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Why did this cow die?

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  • gll

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    I forgot to include the picture of her sitting several hours before I found her

    I never got a look at her poop or teeth. All I know is that they were “dewormed” before arrival.

    I drug her out to a far pasture and closed the gate to it. Cows can’t access her body

    The vomit was very watery consistency and of course green. No blood in it

    I’m new to owning cattle. I’ll keep that penicillin comment in mind and do some research on that


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    I don't know cows, just sheep and goats, and really, even after 25 years, not even them that well (ignorance, not modesty)...

    If a ruminant has a really heavy worm load, it may eat like all get out trying to make up for lost nutrients, until near the end. If it's then wormed, all the dead worms can clog 'em up.

    Even if that doesn't happen, they can be so anemic that they just can't get enough oxygen, so they pant.

    More often than not, whatever they die from, they die on their sides, kicking dirt.

    Hopefully, someone can give you a better answer than this, but my bet is infection, either with a blood born or intestinal parasite, and the cause of death anemia or associated pneumonia.
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    sobi1998

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    So, allow me to ask:

    Are you saying she looked like this when you bought her or that she got like that after you bought her:

    If she looked like that when you bought her, well - my guess is she was already on her way out.

    In my limited experience, with farm animals - on my uncle's farm (both for years before & after he purchased the farm) - it sounds a lot like either a parasite infestation or possibly Brucellosis. I suppose it also could be a lot of other things, it would need a necropsy to determine what she had and I strongly recommend such in the event that it might be a disease transmittable to humans.

    The two old ladies, who owned the farm that became my uncle's farm before my uncle bought it, had a small herd of milk cows. I recall one of them, much as you described and it was diagnosed with a late stage of Brucellosis and it had to be euthanized. Others of their small herd were found to be healthy; cows can often get it and recover but not all recover. Of course it could also be something else and as I said it is worth getting a necropsy to assure it is not something you could have picked up from handling her.

    To be honest, my dad went to the auction with a set budget and had an auctioneer acquire the cows. We ended up with 7 cows and so far this one has died.
    The other cows are eating just fine and are taking the cubes from my hand whenever I would hand feed them. I don’t see them drinking water very often but I know that they are we also have a bale of hay that they’re munching on as well as pasture land to graze


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    Glenn B

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    You know, I bet Guinea Pigs would be less expensive and I am almost willing to bet you can et propert taxes lowered by having a Guinea Pig ranch. They not only make good pets but folks in South America think they taste great. I would bet folks would eat them here, just to be different. And who caqres if anyone eats them when what you want is a tax break.
     

    Axxe55

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    Lost in East Texas Elhart Texas
    Could be a number of things that killed her. Old age, sick when you bought her, something she ate, ect. The Johnson grass is a huge one. Under certain conditions, it can be deadly for cows to eat. Dad was explaining this to us just last year about an area that was fenced off here at the farm so the cows couldn't get to the Johnson grass that grew in that area of the pasture.

    Cows are a learning experience. My brother and are learning much more now than when we were kids growing up on the farm. Our father is a great mentor on this subject.

    Cows bought at an auction are sometimes hit or miss. Sometimes you could be just buying someone else's problems. The first eight heifers my brother bought three years ago, cost him $10K, but they had all their shots, and paperwork showing their history and health.
     

    cygunner

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    Johnson grass is always a possibility but if she was already poor when you got her I would tend to think "hardware" (accidentally ingested baling wire or fence). It can definitely happen and it's a slow, certain death most of the time. Cows don't chew when they eat, they chew afterwards and this would let her eat it and not know it until too late. Previous owner dumped her on you via the sale barn. My wife had a rich friend that wanted Belted Galloways in her front pasture by the highway. She bought some and a bull at the sale barn. Next year, no calves. Big surprise, why do you think the cattle were at the sale barn? We shipped 'em for that all the time and constantly changed bulls.
     
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    Texasjack

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    I am reminded of a conversation at lunch years ago when a secretary was trying to unload some puppies. Her boss said he didn't want a dog at the house. She said, "Just give me one good reason." He answered, "I'll give you three: They bark, they shit, and they die." She sat for a minute and then said, "OK, I can't argue with that."

    Animals get hurt, they get sick, sometimes they die. It's part of the business of owning them. Most times, there's a good reason they die; sometimes, they just simply die. In your case, it would be worthwhile to know why just because you have other cows and you want to make sure you don't have an issue on the property that might hurt the others. (Disease, Johnson grass, something toxic left out, etc.)
     

    cvgunman

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    Without a necropsy will probably never know. If no medical/shot records from sale will probably not know either. Best to run the remaining through the chute and vaccinate, worm and then observe every time you go out to them. Keep some penicillin/erythromycin and some syringe/needles with you in case you need to use. Almost sounds like some type of enteric disease or maybe dehydration. Never know though, could have picked up something while grazing, like a plastic bag, that affected the rumen or just an impacted rumen. Too many possibilities.
     

    G O B

    School of Hard Knocks and Sharp blows
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    May have been as simple as old age. May be that it was so stressed by hunger that when food became plentiful it couldnot digest it. Or any of the other thousands of things that it could have been.
     

    cygunner

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    The old saying "life's a bitch" really takes on meaning when you fool with cattle, horses and dogs. I went to college and got away from the cattle but horses and dogs have plagued me for 68 years.
     
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    baboon

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    Out here by the lake!
    Believe me I pushed for that idea strongly. My father decided to buy them instead


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    One of my best friends has a family farm. At some point him & his brother bought out a cousin or two. Then the brother decided started making upgrades to the place. They were going to be hay & cattlemen. Let I heard there was some mumbling about the cattle.

    Not that I'm smarter, but I would have developed it into trailer park with storage units, stop & rob, coin op laundry & car wash.
     

    roadkill

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    Instead of the headaches and expense of running livestock or dealing with a grazing lease you can convert the ag valuation from livestock to wildlife. Of course you’ll have to do certain activities to show your using it for wildlife and some paperwork but it’s very easy to do and tx parks and wildlife will assist you with the planning and paperwork.
     

    Axxe55

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    One of my best friends has a family farm. At some point him & his brother bought out a cousin or two. Then the brother decided started making upgrades to the place. They were going to be hay & cattlemen. Let I heard there was some mumbling about the cattle.

    Not that I'm smarter, but I would have developed it into trailer park with storage units, stop & rob, coin op laundry & car wash.

    Most people don't go into raising cattle for the money. The biggest part of the money, is the taxes saved by having an agriculture exemption. There are much easier and more profitable means to making money than with cattle.
     

    Texas45

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    Not where you are
    Ill just say I bet the annual upkeep/expense of a “few cows” costs you more than you save in yrly taxes.
    Just wonder if ya ever put Pen to Paper to calculate it.

    I plan to go the wildlife exemption route if any on mine. Have to “do the math” and see if the expense/hassle is worth the tax savings.


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    Axxe55

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    Ill just say I bet the annual upkeep/expense of a “few cows” costs you more than you save in yrly taxes.
    Just wonder if ya ever put Pen to Paper to calculate it.

    I plan to go the wildlife exemption route if any on mine. Have to “do the math” and see if the expense/hassle is worth the tax savings.


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    That's why my brother has an accountant that does his business, personal and ag taxes for him.
     
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