Vicky and others..

[Anonymous]

Had a Black LimousnXAngus bull die mysteriously. 8 yrs. old. seemingly fine one day and not the next. the only thing somewhat peculiar about him was he would sometmes let his penis hang out a few inches when he was just standing around. i dont think this was a problem since most cows are bred or have calved already but just thought i would throw that in. anyway, i was wondering what some ideas might be as to waht could have caused this? i've ruled out lightning. there was apparently some wind lately and several single leaves from black cherry trees had fallen to the ground in an adjacent pasture(no limbs of leaves), although it is unlikely that he ingested these. could just one or two of the leaves have produced enough cyanide to kill a bull and if so how randomly unlucky is it that the bull would have ingested them when he had 400 acres of grass to eat? also he didnt seem to be rapidly decomposing abnormally really, athough his neck was possibly kind of swollen (or just really muscular). at the most he had been dead for 24 hours. his penis was layin gout a few inches and it didnt look infected or anything. Buzzards had started feasting on the usual areas (eyes, anus) but other than that i couldnt find any bodily harm to the bull. i looked b/c one bull we have likes to fight but saw no tracks around or pawmarks where they had dug holes or trampled the ground. plus this bull got a long with the one that likes to fight. It was as if he just fell over dead all of the sudden. how common is heartfailure in cattle? is that a possibility? I'm looking for some 1st or 2nd opinions while this matter is being investigated...thanks

 

[Anonymous]

Just a few ideas....he could have had a blocked urethra (penis hanging out a bit)...heart failure (cardiomyopathy is something I think of in Holsteins, but it's been documented in other breeds...) Very unlikely cyanide on the amount of stuff you're talking--any yew plants? Bracken fern?

I'd recommend a post mortem ASAP in case it could cause other animals to die also.

Good Luck V

 

[Anonymous]

Since the bulls have 400 acres to run on they may have fought in another area he may have been injured and just made it to where you found him and died.Eight years old is a very old bull if that other bull was a three or four years old that is a big difference.You didn't say how old the other bull was but a younger bull will outlast an old bull every time.I've seen bulls fight get real hot and die pretty common.But it could have been a thousand things also other than that.I personally wouldn't worry about having a vet look at him if all other cattle look healthy you can if you want.I try to look at it like this where there are live ones there will be dead ones.



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