Lost a cow

[harris25]

Yesterday we had a cow that appeared bloated. They have been getting fed alfalfa and straw in a mixed ration and are out on corn stalks. We did notice that morning she drank an enormous amount of water compared to the other cows. When she died water came rushing out of her nose and throat and her whole stomach was full of water. What causes this and what can be done to prevent it?

 

[Trinity man]

We use bloat box in the spring when all the green grass starts to come out. It work good for us.

 

[mwj]

Sounds like she could have had an obstruction. Could she have gotten some net wrap or bunched twine in the chopped feed?

 

[harris25]

they have had bloat blocks in front of them and we use big square bales and cut the strings and pull them out before we mix unless there happened to be one inside of the bale since we buy our hay from an outside source.

 

[jingo2]

if you've not planted her yet.....open her up and take a look.


She's already dead......

 

[Silver]

Bloat doesn't sound likely to me.... especially considering she took on a big drink. I wonder if she didn't have some sort of internal bleeding that caused her to appear bloated. Internal bleeding causes thirst as well.... I've never heard of a cow bloating on alfalfa hay.

 

[cure]

Cows bloat very easy on alfalfa hay we have a real problem with it when the hay is cut young and full of juices. I have also seen calves bloat off of milk replacer that is high in protein. They did the same thing as your cow in the fact that they basically drank themselves to death. If you see any more doing this try feeding some poor quaility hay with the other. If you see one bloating again grab a garden hose cut the metal end off and start sticking down her throat till you hit the stomach and have gasses coming out. Also go get you some bloat guard (i get mine from walco) and when all the gasses are out dump the bottle down her throat. good luck

 

[Silver]

Cows bloat very easy on alfalfa hay we have a real problem with it when the hay is cut young and full of juices. I have also seen calves bloat off of milk replacer that is high in protein. They did the same thing as your cow in the fact that they basically drank themselves to death. If you see any more doing this try feeding some poor quaility hay with the other. If you see one bloating again grab a garden hose cut the metal end off and start sticking down her throat till you hit the stomach and have gasses coming out. Also go get you some bloat guard (i get mine from walco) and when all the gasses are out dump the bottle down her throat. good luck

Guess we must have bred a herd of super cows here.... they live on alfalfa hay all winter and don't bloat on it. :wink:

 

[Mrs Leanin' H]

I was hoping H would say something here because he knows more than me about this stuff.....but we have lots of trouble with bloating on alfalfa hay too, especially 3rd crop. So sorry about your cow.

 

[leanin' H]

Really leafy alfalfa hay can be a killer, especially if its wet. I lost a fine 2nd calf heifer to 3rd crop alfalfa a couple years ago. I fed early in the morning and then went to church. On the way home i could see her down and bloated. I jumped the fence and ran to her with the intention to open her up with my knife but was too late. She'd been dead for maybe 5 minutes. I'd fed a bunch of small bales out in a feedrow of grass hay and then fed a couple bales of third crop alfalfa scattered way out. She musta got more than her share. Ist crop is usually fine but prime 2nd and 3rd scare me. I won't feed it in a manger period. But that's only my experience and all ya'll know i'm unreliable at best! :wink: The water issue raises questions that a post mortem might answer. Or a good vet! Good Luck!

 

[jingo2]

Really leafy alfalfa hay can be a killer, especially if its wet. I lost a fine 2nd calf heifer to 3rd crop alfalfa a couple years ago. I fed early in the morning and then went to church. On the way home i could see her down and bloated. I jumped the fence and ran to her with the intention to open her up with my knife but was too late. She'd been dead for maybe 5 minutes. I'd fed a bunch of small bales out in a feedrow of grass hay and then fed a couple bales of third crop alfalfa scattered way out. She musta got more than her share. Ist crop is usually fine but prime 2nd and 3rd scare me. I won't feed it in a manger period. But that's only my experience and all ya'll know i'm unreliable at best! :wink: The water issue raises questions that a post mortem might answer. Or a good vet! Good Luck!

Agree on posting the cow......

 

[Silver]

Really leafy alfalfa hay can be a killer, especially if its wet. I lost a fine 2nd calf heifer to 3rd crop alfalfa a couple years ago. !

I suppose were lucky then that we only get one cut up here , and that would explain why cows up here don't bloat on alfalfa hay. I liked my "supercow" theory while it lasted though! :wink:

 

[harris25]

thanks for the advice ours have lived on straight alfalfa hay for the past 5 years and just started this year by mixing in straw slowly at a time and she had been on it for 6 weeks before this happened.