Dead Cow - Now What?

[BJ]

I have a cow who apparently had a freak accident in the night or early morning. While going down a creek bank looks like the bank was undercut by all of the recent rain. Bank collapsed and somehow she got flipped over and landed on her back in the creek. Looks like she died immediately as no signs of a struggle. Naturally she is located in a low spot close to a water gap where there is nothing but extremely soft ground. No way for me to get my tractor and loader in to pick her up. I used a come-a-long and inch by inch was able to move her a very short distance out of the water.

Now what do I do with her? 1500 lb cow too big to do much of anything with her by hand and it will be July before this area is dry.

A neighbor suggested I cover her with lime. Not sure how you cover a humongus animal with lime and what will be the effect on that creek water? I've only had one cow die on me and I was able to move her to the roadside for the renderer to pick up. This situation is totally different and not possible to relocate her.

Suggestions are welcomed.

[DaleK]

Call the renderer and see what they can do. The ones here have at least 200' of cable on their winches so he MIGHT be able to get close enough. Or you could borrow a long rope or cable from somewhere.

Don't leave her there, lime won't help.

If all else fails, you can use a chainsaw to cut her up into more manageable pieces.

[agmantoo]

Get her a little farther from the water and cremate her. A fat cow will burn much easier than you may think.

[ErinP]

Pull her out to the dead pile and let the coyotes have her.

[ozark_jewels]

I have to ask.......where in Missouri are you located?? I'd love to help you take care of all that freshly dead beef. I feed raw to my dogs and that is an awful lot of dogfood. Too much to waste by burning......if you have dogs to feed anyway.

[BJ]

Originally Posted by ErinP

Pull her out to the dead pile and let the coyotes have her.

We don't have a "dead pile"....and we are concerned that leaving her for the coyotes will put our calves in danger by drawing more coyotes and bobcats to our property.

[Karin L]

I'm thinking that coyotes will only attack calves if they don't have anything else to eat. With that large cow their bellies would be too full to even consider attacking any calves.

[BJ]

Originally Posted by agmantoo

Get her a little farther from the water and cremate her. A fat cow will burn much easier than you may think.

In her location, this may be our only option. Wonder how much timber this would take. As long as we can burn without setting the timbered area on fire...hopefully everything is wet enough. No leaves yet on the trees that are still bare from winter.

[ozark_jewels]

We lost an old Holstien in February after she calved. I cut off all the meat, froze it in portion size for my dogs, and let them clean the bones for the next few days. Then I burnt what was left. Much less to burn that way and much less goes to waste.

[fishhead]

I think some people compost their dead cattle. Cover it with a deep pile of bedding straw or wood chips once you get it away from the stream. Make sure that you don't leave it on a slope that runs off to the stream.

[Ronney]

These situations are always a curse. I bite the bullet and pay to get a digger in and bury it - and most times they can drag the animal out from the inconvenient places they choose to die. We don't have things such as Coyotes here but it does put paid to the dogs scavenging and the wild pigs coming in for a feed, it takes away the stink of burning especially if you have neighbours (you can guarantee the wind will be blowing the wrong way) and burning doesn't dispose of all of it. A hole in the ground disposes of it cleanly and is out of sight and mind.

The last time I had to bury a cow it cost $180.00 and was over and done within an hour. No money to be made out of it admittedly but it saved a lot of hassle and time.

Cheers,
Ronnie

[thequeensblessing]

We too butcher our freshly dead (disease free) livestock for our dog food. Barring that, I'd incinerate her too. No way I'd leave her for the coyotes to snack on. After she's gone, they'll still be there, expecting more free meals.
Do you have a mink farm close by? In Vermont, the local mink farm would come get our downed livestock free to feed to their animals. Some wildlife rehab/rescue agencies will also take the carcass.

[ErinP]

We've lived/worked on 10 ranches in 2 states. Family, friends, neighbors...
Everyone with livestock has a dead pile.

[randiliana]

Same thing up here, we dispose of our dead stock in an open pit if they die around our yard or if they have to be moved. Otherwise we will just leave them where they fall.

But there are laws in some States/Provinces on how you may dispose of dead livestock. A dead pile, burying, burning etc may or may not be legal where you live. I like the suggestion of cutting her up and feeding to your dogs, or selling/giving it to someone who wants RAW meat for their dogs.

[Jennifer L.]

If you can't snake her out with chains or a rope,she must be in a hole. I'd push the rest of the creek bank down on top of her and bury her that way.

I was talking to a neighbor the other day and he was telling me the rendering people want $80 to take a dead cow away now. That's nuts!

Jennifer

PS, sorry you lost a cow, that always stinks.

[francismilker]

Hate to sound so lazy but you might just consider leaving her where she lays. (That is, unless you have a neighbor downstream that drinking the creekwater!) They might get a bit testy about drinking beef broth!!!!
I actually had a calf get off in a pond and die a few years ago while I was away working. It worried my poor wife to death so I promised her I'd take care of it asap when I got home. By the time I got there (one week later) it was already pretty well decomposed. I think the water might speed it up a bit.

[de Molay]

Do you have a yard for your calves? At night put your animals in a secure area and let the coyotes have her. I have never heard of Bobcats attacking livestock. Chickens maybe cows/calves noway. If her body is in an area were it will contaminate fresh running water, I would skid her out with a tractor.

[50calray]

Invite the whole clan over for a BBQ?

That or hire some group to come out and bury the critter if you can't.