Aborted calf?

Help Support Steer Planet:

LFFASHOWER

Well-known member
Joined
May 30, 2007
Messages
207
Had a cow last night have her calf and the calf was not alive and she was 45 days out what could be the cause of this? dumb luck?
 

CAB

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 5, 2007
Messages
5,607
Location
Corning,Iowa
If not dumb luck, bad luck. It's pretty natural to have an abortion or 2. Most PPL on here will tell you that we all lose one due to a variety of reasons. I had one abort 70 days out. Probably got bumped or detached placenta, slipped on the ice, or?.
 

willow

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 8, 2011
Messages
308
We had a heifer abort twins about 43 days out from her due date.  This was the first time it had happened to us, but it sounds pretty common.  Same end result and even though it must be pretty common it is still a bummer. 
 

GKE Cattle

Active member
Joined
Dec 8, 2011
Messages
27
Location
mn sd
Thiis is a situation the just plain sucks and we have been thru it.  If  there is any mold in the hay or grain you are feeding this can cause the slipped calf.    Our Vet suggested we hit the cows with a high level of CTC in their feed for a week, yes this gets pretty spendy, but so is losing some top end calves.  Like one of the other posters said there are MANY reasons that a cow will slip a pregnancy,,,a fall on the ice, at bump at the hay feeder,,or nature just decided that there was a problem and deciced to end it.  When we make the choice to have livestock we better be ready to loose some,,,good management helps but sometime we just have to put it down to "stuff happens"
 

DL

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 29, 2007
Messages
3,622
LFFASHOWER said:
Had a cow last night have her calf and the calf was not alive and she was 45 days out what could be the cause of this? dumb luck?

If you want to know what the cause of the abortion is (or alternatively what it isn't) take the calf and the placenta for necropsy - - the first dead animal is often the most important in terms of identifying the cause - if this is your only aborted calf well it's a drag but if it is the first in a series it would be good to know what is going on - most normal pregnancies do not lead to abortion if the cow is bumped or falls - nor does the placenta detach (if it is normal) from a fall - if would be good for you to have an abortion work up on this calf to determine if you are dealing with an infectious issue and if so what - normal calves are not aborted FWIW

BTW many times the work up cannot tell you specifically what the cause is but it can tell you what it isn't - which is equally important
 
Top