New To Dexters - New Heifer Dies

[kmfarm]

Hi everyone!
We just got into Dexters about a month ago.  After a couple years of research (mostly on this site) and lots of planning we welcomed 5 healthy registered heifers to the farm. Three 5 month and two that are almost 2yrs. Yesterday evening all 5 were grazing happily as usual. Last night there was a mild rain storm... nothing severe (they had been through two storms here before this one). This morning I go out to do some work on the barn and one 5 month old is dead in the middle of the pasture. It was severely swollen, legs straight out, stiff, and had blood in its nose and mouth. No other signs of injury or anything wrong. 


I can't tell if it was storm related, injury, illness... I thought maybe she got spooked by lightning and ran into something but there was nothing she could have ran into out there. Not even any trees near that area. I've been around cattle most of my life but don't really remember them swelling that quickly either but I might be wrong.  

Any guesses what could have happened? This was a very expensive loss that I'd rather not repeat if I can help it. 

Thanks in advance!
Aaron

[legendrockranch]

Sorry for your loss. Wish I could be of some help but it could be many things. The only way to know for sure is to have a necropsy done on her. Were these animals inoculated? Where do you live?

Barb

[hoperefuge]

That sounds like she may have been struck by lightning.  So sorry about your loss.

Kim

[kmfarm]

We are in Texas. She was not vaccinated yet. We were actually going to do that next week. I thought maybe lightning also but I can't see any signs of damage. I know that it is not always visible though. We also live about 100 yards from where she died and I don't remember hearing any really close strikes that night. She had been fighting/playing with her sister that day and wonder if they just got too rough? I guess it might just remain a mystery.

Just out of curiosity, how long does it normally take for dead cattle to swell up like a balloon? It was in the 80's that day & 70's at night. Just trying to narrow down the rough time of death and if the rapid ballooning is normal.

[legendrockranch]

Darn...had a long reply to you but lost it doing something else.
Could she have eaten something and bloated? This will cause them to die suddenly.
This might just be one of those times you'll never know what the cause was. Are your other girls going alright?
You mentioned your in Texas, I am also. I'll send you a pm with my phone number and we can talk if you like.

Barb

[otf]

Whenever a cow or calf dies suddenly for no apparent reason, it is best to get a vet out for a necropsy to determine the cause of death. Taking the dead animal to a state lab is another option. This needs to be done very quickly. If your animals are insured, a vet's determination of lightning strike will be necessary. If it's a disease or problem of that sort, then your vet can recommend a health management program - vaccinations, etc. -- to help prevent problems with the other cattle. It's very hard to lose one, sorry to read about your loss.

Gale

[cddexter]

Aaron, I ditto Gale. Unless I knew for absolute certain what the cause was, I always called the vet. I know there are many places where this isn't always an option--no vets close enough, too expensive, etc.--but at least take photos including closeups, and then you can check with a vet when you have time. If you want to get into it, perhaps a stomach sample? If it was lightning, there should be some burn mark or hair disturbance.

I'd be thinking, if not lightning, then some kind of poisonous weed? Especially since there's blood in evidence. We don't have any snake problems here in the pacific northwest, but is there a chance it's snakebite?

I think TAM has a consulting dept., so if you phoned the vet school and asked for advice, they might be able to help over the phone. They might want photos emailed to them...worth a try, anyway.

Otherwise, given the bloat, is there a chance she got 'cast', so her body was lower than her legs and she couldn't get up? It doesn't take much because cattle are not supple like a dog. If this is the cause, she would bloat up right away because they can't breathe, and suffocate to death. That might also explain the blood which could be from the lungs, from exertion?

Let us know how you make out.

what a bummer. C.

[kmfarm]

Thanks for all of the great suggestions. The other 4 cattle are still doing just fine. In hindsight I wish I would have called the vet. Probably would have been worth the cost to at least know what it WASN'T if nothing else.

I didn't think about snakes but, yes, we do have rattlesnakes in the area and it was warm enough for them. I didn't see any tissue damage on the legs but I don't know if I would have either.

I dont think she got cast because she was on a very flat area and there was no signs of a struggle in the ground under her. Just hoof prints from walking.

I have not found any toxic plants in the pasture other than a few common broomweed and I've been told cattle just avoid them unless it is mixed into their hay or somehow disguised. Maybe I'm wrong there though. From what I read it also causes a gradual sickening which was not the case here.

Bloat is possible I suppose but, from what I have read, does not typically involve bleeding from the nose/mouth.

My theories at this point-
1)- She was spooked by the storm, ran into a very heavy soil ripper (the only thing in the pasture she could have ran into- about 3,000 pounds) causing internal damage, walked about 100 yards and died.
2)- She ate something metal from the metal barn we were building. We were very diligent about keeping things picked up but she could have ate part of a welding rod or piece of sheet metal that we missed???
3)- Snakebite?

I took some pictures and will see if the vet has any suggestions when we take the others in for their vaccinations.

[cddexter]

well, it sounds like you're more than thoroughly diligent!! Your suggestion about panicking and running into the only equipment in the field has merit--one of those 'if they can, they will' things. I had a neighbor take a swipe at a calf with something...crushed the windpipe, he bled to death internally. Only way to know was to cut him open and check, as there was no external sign. While it's no consolation, these things do happen occasionally.

I'm going to send you a p.m.

[msgkms]

I don't know about your area of the country, but here in Minnesota Red Water Disease (i.e., Bacillary hemoglobinuria) is a real issue for unvaccinated cattle. It usually affects young cattle. It's almost always fatal. An apparently healthy animal can be dead in just over a day. I lost a 16 month old heifer just last summer and my neighbor lost a young short-horn too. Recommend seven-way vaccine.

[littlecowfl]

I lost one to lightning. I remembered hearing one strike, but it wasn't that close. Well, that's what I thought. The other cattle were fine, but they knew something bad happened to Bonny. They were spooked when I fed that night. I remember how I felt fear when I didn't see Bonny waiting by the gate. She had no damage visible either. She was sheltering under a lone tree on a slight hill. We had her buried by the tree. The cattle still won't graze under that tree. They will graze over her grave, but not where the lightning struck. The only place in the pasture where the grass is always long is under that stupid tree. I still miss my Bonny.