best guess would be poison in the feed in some form. Keep us updated.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

That is really sad to here of some thing like that. Sounds like he needs some answers and the feed company needs to be letting other people who have bought the same feed no whats going on. We keep him in our prayers.

 

[bigbull338]

jog im so sorry to hear that your friend lost his whole herd.that aint no fun to feed the cows an watch emm start dropping dead in front of your eyes.one thing is for sure he got a holt of some bad deadly feed.hope he has some of the feed left that he fed the cows.because it needs tobe tested.can we say 1 big lawsuit.he is going to get a big payday for losing his herd.how meny cows did he lose.

 

[gberry]

A guy here had a bunch die a couple of years ago. Someone had put timic in his feed mixer and I think he lost about half his herd in one morning. Bad break for your friend. Sorry to hear about it.

 

[funky 4-Her]

WOW
I'll be sure to keep him in my prayers.

 

[fourstates]

Terrible, terrible. He will be in my prayers.

 

[Jogeephus]

Bigbull338, I don't know the exact number but it was somewhere between 40 - 42. They called me today to let me know a bull I sold them was in the pen with them. He had turned out to be a fantastic bull, much better than what anyone would have guessed but he has bit the dust too.

I didn't press them much for details but they did tell me they immediately began bloating. They worked hard to release the gas but within 20 minutes they were bloated again. He said he had never seen cattle bloat so large and even thought they would explode.

They took samples of the old feed and the new. They said the new batch looked nothing like the other. Like gberry mentioned, I'm thinking Temik since it killed the birds too. But this is just coffee house speculation here. I'm dying to know what happened but I don't want to jump to conclusions cause a lot of folks might be affected by this. But I've never heard of such. And for this to happen to such good, honest, hardworking people - its just a terrible shame.

 

[Beefy]

its sounds like a poisoning. with botulism they tend to go down on their back legs and then linger for a while.

 

[Howdyjabo]

pass along my sympathy

With the frantic search for cheaper feed ingredients- China screwing with us again comes to my mind.

 

[milkmaid]

its sounds like a poisoning. with botulism they tend to go down on their back legs and then linger for a while.

Haven't seen that one -- but they certainly do tend to be downers for some time before dying. Classic "milk fever" head-to-flank position is a sign of botulism. We had a few that died overnight, but with most we had some warning.

 

[hillsdown]

I don't know what to say, how devastating. I hope they have some closure on this and can move on.
To lose all that you care for as well as your livelihood , prayers go out for them .
If they care for their animals like I do mine .....
I am so very sorry for their loss. This is just so tragic.

Please keep us posted Jo when you find out more ,as this is a definite eye opener for me.

by baxter78 on Mon Apr 07, 2008 6:55 pm
Someone at the feed mill would be paying for me some cows.

Yes if they are responsible, but the monitary would not make up the loss of my animals for how much time, effort and care I have put in to them. Also what they say your cows are worth will never be the realistic value that they are worth to you.

 

[mitch2]

Oh my.... I can only imagine his pain.

Michele

 

[Cattle Baroness]

Wow, I would be heartbroken if that happened to me. Prayers go out to him and his family. I can't wait to hear what the cause of this is/was.
Dawn

 

[rockridgecattle]

They are in our prayers as well.

RR

 

[SRBeef]

Sorry to hear of the loss.

Have there been any other cases of cattle deaths in the community recently? Seems like if this is that deadly and in the feed supply, another herd may be seeing the same result.

I think it is important to let us know of the final result on the cause so we can watch for the same. Give our sympathies to your friend.