Post by eric on Dec 19, 2009 18:48:53 GMT -5
We had a big snow storm (by North Carolina standards) come through yesterday so I put all the animals up in the barn yesterday afternoon. There was already an inch or so of snow by the time I got my two steer in the barn. My Angus steer was dead this morning, totally unexpected, even with the benefit of hindsight. He was just over 6 months old. I finally weaned him a couple months ago because he was never very cooperative with the bucket. I let him nurse my cow after I milked for a month at first. I originally got him at about 3 days old because he was a twin and his dam was totally neglecting him. His growth rate had never really impressed me -- probably because he wouldn't always drink all his milk, but it could have just been because I'm not used to a short, stocky Angus -- but he had always seemed healthy. I'm guessing he weighed 400 lbs. It was everything I and another man could do to drag him across slick ground. I had never fed him any hay before, as I had always had enough grass. I also had neglected to give him continual access to salt, so he had salt again when I put him in the barn. He had plenty of water, too, though. The only symptom, if you can call it that, is that he smelled horrible this morning. He was a little stubborn coming into the barn last night -- we had a halter on him -- but I figured that was just his nature and because we hadn't led him by the halter in over a month. He was bloated this morning, but isn't that just what happens when stomach bacteria keep doing their thing and the animal isn't belching? I have yet to learn any special lessons from this loss, if there are any? What could have happened?