Beef from injured heifer

morebabies

We have a 20mth old Hex heifer that either got hurt on slats or got an infection in her spine. Initial symptoms were she was stiff and slow to get up. Vet was called and treated her 4 weeks ago for an infection on her spine, even though she wasn't sure if that was the problem and animal had no temperature.

A week later she couldn't get up at all and she's that way now 3weeks. She's bright, eating, drinking, chewing the cud, and has power in her front two legs but no power at all in the rear. She can pull herself around on her front two feet, very alert otherwise.

So, I'm wondering if from these symptoms do ye think this heifer would be safe for our family to get killed and eat in another week or so ? She's almost at the 28 days from when she was given drugs by the vet. I just am sick looking at her, otherwise I'll just get her put down . Sorry for the long post.

mattP

My uneducated guess is that itd be fine. I get the impression that its no fault to her back legs, just the signal isn't getting there to move them (hence the spine thing)
Ask the butcher just to give a quick glance over her hind quarters just to make sure there's no lesions or anything...

barnaman

I had a cow with the exact same sypmtoms. Had 2 vets look at her and she was diagnoised with an abcess on the spine. She was given antis etc but no use. In the end, after a couple of weeks, I had her destroyed as it was hopeless. The cow was same as your heifer had apptiete was bright etc but no power at all in rear legs. Reckon safe to eat as vet reckoned initial cause was slipped disk giving an immediate abccess.

benneca1

Make sure withdrawal period for antibiotics is up and be sure to get the butcher to cut out where you injected her.

If she is good to eat you'll know could be the carcase will be bruised though as she's been down a while

morebabies

Thanks lads, can I ask another daft question, if the carcass is bruised does that make a difference or what difference does it make?

benneca1

Wont set will be dark colour and basically inedible probably wouldn't kill you if you ate it fresh but would look and taste terrible no vet would pass it for eating.I mean the damaged part not the whole lot the hind quarters will probably have bruising so will have to be trimmed

greysides

I think there's two questions to be answered.

Firstly, would the amount of meat rescued be worth the cost of butchering?
My impression is most likely not.

Secondly, who would you get to do it for you?
You can't transport an animal in that condition to a slaughter plant and getting it slaughtered on-farm.... may be far from straight-forward.

Capercaillie

Won't take in factory, but local butcher might kill her. If she is down that long, it is likely she will have extensive bruising of hind quarters , belly and sternum. Half of her might go in skip!

GardeningGirl

Hiya. Yep sounds like abscesses pressing on spinal cord alright. Had same with a pig. Sadly probably kinder to put her to sleep as it won't improve without a miracle. Get a local fella in ti do the business and dress her, she'd be fine for personal consumption

MF290

We'd two heifers, one of which wasn't far off finishing, go down. Vet was called and said there wasn't much he could do. There's a man in Longford or is it Offaly who specializes in this. He called out, stunned the animal, hung her upside on the loadall to bleed her and took her away in a trailer. Worked out well for us but I iirc we had to get the vet to approve it seeing as he was called out

lakill Farm

butcher her up

cost €300 to butcher her -v- €120/150 for knacker yard costs

the undamaged T-bone and fillets are worth that alone

Future Farmer

Stress effects meat quality:

Have eaten two "down" animals and in my experience (they weren't mine by the way but a previous employers):

One a bull - strangled in a crush head - died stressed
One a weanling who lost a leg a struggled through life - a life of stress

AWFUL eating

Father had a LMx heifer that had cysts kept really struggling they were on her hips & internal, vet said if you kill her 1/2 would be condemned, she was around the place, ended up going in calf, went on had 7 or 8 calves got €900 for her in the factory in the end, wouldn't have liked to eat her.

If I was you, I would put her in the field and stand her up every day with the loader and a strap just 10 minutes, if she starts getting sores and muscle wastage it's all over....

Milked out

No coming back from abscess in the spine, best to put her down id say the time for factory was while she was still walking

morebabies

Well thanks for all replies, I had decided to take a gamble and get her butchered in the hope of getting something out of her but the butcher reckons she'll be full of fluid after being down for 3 weeks with limited mobility, he said it'd be a waste of money and I'd be lucky to get one chop outta her.

Lizard_Moon

On farm slaughter is meant just for sudden injury and not an animal that has been down for a long time. Welfare issue AFAIK.
Agree with the butcher that the meat quality would be terrible.

Kovu

Local hunt might give you a few bob for her to feed the hounds?

Base price

Kovu wrote: »

Local hunt might give you a few bob for her to feed the hounds?

Unless they have a Dept licence they cannot collect her otherwise they will charge.

benneca1

So what happened in the end to op heifer

severeoversteer

had a weanling last winter with abcess on spine, was down for 3 months paralysed

great appetite, kept turning him over manually my self twice every day onto fresh straw and keeping feed at his head

after 3 months he was in the way in that shed so we decided to move him, he was wasted away badly then,

I rolled him into a bucket of loader and ferried him away to another shed, rolled him out of the bucket in the other shed and what ever way he landed he got power In his legs and stood up

couldn't believe it

7 or 8 months later now and he is a 500kg year and a half out grazing like normal, you wouldn't know he ever had any bother, he is actually turned into a nice shapey bullock over the summer and has thrived immensely

barnaman

Glad to hear a bit good news with this condition. Is sickening having to get an animal destroyed; apart from everything else with this hated wondering if given it enough of a fightening chance.

morebabies

benneca1 wrote: »

So what happened in the end to op heifer

She's still sitting pretty eating and drinking away, moving herself round on the grass with her two front legs, not far mind, only when she's grazed all around her. I'm still bringing her food and water every day, putting off the inevitable, but having read the Miraculous cure of the weanling above, I don't know what to think.