Ok we have this calf who just turned 6 months, she was about to be weaned. She was fine yesterday, was running around. But today we woke up and her dam was bellowing, so we went out to find her and she was laying flat an couldn't stand up, so we got her in the trailer and took her up to the vet, the vet said she had swelling through her brisket and underline, and her temperature was too low. He said that he thought it might be blackleg? But from what I am finding it doesn't look like black leg to me. Any ideas?
Strange death
- Thread starter WB
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lightnin4
Well-known member
It would be best to have her necropsied and samples sent to a lab for testing.
Are you in a mountainous area, or an area with high elevations? If so, the swelling sounds like Brisket Disease.
Here is some more information: http://www.westerncowman.com/september07/brisketdisease.html
Sorry to hear about your loss!
Here is some more information: http://www.westerncowman.com/september07/brisketdisease.html
Sorry to hear about your loss!
Grousepark
Active member
If you have any more calves show up (it is genetic), dehydrate it as soon as you can to get rid of the edema. Feed it hay, if it would eat, but no water until the size of brisket reduces.lightnin4 said:
My first thought would be blackleg, but there are a few more signs. It is usually a very easy doing fleshy calf, and if you push on the skin where the swelling is, it will often sound like crackling paper. This is due to gas release from the toxins separating the skin. From what I understand, the blackleg spores are often released when a lot of rain follows a dry period.WB said:
Sassy2899
Well-known member
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- Aug 11, 2010
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It sounds like blackleg to me as well. One way to tell is to post the calf on the brisket area and see if the meat looks purple/black in color. This is a sign of blackleg, we had a calf die from blackleg last week and these are the signs that I noticed when the calf was posted. A little side note, blackleg is in the ground so if and animal gets a cut or has some area of exposed flesh then the animal can get blackleg from the soil rubbing in it. Hope this helps in some way. Good luck
