stillborn calf, again

gwithrow · #1 09/15/14, 06:36 AM

last fall we had a heifer who had a small, almost premature looking stillborn calf...we kept her to give her another chance this year...yesterday we found her with yet another dead calf....this one full term looking, but very dead...the head twisted back...since she calved at night I have no idea if the calf was breech, I do know she showed no signs of labor the evening before....

the cow will be culled, but my question is what can cause this?...This cow is a full Simmental with excellent breeding, her mom has never had an issue with calving ...and the bull involved has only thrown nice not too large calves...are there genetic factors which cause this?

G. Seddon · #2 09/15/14, 07:29 AM

Necropsy on calf might give you some idea of what happened. Could be a genetic thing, but I'm not familiar with Simmentals. Very disappointing for you, I know.

gwithrow · #3 09/15/14, 08:03 AM

yes, super disappointing...but I would love to know the why of it all....I immediately called the vet to see if I could bring him the calf right after we found it, but of course he was out of town until later this week....I suppose we could have frozen it....but a big dirty calf in the freezer just didn't occur to me yesterday....and in the end the answer is the same, the cow will be culled...and we will move on...we have a small herd so even the loss of one hurts...but that is the way it goes sometimes...

G. Seddon · #4 09/15/14, 08:06 AM

I understand. Usually they don't want it frozen, just cooled. Is there a state lab or vet school in your area that could help?

gwithrow · #5 09/15/14, 08:23 AM

well Raleigh is 4 hours away....that is a lot of driving....and there may be a place in the mountains that does this....if it had been a weekday, I would have done that, I will always wonder...and if we have anymore losses I will for sure....since it happened to the same cow twice I was thinking that it has to do with her

Jennifer L. · #6 09/15/14, 01:36 PM

Frankly, I wouldn't sell her. The first calf could have been caused by another cow butting her hard, or perhaps the calf had a congenital problem that didn't allow it to reach birth age, or it could have been a disease like listeriosis. The second calf is most likely just a simple dystocia that could have been prevented if the cow had had help. I don't see any reason to get rid of her if that was a full term calf.

If it wasn't a full term calf, then that's a reason to get rid of her.