OK, I have a CharX cow that is due any day now. Well, I have been watching her frequently-checked her 4 times already this morning. Well, went outside about hr ago (which was 1hr from last check) and the cow was laying down and had a buzzards on her and around her....so I hopped in truck and flew out to where she was at. She hops up and takes off walking...and rear end has blood all over it. The buzzards then take off...no baby calf on the ground...so I am like what's the deal. Lone and behold, looking momma to be over- the last 3-4inches of her tail are gone. Some how, some way she had it cut/bit/chewed off. Called vet to check with him, and he's out of the office till 4. So gotta wait....the buzzards are gone, the cow is laying down, and I'm waiting.
Weirdest thing
- Thread starter DLB
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ROAD WARRIOR
Well-known member
Don't count the buzzards out either. RW
OK, well, all morning I was outside-didn't see any stray dogs, coyotes, or wolves (don't have those here in Texas...or at least our part). Got it looked at...crazy thing is that it's only about 2-3 inches of the actual tail missing. The switch (hair) is still mostly present...so that is what's making the mess. It's covered in blood and she is swooshing it from side to side getting the blood everywhere. She's up walking around with the rest of the herd now....so we're going to let her be. The buzzards are gone...and I'm sure they got them a piece of her tail...sons of a witches!! Just going to keep an eye on it and hope for a healthy calf/momma when mother nature comes calling.
We had a cow that lost 3 inches off the tip of her tail and all her switch. When she was laying down another cow had stepped on it and when she went to get up she pulled the opposite direction. It was nasty looking. She bled pretty good and she was 4 months bred, her and the baby are and were fine.It took a day or so for it to completely stop, but she is fine. Sprayed some blu kote and tried some blood stop on it and we both turned purple, red and gray. I think the blue kote and blood stop were more for my benefit. It made me feel better at least. She should be ok.
ploughshare
Well-known member
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- May 30, 2008
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cowzrus said:
This happened to the first heifer I ever attempted to AI. Imagine what was going through my mind when I checked on them that evening. Called the vet and he told me to tie twine around the tail above the cut to stop the bleeding. The heifer calved a very nice Sweet Willie heifer 284 days later.
Shady Lane
Well-known member
A few years ago I worked on a ranch west of here and we calved out a lot of cows.
One pasture had a bug run through it and we were treating calves steadily and heavy for a period of time.
What started to happen was the ravens woul come and take the tails off of calves that were sick and lethargic. If the calves were very sick they would also take the eyes out of them.
It was horrifying and one of my worst memories in the livestock business.
I also remmeber a time when I went to visit a local breeder and he had just had a mare foal who had broken her hip and needed assistance to get up and allow the foal o nurse, the Magpies had eaten a hole in her rump about an inch in diameter and more than an inch deep.
Subsequently I have little respect for Magpies or crows.
One pasture had a bug run through it and we were treating calves steadily and heavy for a period of time.
What started to happen was the ravens woul come and take the tails off of calves that were sick and lethargic. If the calves were very sick they would also take the eyes out of them.
It was horrifying and one of my worst memories in the livestock business.
I also remmeber a time when I went to visit a local breeder and he had just had a mare foal who had broken her hip and needed assistance to get up and allow the foal o nurse, the Magpies had eaten a hole in her rump about an inch in diameter and more than an inch deep.
Subsequently I have little respect for Magpies or crows.
FutureBreeder2013
Well-known member
Shady Lane said:
i cant even imagine a calf with its eyes plucked out
I had two different cows to loose a couple of inches off their tails. One I had just bred and let her go and she caught the hair in the switch on a pipe hinge and would not stop for me to cut the hair with my knife. The other one lacked a few hours from being in standing heat and the young bull was trying to mount her and stepped on her tail as she tripped trying to get away from him. I wanted to cut his tail off.......
Dad had a set of twins born three years ago and a coyote chewed a hole in ones hind quarter. Dad got them to the house and the cow raised them both.
Dad had a set of twins born three years ago and a coyote chewed a hole in ones hind quarter. Dad got them to the house and the cow raised them both.
Well, momma is fine. Still no baby...but I'm waiting patiently. (not really). I was just in shock when I found this...I am new to the hole process (going through my 1st calving season) and go out and find 1 of my favorite females covered in blood like a scene from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. As for coyotes, we are lucky. To 1 side we have a neighbor who raises/races greyhounds (has quite a few) and the other side our neighbor has "hog dogs" (pitbull cross with something). So with all of the canines around, coyotes tend to not come up to close. I have heard of vultures/crows plucking out eyes, etc. from newborns....and if I saw that I'd probally sit out there with a shotgun and blow all of those S.O.Bs away.
justintime
Well-known member
Do you think the blood is just from her tail or has she been trying to calve at the same time. If she is lieing out flat and not making any progress in calving, I would wonder about a breach birth or a dead calf. Sometimes if the calf dies prior to the due date, the cow will fuss but not really get down to trying to calve. It can be the same way if she has a breach calf. As for the missing tail, I would suspect the buzzards are responsible. Keep her in a dry area or out on grass where there is less chance of infection, for awhile, as the tail is a great place for infection to enter the body, and if it does, it can go throughout the body in short order. Good luck. Keep us posted
simtal
Well-known member
Shady Lane said:
LOL
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