Sad News

Issy · Post by **Issy** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 9:05 pm

I went down to check on the cows this evening and my lovely friendly heifer has lost her calf. the vet is coming out tomorrow to test her for any nasty diseases and defra are aware of the situation. I always knew these things would happen but you always expect them to happen to someone else.

Duncan MacIntyre · Post by **Duncan MacIntyre** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 11:10 pm

Sorry to hear the sad news, it is especially hard to bear when we only keep a few animals. However I am glad you are having it investigated - I know, we vets always like to do lots of investigating, but it is important to find the cause if at all possible. On the othe hand do not be disappointed if the tests fail to find a firm diagnosis - if you run tests for the main nasties and all are negative that is a good thing. When in similar circumstances I have tried to focus on what the next step for the Burnside herd was, and concentrate the mind on the future rather than the past. Better times are ahead,

Best wishes,

Duncan

Sylvia · Post by **Sylvia** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 9:34 am

Issy, I'm so sorry, it is such a shock when something like this happens.

Duncan, I must take issue with you about 'especially hard to bear when we only keep a few animals'. I lost a beautiful black alpaca stud male a couple of days ago - I have over 80 alpacas but it doesn't make his loss any easier. If, in your practice, you see owners of larger amounts of animals acting more pragmatically than those with a few it is probably because they have had a bit more practise at coping, not that it is any easier for them.

Kathy Millar · Post by **Kathy Millar** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 6:43 pm

Issy, I understand how you feel. No matter how hard I try, I still feel terrible when anything dies here (and I shed a few tears too!). I find that the hardest part of farming and will never get over it. Guess I'm not a real farmer, too sensitive!

Kathy

Duncan MacIntyre · Post by **Duncan MacIntyre** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 7:18 pm

Sorry folks if I gave the impression that it was not a sad loss for someone with lots of animals if one is lost. What I really meant was that if you only have a few and loose one, it makes a real difference to what you have to show for your years work - for several year I kept one cow with calf at foot and a bull, and lost the cow. I had just sold her last heifer calf so was left with nothing to follow on the line, if she had been one of several sisters or half sisters it would not have been such a blow to the "breeding programme" if you could call it that. I also reared a very good bull called Croitachoine Bruin, had him serve my only two cows, sold him, and was very pleased when I got two red polled heifer calves from him the next spring. One died at 3 months, and the other ate a yew branch which fell into our field just a month from producing her first calf. I suppose it is a measure of the enthusiasm that the breed produces that I continued at that stage. I am very glad I did, and would urge anyone not to be discouraged by setbacks.

Duncan

Jo Kemp · Post by **Jo Kemp** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 8:34 pm

Commiserations Issy, it is a nightmare for us all. One thing, don't keep going over events thinking you should have known etc.... we all do it and we all learn from the problems but when one looks after stock there are always the days when things go wrong and self-blame is simply self-destructive!
I do hope that there is no dreadful reason. Keep as cheerful as you can - your friendly heifer will appreciate sympathy, if she is calm.
Our commercial farmer neighbour (who is a dear) will never say things are going well, there's always something to hit you round the corner!
Bit of a worry for those of us who have been fortunate so far.
Best wishes, Jo
PS What dreadful luck Duncan - you certainly don't give up easily thank goodness

groubearfarm · Post by **groubearfarm** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 11:49 pm

It is quite dreadful when these tragedies hit us, and yes Kathy is right one sheds some tears, and yes Jo, one feels to blame - if only . . . .we don't forget, but learn and look forward to the good days, it is what makes it all worthwhile or I suppose we wouldn't still be here.

Inger · Post by **Inger** » Sun Jan 22, 2006 11:03 am

That's a lot of misfortunes Duncan. It must be hard to persevere through that many things going wrong. I know I'd find it disheartening.

Hopefully next year will go better for your heifer Issy. Hopefully its just a one-off thing that sometimes happens. Perhaps she'll present you will a lovely strong heifer calf next year.

Duncan MacIntyre · Post by **Duncan MacIntyre** » Sun Jan 22, 2006 2:05 pm

Maybe I have a perverse way of looking at things, I only mention these misfortunes on the board so anyone who has just had a disaster knows that they are part of livestock keeping and we can recover from them. It is certainly easier to discuss them now than when they had newly happened. Maybe they even increase my determination to keep my Dexters.

Duncan

Liz D · Post by **Liz D** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 1:57 pm

I do think that keeping livestock is a bittersweet experience for all of us. It is easier to get close to your animals when (like me) you only have a small number, but even farmers with large flocks/herds have a few 'particular' favourites. We had to put down our big girl, suddenly two days before Christmas, (and yes we had her autopsied) and usually I am the pragmatic one here concerning life/death issues but it is impossible to spend a couple of hours milking an animal each day without becoming close. When calves or lambs come and they are healthy all is right with the world once again, saying bye to a friend really makes the birthing times sweeter. At any rate, we are bringing home a new bred Dexter heifer in a couple of weeks to replace her in our breeding and milking plans. Excitement all over again!! Liz

Issy · Post by **Issy** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 10:29 am

We have had the blood tests back for Emu and whilst she is clear for Brucella, IBR and Lepto, she has a low reading for BVD meaning that at some point she has come into contact with it, but the vet isn't worried as the count is low. she however has a quite a high level of Neospora Caninum in her blood that he says could have caused her to abort. He recomends that we try again from her as they tend to build up a resistance to it. Does anyone know a bit more about how common this is and what does it mean for the long term future of my little herd?

oliver1921 · Post by **oliver1921** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 11:00 am

Sorry to hear your news Issy - it is very distressing after all the excitement of a new calf. We only started with dexters last March and our first two calves were dead, one the vet put down to transporting and the other was due to a twisted umbilical. as you can imagine the kids and us were mortified and we thought we were jinxed. The next two calves we had to pull but since then we have had six lovely calves - all self calved ouside including four in December and extremely healthy. We put the two calves we had to pull down to the lush pasture the cows had arrived on and gorged themselves so we are very carefull to keep the amount of grazing and silage for the imminent calvers carefully monitored and 'touch wood' we have been okay. We have 22 calving this year so we have our work cut out to keep the diets balanced but there is no better feeling than a lovely self calver - i am sure your next one will be Issy - good luck.

Duncan MacIntyre · Post by **Duncan MacIntyre** » Sun Feb 05, 2006 12:44 am

Neospora is a fairly newly recognised cause of abortion in cattle and it is difficult to know whether increasing incidence of it is real or just that we are looking for it more. It is a protozoan a bit similar to Toxoplasma of sheep, with cattle as the terminal host and dogs or foxes as the reservoir, whereas toxoplasma has sheep and cats. I am not certain but I think that cows once infected tend to remain so, and that it may pass in utero to calves. I will try to fish out more certain info in the next few days - don't have it to hand in the house.

Duncan

Issy · Post by **Issy** » Sun Feb 05, 2006 11:42 am

Thank you Duncan, My sole purpose for having emu is for breeding beef so if there is a possiblity that I can keep her (without endangering other stock) on the understanding that we eat all her offspring and that I have calves bred from my other heifer tested for it before they leave the property I will do it that way. If not then I will have to put her in the freezer. The vet has said that that may not be the easy option as a fox (I asume) got to the remains of the calf before I got there and his theory is that it is now on the ground if it wasn't before. The lady I bought her from has no history of aborted calves in her herd. I have no real knowledge of this so any information would be more than welcome (good or bad).

Penny · Post by **Penny** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 12:13 pm

Dear Issy,

I had a heifer who aborted her first calf. It was heartbreaking and distressing to keep her in isolation until the results of the tests came back as clear. I have long suspected foxes, as the field that she was in had a fox track running through it, so you can always smell their presence ( and the farm dogs always roll in their stools!). There was a good article in the DCS bulletin approx 4 years ago about this.
The good news is that she has gone on to calve without problem, and infact this morning has just produced her third healthy calf since that awful day.

Penny