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Thick Placenta suffocating newborn calves

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damengineer

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Found a dead newborn this morning. Still wet and Mama had tried for a while I could tell. I was watching one have a claf the other evening. She did not have any trouble, and she was one of my older cows, one of the original herd 10 years ago. I watched and when she went to the calf's butt to lick it, I could t ell the placenta was still over its nose. I ribbed the placenta off of its nose and it did nto seem to want to breathe, so I stick a grass stem up its nose and made it cough. The one this morning had no obvious problems, just looked like a normal newborn bull calf, just dead on its back at the edge of a ditch.. Would this be a lack of mineral. We are a little short of grass I keep hay out, and all 3 kinds of sla t blocks and also granular mineral. I mixed a little garlic powder in the mineral, it seemed to work. This is the most dead calves I have had in a season already.. The first dead one was deformed, its lower jaw was not formed right. It could have been an inbred problem. This cow is probably 12 yrs old. Does she need a trip to the sale barn next load? She is in good condition, probablyy weigh 1400 lbs...

You old guys give me your advice... My Dad is not around anymore to tell me what I am doing wrong.. He & I worked together for 55 years. It brings tears to my eyes now thingkin about it... gotta stop..
 
damengineer said:
Found a dead newborn this morning. Still wet and Mama had tried for a while I could tell. I was watching one have a claf the other evening. She did not have any trouble, and she was one of my older cows, one of the original herd 10 years ago. I watched and when she went to the calf's butt to lick it, I could t ell the placenta was still over its nose. I ribbed the placenta off of its nose and it did nto seem to want to breathe, so I stick a grass stem up its nose and made it cough. The one this morning had no obvious problems, just looked like a normal newborn bull calf, just dead on its back at the edge of a ditch.. Would this be a lack of mineral. We are a little short of grass I keep hay out, and all 3 kinds of sla t blocks and also granular mineral. I mixed a little garlic powder in the mineral, it seemed to work. This is the most dead calves I have had in a season already.. The first dead one was deformed, its lower jaw was not formed right. It could have been an inbred problem. This cow is probably 12 yrs old. Does she need a trip to the sale barn next load? She is in good condition, probablyy weigh 1400 lbs...

You old guys give me your advice... My Dad is not around anymore to tell me what I am doing wrong.. He & I worked together for 55 years. It brings tears to my eyes now thingkin about it... gotta stop..
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It might be a good idea to get a vet out.
 
If I put salt blocks in my mineral the cows will just eat the salt, I use loose salt to mix in mineral, my mineral doesn't have any salt, so I can make them eat how ever much mineral I want by how much salt I use. I live in a way different part of the world then you tho.
A vet could help , maybe, some could do a liver biopsy on cows, tell you what what not she's doing
It may come down to, this is your year in the can, we all have them
 
Big Muddy rancher said:
Have you lost anymore?
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I found one last week the same day that I had the one I got on a bottle and the mother laid on it. It was laying on its back at the edge of a dry shallow creek channel. It was clean, but I can only guess on it. I think it was the same thing. That mother walked 4 days looking for her calf after I buried it. She is an older one, but I am oging to keep her another year. The one that couldn't keep her feet off her calf is going to the sale...
 
Like somebody else said. Some years the odds just aren't In Our favor. The average death loss is between 3-6%
Those years when ya don't lose any average out when you have a bad year.
 
Big Muddy rancher said:
Was it a cow vet or a bird vet?
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He is a good vet, now works with small animals. A good neighbor. He grew up working with his Dad who was a vet covering Eastern OK, Western Arkansas working with dairy and beef herds. His Dad later was head of the Vet medicine department at OK state University where he retired. He passed away about 3 years ago. Large animal practice is rough on us old guys. My vet is like my adopted brother. We talk daily.. I hate to think the difference between life and death is which end the cow starts licking, but I think H hit the nail on the head. I had that problem one time with my Barbadoes, and thought it ws the thick sac, but it probably was the end the ewe started on. Of course a lamb is a lot smaller area to lick...
 
Yes they don't have much time if the cow or ewe starts at the wrong end.
I've heard the reason some guys don't care for real small easy calvers is the cow doesn't have to work hard enough to break the sack while pushing.
 
Selenium. You need to get selenium into those cattle next go'round. Either by injection or by mineral lick. Injection works faster ( of course) .
 
kolanuraven said:
Selenium. You need to get selenium into those cattle next go'round. Either by injection or by mineral lick. Injection works faster ( of course) .
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Not in this area. Selenium in the water and soil. I killed 15 lambs years ago by injecting selenium using Bo-Se. Many studies on selenium on sheep and cattle. They always say the animals died from pneumonia, but selenium overdose causes bloody froth in the lungs and this is how they suffocate and die. When post mortem done they only see what looks like Pneumonia... It screws with the alveoli in the lungs.... Municipal wells have been abandoned in this area due to selenium...
 
damengineer said:
Not in this area. Selenium in the water and soil. I killed 15 lambs years ago by injecting selenium using Bo-Se. Many studies on selenium on sheep and cattle. They always say the animals died from pneumonia, but selenium overdose causes bloody froth in the lungs and this is how they suffocate and die. When post mortem done they only see what looks like Pneumonia... It screws with the alveoli in the lungs.... Municipal wells have been abandoned in this area due to selenium...
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Hmmmm...selenium was lacking here and I had placenta issues with my cattle. Once I upped the selenium, all issues went away. I dunno, but good luck to ya
 
Faster horses said:
Every area is different. The government controls how much selenium can go in mineral and feed.
As damengineer pointed out, there is such a thing as selenium poisoning. I've seen horses lose hair and feet
from it and cows lose hair as well. Not sure if they ever fully recover.
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Your laughing, kola, shows how much you DON'T know, even though you think you are a superior being.
 

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