Had a cow separate from the herd. Went out to look at her and see if i could tell what her problem was. She had 5 vultures sitting around her. She was not breathing heavy, her ears were up, no loose poop behind her, moved fine. Nowhere near death to summon buzzards, so that was werid.... After seeing me over where she was, it is where we are feeding hay, the herd came thinking i had some cubes for them.. What i observed was, as they got to this cow, they all smelled of her. Some licked her. She had a swarm of cows doing this. I thought, hum..(no mounting like she's in heat). So later that day we get her up, separate her from the herd.. Put her in the pen with the heifers, where, they do the exact same thing. Licking, sniffing, huddled around her. The only thing i could figure was wrong was maybe some UTI, she did pee several times and not a lot each time. Could a UTI give her a smell? Thats what we treated her for.
What could this be??
- Thread starter cowgirl8
- Start date
Help Support CattleToday:
Did you take a whiff? Temp?
Did she hunch her back when she peed? Couple years ago, I had a cow that had lost weight and I noticed she was hunched up when she peed. UTI was my first guess and ended up taking her to the vet. When he palped her, she was full of tumors.
Did she hunch her back when she peed? Couple years ago, I had a cow that had lost weight and I noticed she was hunched up when she peed. UTI was my first guess and ended up taking her to the vet. When he palped her, she was full of tumors.
OP
OP
cowgirl8
Well-known member
Shes not humped. No usual visible signs that anything is wrong other than she's obviously not feeling well (still in good flesh, not thin). No i did not smell of her and she didnt seem just too hot. I dont have a thermometer, they are where the socks, measuring tapes and pencils are. One day i'll find them. Anywhoot, just went down to check on her and i believe she's eating now. I though, have yet to see her chew her cud. I wont feel confident till i see that. Hoping someone has come across this weird thing of other cows smelling and licking...
coachg
Well-known member
Could she have aborted a calf ?
Never had the smelling and licking but have had the herd run one off before. Kind of strange. If she'd get close they'd gang up and run her off even though she appeared to be fine. I gave her 30cc of LA300 with a dart gun and even was back to normal in a few days.
OP
OP
cowgirl8
Well-known member
I guess its possible but i saw no signs of it. Buzzards were looking at her, no discharge or humping up with tail up. Usually there are some small signs of that. She's at the house so anything being eaten would be seen.... Its the licking of her face and body and the sniffing of her, not back end, of all over... and crowding around her that was weird.. There has to be a reason for that
coachg
Well-known member
For the black brotherhood/ buzzards to gather there is something dead or something about to die . I hate to see them at the pasture! Never a good sign .
OP
OP
cowgirl8
Well-known member
See, that confused me too. She is nowhere near death. Its her smell that brought them in. Now maybe its a fatal smell being put off, only time will tell if thats the case.
MurraysMutts
Well-known member
From what I've observed it's not unusual for the herd to check on a down cow. Seen it a few times. Especially when there is a birth involved.
Hope she is OK
Hope she is OK
OP
OP
cowgirl8
Well-known member
This was odd though. Hoping someone will know what kind of scent she was putting off to garner such attention. It wasnt just her herd, it was the heifers who ignored the last cow that was in with them, but went to this one and smelled all over her. She has a 5 mo old calf, who is a toot..
Okay, just throwing this out. Only time I've had other cows congregate around another cow is from the smell of blood. Is it possible she has an injury you didn't notice? Puncture? Bullet hole? And keep in mind, it's quite possible you wouldn't see blood dripping or a giant hole if she inadvertently got shot. I got nuthin' else - but good luck and keep us updated!
Nesikep
Well-known member
Strange, I have no ideas but I'll follow this thread!
Silver
Well-known member
I don't know anything about buzzards so can't comment on that but… once again this year I had a cow in heat for 4 days plus. Preg checked yesterday and she is bred to calve in good time. Vet says he calls it a hormonal hiccup. Not uncommon. It could be your cow's hormones were doing something out of the ordinary and creating a stir amongst the other animals.
OP
OP
cowgirl8
Well-known member
You'd think they'd mount her though. We all know what that looks like. She has a 5 mo old calf at her side.. We pulled the bulls off mid August. Today she's eating. We've hit her twice with la 200. Today she was eating at the bale of hay we have just for her. Visibly, she seems sluggish, but not too much considering she's in a small lot. I have yet to see her chew cud. Husband is going to treat it like anaplasmosis. Havent had one of those this year yet, and if that is what it is, we got it super early.
TexasJerseyMilker
Well-known member
Do you have doxycycline?
MurraysMutts
Well-known member
Or hedge apples?
OP
OP
cowgirl8
Well-known member
We do have horse apples, but not in this pasture. She is eating now and isnt dead. My thoughts were since the ground is bare, she may have picked up some sort of thing that sits around waiting for its moment. 2 years ago we got one with redwater, last year we had one bleed out her butt and die within 30 min.. SO i was waiting for that weird thing, we get one every year...
TexasJerseyMilker
Well-known member
That's good 
On the subject of waiting vultures-- I used to work cardiac on the sixth floor of this hospital. All the rooms had balconies.
Whenever buzzards perched on a patients balcony we nurses had a superstition and would quietly draw the curtains.
On the subject of waiting vultures-- I used to work cardiac on the sixth floor of this hospital. All the rooms had balconies.
Whenever buzzards perched on a patients balcony we nurses had a superstition and would quietly draw the curtains.
OP
OP
cowgirl8
Well-known member
I call them The Grim Reaper. Never good when you see them show up.That's good
On the subject of waiting vultures-- I used to work cardiac on the sixth floor of this hospital. All the rooms had balconies.
Whenever buzzards perched on a patients balcony we nurses had a superstition and would quietly draw the curtains.
View attachment 22432
TexasJerseyMilker
Well-known member
As I recall, no patient visited by vultures ever actually died. But they were on telemetry that someone was watching all the time at the nurses station.
On the Texas ranch vultures would hang around cows fixing have a calf. The turkey vultures were just trying to get some afterbirth. But the Mexican black vultures would run in and try to peck the calf's eyes. And it was a $100,000 fine if you shot one. It was shoot shovel and shut up.
On the Texas ranch vultures would hang around cows fixing have a calf. The turkey vultures were just trying to get some afterbirth. But the Mexican black vultures would run in and try to peck the calf's eyes. And it was a $100,000 fine if you shot one. It was shoot shovel and shut up.
