200 cows found dead in Wisconson

[Reannan]

I gleefully offer up fire ants!

 

[Hopeful One]

Mosquitoes!! Be gone!

 

[drip~drop]

Take my box elder bugs as well!!:rocker:
Those things are a pita!

 

[IWannaKnow]

BLACK FLIES!! Yuck! Be gone! :viking:

 

[GoneWithTheWind]

Why can't it be those darn asian beetles that have taken over the last few years. Icould handle a mass kill of that sort.

Are you talking about the japanese beetle? They swarmed ny back yard last summer. I have never noticed them until summer of 2010.

 

[Reality Orlando]

So, my friends and I had a long talk about this tonight. They are both vets, and their practice is in the "country" so they take care of lots of horses, goats and cows. They said they're very skeptical about all the animal deaths, especially the cows. He said that makes no sense...at least the way it's being reported. He also specializes in exotic birds and says he's never seen an entire flock of any bird just fall out of the sky dead. He truly believes there's something unnatural causing the deaths.

 

[drip~drop]

So, my friends and I had a long talk about this tonight. They are both vets, and their practice is in the "country" so they take care of lots of horses, goats and cows. They said they're very skeptical about all the animal deaths, especially the cows. He said that makes no sense...at least the way it's being reported. He also specializes in exotic birds and says he's never seen an entire flock of any bird just fall out of the sky dead. He truly believes there's something unnatural causing the deaths.

I'm with your vet friend on that!
Hubby and I are taking Pogi in for his shots and I'm going to ask his vet what he thinks about all this mayhem involving these poor animals.

 

[IWannaKnow]

Yeah, hmmmmmmmmmm

http://www.wrn.com/2011/01/still-no-definite-cause-in-mass-cow-deaths/
Still no definite cause in mass cow deaths
by Brian Moon on January 19, 2011

Among the responding agencies was the Portage County Humane Society. Executive Director Jennifer Blum says the livestock’s owners had suspected something was wrong.

“The owners had been working with their veterinarian since the Tuesday previous when the presence of what’s called BVD, or Bovine Virus Diarrhea, had been seen in some of their cows.”

Initially it was believed BVD was the cause of the mass death. However Blum tells WRN, the lab tests have come back inconclusive.

:waitasec: Inconclusive. Hmmmmmmmm

 

[legalmaniac]

I still think this is from the Gulf oil spill. The wind blew it all over the world for months. Now that the snow and rain has arrived, all the poision that were lingering in the atmospher are now killing the birds, fish, turtles, penguins and now cows. .

How did the pollution zero in on those 200 cows and miss all the other cows closer to the actual oil spill ?

 

[sherbetjello]

I haven't read this entire thread, I am going to read it all in a second, but 200 cows dying all of a sudden isn't news for me. I actually heard (and saw) this happen when I was in Highschool - at least 15 years ago. I cant' recall any birds dying, or fish dying at the same time, but the only reason I remember is because I saw the cows in the field on my trip to school that morning. Story made the local, yet very small paper.

 

[Mira]

i figured it was something in the feed...

http://www.aolnews.com/2011/01/29/mystery-of-200-dead-cows-in-wisconsin-solved/

 

[IWannaKnow]

Hi Mira -
I saw that Saturday and didn't post it then because yahoo was the only one reporting it at that point. I found this today from the University of Wisconsin, all bold, color and underline by me:

http://www.news.wisc.edu/18890
Study: Cows done in by bad spuds
Jan. 28, 2011
by Terry Devitt

Specifically, the cows were poisoned by a toxin found in moldy sweet potatoes, which apparently were mixed in with potato waste fed to the animals. Tests on feed samples revealed the presence of ipomeanol, a mycotoxin found in moldy sweet potatoes, says Peter Vanderloo, associate director of the lab.

"Based on history, clinical signs, changes in tissue and test results from our lab and a referral laboratory, it is likely that a mycotoxin from moldy sweet potato was a major factor in the disease and deaths of these steers," Vanderloo explains.

And this:

It was first suspected that a virus or other pathogen might have been responsible, Vanderloo says, because the animals exhibited symptoms consistent with pneumonia. However, laboratory tests found no evidence of any of the major viral pathogens that could cause a respiratory disease such as pneumonia. "None of the major respiratory pathogens of cattle were identified in the samples provided to the lab."

The lab looked for bovine herpesvirus, bovine viral diarrhea virus, bovine respiratory synctial virus and corona virus and found no evidence for those or any other pathogens, according to Vanderloo

I notice that it does not specifically say they tested the cows....they tested the feed. And they are not saying FOR SURE it was the sweet potatoes, but LIKELY it was the sweet potatoes. Semantics I know, but I would feel better if this said they tested the dead cows and found ipomeanol in their tissues, not that they tested the feed and think this is likely what killed them or at least a major factor....

I know, I know, I drive DH crazy too.

 

[nursebeeme]

so 200 cows started dying in waves from their feed???????? really?????

I grew up in dairy country ohio.... I have never heard of such a thing!

not to mention... if it was the feed.... where are all the other cows that should be dying from eating it that don't live on this particular farm?

 

[IWannaKnow]

nursebeeme - The farmer was allegedly feeding the cattle sweet potatoes that had gone moldy, supplementing his feed with the potatoes. I've read that it is a common practice, so it wasn't the commercial feed per se that caused the problem, but the added sweet potatoes allegedly......

My question is whether this is the whole herd that died or only part. I'm not sure if I've seen that information anywhere. If it is only part of the herd then I might have a problem with this likely explanation.