My 11 year old cow aborted...,

[Haggis]

Last night I noticed my 11 year old Milking Devon cow was trailing something from under her tail. She was bought as due in August when I bought her back the end of March. She appeared to be either in heat or giving birth the first of July, but since there was no calf I thought it was a false labor.

It turns out she was in heat as she aborted a little fetus not much larger than a Fox squirrel last night.

[willow_girl]

Aww Haggis, I am sorry to hear that!

Have you had the vet out? Any idea why?

[Haggis]

No idea why, but we're going to have the vet come do some blood tests and pregnacy tests. If all is well, the old gal will go in the freezer about Thankgiving.

I do worry about Bang's but it is my understanding that once a herd has tested positive they owners can't sell their cattle until it's cleared up or all those infected have been disposed of.

If that is true then the lady who sold her to me could not have knowing sold her to anyone if she were tested as being infected.

It would be agrivating to lose my entire little herd because someone set out to cheat a buyer.

[Jim in MO]

Haggis, sorry to hear the bad news. I hope the blood test shows the rest to be OK.

Hoping for the best for you.

[willow_girl]

Please let us know what the vet finds out.

Shame to have to slaughter here; aren't Devons kind of pricey to use a cow for beef? (Unless, of course, it turns out she isn't able to sustain a pregnancy.)

[Haggis]

Vets all move in super slow motion up here, but when I know I will share.

Ya, registered American Milking Devon cattle are rare and spendy, but I knew going in that some of them would end up as hamburgers at Hard Rock Cafe prices.

Odd thing, all day yesterday and yet this morning my bull and the old cow have been riding each other all over our little holding.

[wr]

If you have a lot of deer in your area, you should also have your cow tested for lepto. Contaminated deer with infect cattle through urine in the water or grass, it's treatable, also find out from the vet if her past starvation program could leave her lacking in any trace minerals or caused the problem.

[Haggis]

Will do wr, thanks for the tip. There are kzillions of deer around here for sure. I will also mention her poor feed conditions in the past.