The cows weren't posted. Vet diagnosed the first one after she calved, and her calf was orphaned at 9 weeks. I already recognized the signs on the 2nd cow. We've been hit twice by tornadoes and there's a lot of debris that logistically can't be picked up with the magnet, so now every cow, bull & retained heifer has a magnet.
Seven out of how many calves?
66
The cause of hardware disease is not limited to ferrous metal or even non ferrous metals. Could even be caused by a sharp rock.
Or glass, hard plastic, shard of fiberglass pipe, honey locust thorn - basically anything sharp they ingest because they're indiscriminate eaters. Lost one 4 years ago to hardware and have another now that is showing the signs: brisket is larger than normal even though she is losing condition, starting to sag under the jaw and she was the first one that calved this year, 5 weeks earlier than anticipated (and her calf is a dink). It's possible, but unlikely both of them passed their magnet.
That seems like a lot of deaths. Did you check the bite on the dead calves for underbite? Also, you can cut the calf open and check the heart and lungs. If the heart has an enlarged right ventricle and an underbite, it was likely exposed to pesticides that disrupt fetal development. The lungs are also usually affected, with white areas on the lungs or inflammation of the lungs. If the lungs are inflamed, the lung surface is kind of bumpy and not smooth like it should be. You do not have to be a science major to see these things, so you can examine your calves and don't have to pay a veterinarian to do it. If the calves have a normal bite and the heart and lungs appear to be normal, the deaths are likely from some other cause. I think I put a photo document on that shows what a normal heart looks like on white-tailed deer in comparison with hearts from white-tailed deer both fawns and adults with various amounts of enlargement of the right ventricle. Hearts from other mammals and from birds that died often had the right ventricle enlarged, especially if they had birth defects, like underbite, overbite, contracted tendons, herniated umbilicus, disrupted hair or feather development or other.
The ones that I did look at, the bite seemed fine. I am thinking now is that I had a scours problem. I am going to vaccinate for scours next year.
heat doesn't seem to bother calves around here. working or moving cows can be a problem, but just having them born when it is hot doesn't seem to be a problem. I wouldn't worry, especially if they have shade they can get into.
Yep!
