Heatwave 1 calves

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chambero

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zach said:
when ever we have one die or put down, we just drag it up the hill in the woods...

Thank goodness we don't have as many humans in our part of the world as you do up north.  We can still drag ours off to a back corner legally.  State highway department buries dead ones hit by cars right where they lay on the side of the highway.
 

Dusty

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chambero said:
zach said:
when ever we have one die or put down, we just drag it up the hill in the woods...

Thank goodness we don't have as many humans in our part of the world as you do up north.  We can still drag ours off to a back corner legally.  State highway department buries dead ones hit by cars right where they lay on the side of the highway.
Do you have a lot of cattle that get by cars in your neck of the woods???

In my opinion it is more enviromentally friendly to drag them off for the coyotes, than it is to bury them.  Coyotes will usually make pretty quick work out of a carcass, especially a small calf.  A couple days later you won't even be able to tell where you left it.  Coyotes will actually hang out in the interestate right-of-ways because of all the dead deer.
 

knabe

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the vultures and squirrels deserve some love too.

amazing how we have to tidy things up to comply with the law based on a visual perspective rather than a best management practice.
 

chambero

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Dusty said:
chambero said:
Do you have a lot of cattle that get by cars in your neck of the woods???

In my opinion it is more enviromentally friendly to drag them off for the coyotes, than it is to bury them.  Coyotes will usually make pretty quick work out of a carcass, especially a small calf.  A couple days later you won't even be able to tell where you left it.  Coyotes will actually hang out in the interestate right-of-ways because of all the dead deer.

Enough cows and horses get hit for TxDOT to have an actual policy on doing that with them (at least in rural areas) along major highways and interstates.  I've got a buddy that works for them. 

I never had any idea though till I hit a cow myself in my truck back in 97.  Black cow standing in the middle of the highway with her butt to me.  Somehow I never saw her till the last second so I never even tapped my brakes - which probably saved me and my wife.  We just plowed through her at about 80 mph.  If I'd swerved we'd have probably rolled.  Still didn't do much for my truck though.  Scared the bejeebers out of us.  It happened in a fairly populated area and TxDOT just brought out a backhoe and buried her beside the road.
 

lowann

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We are working with our vet on that prospect. As long as he can get around as good as he has been, that is what we will do. Our vet said he has seen them do pretty good till around 900lbs, then it's time for the locker. He's eating, nursing, eating hay, drinking water ok. Once he is up, he gets limbered up after a little bit. So, we are keeping our fingers crossed.
 

chambero

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I'd be shocked if he makes it that long - our didn't.  Coyotes got one and I put one down. 
 

knabe

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if a bovine died in the woods and no one shot the "baited", was the baited, baited?

to me, this is similar to the horse slaughter in that a viable solution is eliminated by people who will never own a horse.

in california, there is pending legislation that you will not be able to purchase more than 200 rounds of handgun ammo per day.  supposedly, the limit applies that if you purchased the ammo out of state and brought it in, the level 3 felony still applies.  supposedly, the governor is considering signing it.  dont' know if this applies to reloading supplies, or if this would violate federal authority to regulate interstate commerce.

on all three fronts, these choices eliminate choice and diversity.

amazing how lawmakers make policy based on how they can form the law to fit polling data that tug at emotions rather than viable solutions that may be unpleasant, but useful.

amazing also, how lawmakers continually limit markets to impose homogeneity and eliminate diversity, violating their supposed mantra.  this to me clearly demonstrates that people are not really interested in diversity, just control, especially if they are not interested in particular activities.
 

lowann

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We will closely monitor his condition. If he shows too much discomfort, or fails to thrive, we will have no alternative but to have him put down.
 

Telos

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I see two completely different types of calves when looking at Iowann's and Chambero's. The problem I am having is that Chambero's calf seems to appear longer muscled and not quite so tight wound. Where as Iowann's calf looks to be really extreme and bunchier muscled and more hog like in appearance and probably better explains his condition just from a structural and muscle standpoint. It almost looks as if we might have different reasons why these calves exhibit SP. Our we missing something in the selection process that we can select against?

I hope Dr. Beever can figure this one out. In it's more extreme spectrum this is the most heart breaking and hideous defect I have ever witnessed.
 

lowann

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It's funny how Telos compaired our calf as being hog like. That is exactly how we see him too. I have been experimenting a little with him as far as pain management. I have been giving him 800mg of Ibuprofen 2 x's daily. It is helping him ALLOT! He is moving smoother, and farther. In fact sometimes he is hard to catch. He is keeping up with the herd with little problems. I do chase him in when it gets hot in the afternoons, all his hair and bulk, he overheats quickly.I'll keep you all informed as to how he does. Even if it gets him to the locker sometime in the future, it's better than the financial loss of a dead calf.
 

chambero

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Telos said:
I see two completely different types of calves when looking at Iowann's and Chambero's. The problem I am having is that Chambero's calf seems to appear longer muscled and not quite so tight wound. Where as Iowann's calf looks to be really extreme and bunchier muscled and more hog like in appearance and probably better explains his condition just from a structural and muscle standpoint. It almost looks as if we might have different reasons why these calves exhibit SP. Our we missing something in the selection process that we can select against?

I hope Dr. Beever can figure this one out. In it's more extreme spectrum this is the most heart breaking and hideous defect I have ever witnessed.

My pictures really didn't show it that well, but he had a little of that look also.  Like I mentioned, he was a fairly mild case, but toward the end would really swing that back left leg in mid air.  It showed up the most when he'd put his head down to eat or when he'd first get up.  Our others have been carbon copies of Lowann's.
 

simtal

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How many of these SP calves are diagnosed as just cripples?  I've seen calves like that and most people just assume that there just cripples. 
 

lowann

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The difference with ours was, he wasn't born this way. He seemed fine, ran, bucked, and acted "normal".  This developed over a time span of 1 1/2 weeks, he was around 2 1/2 months old when it started. Just got stiff, then the spasms started. If he had been born this way, I would have called him a cripple.
 

chambero

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Not that it really matters, but we did try "Bute" to no effect.  We never tried Ibuprofen - What made you think to try it and what dose did you use?  Hopefully I'll never need to, but I suspect that won't be the case.  That might be a consideration if we ever had another mild case that we wanted to slaughter for our own food.  We thought about it for this calf (the slaughtering part), but decided it wasn't worth having to look at him (he wasn't a welfare issue).
 

lowann

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I figured he didn't stand much of a chance. I told my husband that I was going to try Ibuprofen just to see what happened. It did help him allot. I tried Alleve, and was hoping that would work since it lasts 12 hours per dose. It didn't help him at all, that I noticed. Before we decided to euthanize him, I wanted to give it a shot, and so far, I'm glad I did. 800mgs two times a day if possible. If he makes it to a decent slaughter weight, of course we will withdraw 2 weeks before. That's a long way off, time will tell.
 

Throttle

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I'm getting in on this one kinda late but here's my experience. Had a Heatwave x WMW that looked just like yours. I babied him some, but not to the extent that it sounds like you are willing to go to. He was a March calf and made it to Dec 10 in the feedlot. He weighed just under 700 lbs live at that time. We just had the entire carcass ground into burger and it ate very well. I was surprised that it had a good taste as he was very hard and extreme made and of course wasn't fat at all at that age and weight. I had another one that was an Alias out of a cow that I'm not real sure of pedigree on. I know she had some old Maine and Simmi in her, nothing real clubby. This one looked about the same but did not cope nearly as well, got a little respitory junk on top of it, prolapsed when she got to coughing, and was put down in May. My experience says that he could go either way. Do the best you can to make him comfortable.
 

lowann

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Don't worry, all of our cows are very well cared for. I baby them all. He will get special treatment, and will be kept as comfortable as humanly possible
If he becomes too dissabled, or looks like he is in too much pain, we will have him euthanized.
 
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