Post by daisyhill on May 11, 2022 21:02:56 GMT -5
Came home from school today just minutes after my 10 year old nephew had found Arabel lying dead in the loafing shed.
We are feeling stunned--she was a dear favorite with all of us, so good with the children, generous, motherly. She was the perfect cow in so many ways, even sharing her cream when she had a calf! She was 10 years old.
We were just talking about her condition this morning at milking, and saying how good she was looking--glossy coat, nice weight, bright eyed as usual. There was just nothing visibly wrong. A niece and nephew were out in the barnyard in the early afternoon, and both said she looked normal then, swishing off flies and wandering about the paddock in a usual sort of way. We've had such a slow spring that none of the cows are out to pasture yet, so she was still on hay as usual.
At 4:30 when we found her, she was stiff and cold, and pretty bloated already (it was a hot day today, so no surprise there). She was on the clean straw in the loafing shed, and it really looked to me like she dropped dead from standing...she was sort of awkwardly on her chest, three legs under her, and it looked like one leg had maybe kicked out once or twice--the straw was a bit disturbed there. Then her head must have flung back after she hit the ground because the straw was swept away in a semicircle--again, no thrashing, just one clean sweep of the head. At any rate, that is how it looked to me.
Do cows have heart attacks? I wish I could know what happened here. We talked about necropsy...I don't find it easy to research and decide about something like that on the spur of the moment. I don't know if our vet practice would do one. Since our old vet retired, they have refused my requests for farm calls, and want everything trailered in. Also have no idea how much it would cost. So, we buried her. But I wish I knew what had happened.
Arabel was still milking a very extended lactation. We hadn't been able to get her to settle, and she had not been showing heats regularly. We had taken her in to the vet to be examined, and he did not think she had cysts, but it was the vet I trust the least.
But she was still giving us about 2 gallons a day, and lots of cream! We will dearly miss the butter, as well as herself.
A yucky end to a kind of tough school day.
We are feeling stunned--she was a dear favorite with all of us, so good with the children, generous, motherly. She was the perfect cow in so many ways, even sharing her cream when she had a calf! She was 10 years old.
We were just talking about her condition this morning at milking, and saying how good she was looking--glossy coat, nice weight, bright eyed as usual. There was just nothing visibly wrong. A niece and nephew were out in the barnyard in the early afternoon, and both said she looked normal then, swishing off flies and wandering about the paddock in a usual sort of way. We've had such a slow spring that none of the cows are out to pasture yet, so she was still on hay as usual.
At 4:30 when we found her, she was stiff and cold, and pretty bloated already (it was a hot day today, so no surprise there). She was on the clean straw in the loafing shed, and it really looked to me like she dropped dead from standing...she was sort of awkwardly on her chest, three legs under her, and it looked like one leg had maybe kicked out once or twice--the straw was a bit disturbed there. Then her head must have flung back after she hit the ground because the straw was swept away in a semicircle--again, no thrashing, just one clean sweep of the head. At any rate, that is how it looked to me.
Do cows have heart attacks? I wish I could know what happened here. We talked about necropsy...I don't find it easy to research and decide about something like that on the spur of the moment. I don't know if our vet practice would do one. Since our old vet retired, they have refused my requests for farm calls, and want everything trailered in. Also have no idea how much it would cost. So, we buried her. But I wish I knew what had happened.
Arabel was still milking a very extended lactation. We hadn't been able to get her to settle, and she had not been showing heats regularly. We had taken her in to the vet to be examined, and he did not think she had cysts, but it was the vet I trust the least.
But she was still giving us about 2 gallons a day, and lots of cream! We will dearly miss the butter, as well as herself.
A yucky end to a kind of tough school day.