Dogs bringing calves legs home

telecaster

I'm not a farmer, but hopefully you'll be able to enlighten me.

Bits of calves legs keep turning up in my garden, fur still on them and the dogs chewing away until I take them away and dump them. I'm assuming my dogs are finding them on the surrounding farm.

My question is what is the mortality rate of calves in a healthy herd? I guess some just dont make it. Then what happens to the carcass? Guess work here but are the limbs removed for easier disposal? How do you think my dogs are getting them?

_Brian

What the hell is your dog doing roaming a farmers land completely uncontrolled.

Your 100% liable for this dogs actions.

Get a grip and control your animal.

endacl

‘Finding them’.

:rolleyes:

White Clover

telecaster wrote: »

I'm not a farmer, but hopefully you'll be able to enlighten me.

Bits of calves legs keep turning up in my garden, fur still on them and the dogs chewing away until I take them away and dump them. I'm assuming my dogs are finding them on the surrounding farm.

My question is what is the mortality rate of calves in a healthy herd? I guess some just dont make it. Then what happens to the carcass? Guess work here but are the limbs removed for easier disposal? How do you think my dogs are getting them?

First things first. Are you saying that you allow your dogs to stray onto a neighbouring farmers land therefore possibly infecting his/her herd with neospora?

_Brian

White Clover wrote: »

First things first. Are you saying that you allow your dogs to stray onto a neighbouring farmers land therefore possibly infecting his/her herd with neospora?

Or tear them up and bring home the spoils.

Actually I call BS on this whole thread, it must be a windup. No one could be so stupid as to firstly think it’s ok to allow dogs roam farmland, and then think it’s ok they are bringing back parts of livestock, and then open admit the whole thing

Oh, and blame the farmer for the whole hung.

Markcheese

Don't shoot the messenger... (yes the op does need to control his dogs)
Calf mortality rate shouldn't be high, and the bodies/ limbs shouldn't be just dumped...
Over How long a period have your dogs been bringing body parts back.? Could it be the one animal,?

telecaster

The farmer doesn't have a problem with the dogs being on his land.

endacl

What about the other farmers? Do the dogs know which bits they’re allowed to roam? Do the other farmers have shotguns?

august12

telecaster wrote:

The farmer doesn't have a problem with the dogs being on his land.

What sort of farm is it, is it neat and tidy or rundown, first off, dogs should not be allowed to roam, are the legs fresh or decayed, animal carcass should be disposed of properly, farmer should contact an abbatoir to collect, would be a concern if this is an ongoing issue.

Itavara

august12 wrote: »

What sort of farm is it, is it neat and tidy or rundown, first off, dogs should not be allowed to roam, are the legs fresh or decayed, animal carcass should be disposed of properly, farmer should contact an abbatoir to collect, would be a concern if this is an ongoing issue.

I personally hope that an abattoir wouldn't take dead animals. an abattoir is a basically a slaughter house. There are dead animal collection services that will come and bring away the dead animal

Lady Haywire

How do you know they're calves & not deer OP? As you state you're not a farmer, its a possibility.
And please stop your dog roaming the land. That farmer in question migh thave given you permission but i highly doubt the dog(s) know where his farm ends & another one begins!!

Itavara

I live on a suckler farm and we would have a mortality rate of around 5%. When they do die, we would call the dead animal collection service but it would take them maybe a couple days to come out to us. We'd just leave the carcass "around the back," out of sight until the lorry arrives. We have a few dogs two and occasionally have some hooves or bones turn up in the yard from the calf. It does sound morbid from an outsiders's/non-farmer point of view.
In regards to your dog going onto the farm, as other people have mentioned in the thread, that you are responsible for your dog's actions. If your dog becomes a threat to the farmers livestock on his property, he has every right to eradicate that threat. I don't want to start a big debate about this, but that's the long and short of it.

Buford T. Justice XIX

august12 wrote: »

What sort of farm is it, is it neat and tidy or rundown, first off, dogs should not be allowed to roam, are the legs fresh or decayed, animal carcass should be disposed of properly, farmer should contact an abbatoir to collect, would be a concern if this is an ongoing issue.

Itavara wrote: »

I personally hope that an abattoir wouldn't take dead animals. an abattoir is a basically a slaughter house. There are dead animal collection services that will come and bring away the dead animal

Itavara is correct, abattoirs are for slaughter of animals and knackerys for the collection of dead stock.


In some areas, the collection service is sloooooooooow so it may be 4 or 5 days before an animal is collected. It's in no way ideal but it is what it is.


OP, all dead animals are required to be collected after death (in a timely manner:rolleyes:) and records kept of the date of death and collection service used. There is one hell of a ruckus if an animal supposed to be on the farm is absent with no record of where the animal went. It's not a situation any farmer wants to find himself with, not being allowed to sell animals because there is an animal missing.


As Lady H said above, are you sure the remains are cattle and not another wild animal the dog may have found?

BarryD2

I've seen bags with farm animal parts dumped in nearby spots. Wouldn't happen very often, but definitely some do. Also met some older farmers who leave dead stock out for foxes and buzzards etc - regard it as part of the natural cycle and that the 'beasts of the field' need some food sources as well. Don't see anything partic wrong with the latter from a moral point of view, whatever about health issues.

ganmo

As someone who was waiting and ready for a neighbors dog to jump over a wall today for its sake control your dog.

august12

Itavara wrote:

I personally hope that an abattoir wouldn't take dead animals. an abattoir is a basically a slaughter house. There are dead animal collection services that will come and bring away the dead animal

Sorry, you are correct, i couldn't think of the correct term, yes, dead animal collection service.

TwoOldBoots

OP should get in contact with the Dept of Agriculture. Tell them what happened and where you suspect the dead animal parts are coming from. They will not be long getting to the bottom of it. The farmer in question has an obligation to dispose of dead animals correctly.

Dakota Dan

For a few years I often found pigs legs and calf legs on my fields. No idea where they came from but they were obviously from butchered animals. Maybe it was a few polskas :eek: I had a polish friend that wanted me to go with him to butcher a few animals one time but I declined.

Dakota Dan

TwoOldBoots wrote: »

OP should get in contact with the Dept of Agriculture. Tell them what happened and where you suspect the dead animal parts are comming from. They will not be long getting to the bottom of it. The farmer in question has an obligation to dispse of dead animals correctly.

Talk about jumping the gun. Just because they were on the farm doesn't mean they were the farmers animals. Birds of prey could pick them up nearby and drop them flying over the land.

Doctors room ghost

ganmo wrote: »

As someone who was waiting and ready for a neighbors dog to jump over a wall today for its sake control your dog.

Things must be quiet ganny if that’s all you have for doing.

TwoOldBoots

Dakota Dan wrote: »

Talk about jumping the gun. Just because they were on the farm doesn't mean they were the farmers animals. Birds of prey could pick them up nearby and drop them flying over the land.

How would that be jumping the gun, the OP has animal parts ending up around the family home. The Dept would soon find out if the birds of prey are carrying dead cattle legs around the place or if the farmer is dumping the dead animals around the place.
If the farmer is disposing of his animals correctly then he has nothing to fear.

White Clover

TwoOldBoots wrote: »

How would that be jumping the gun, the OP has animal parts ending up around the family home. The Dept would soon find out if the birds of prey are carrying dead cattle legs around the place or if the farmer is dumping the dead animals around the place.
If the farmer is disposing of his animals correctly then he has nothing to fear.

The op is not a farmer and "thinks" they are bovine hooves.

Dakota Dan

TwoOldBoots wrote: »

How would that be jumping the gun, the OP has animal parts ending up around the family home. The Dept would soon find out if the birds of prey are carrying dead cattle legs around the place or if the farmer is dumping the dead animals around the place.
If the farmer is disposing of his animals correctly then he has nothing to fear.

Read your post again, you have the blame on the farmer, also dead animals won't have legs dismembered.

TwoOldBoots

Dakota Dan wrote: »

Read your post again, you have the blame on the farmer, also dead animals won't have legs dismembered.

Not true.


Besides its off the point, my point being what difference would contacting the department of Agriculture make. All they would do is investigate,

No harm in that for the OP

Birdnuts

Some farmers supply fallen animals to local hunt kennels. Not sure if its relevant to this case but maybe the OP might clarify if there are any hunts operating nearby.

ganmo

Doctors room ghost wrote: »

Things must be quiet ganny if that’s all you have for doing.

I had to drop what I was doing when I saw the sheep run

Say my name

It must be a big dog with a big oul head on em to carry a calf's leg.

wexie

Folks please forgive my ignorance but what kind of of birds of prey would be carrying around calves legs?
I could perhaps see a golden eagle pulling it off but beyond that it can't be too common an occurrence no?

Or have I got it all wrong?

Dakota Dan

wexie wrote: »

Folks please forgive my ignorance but what kind of of birds of prey would be carrying around calves legs?
I could perhaps see a golden eagle pulling it off but beyond that it can't be too common an occurrence no?

Or have I got it all wrong?

The legs I've seen are not complete legs, from the ankle down with hair. Any large sized bird could pick it up by the hair and obviously wouldn't travel far before it falls from their beak also dogs foxes will take them some distance.

tabby aspreme

Anyone keep greyhounds locally, a few weeks ago I saw two cow ribs about450 mm long and a bit of spine attached, on the road outside a greyhound trainers house, there are never any dogs loose any time I've driven by.

riemann

Itavara wrote: »

We have a few dogs two and occasionally have some hooves or bones turn up in the yard from the calf.

That should not happen on a well managed farm.

I hope you're not quality assured.

Itavara

riemann wrote: »

That should not happen on a well managed farm.

I hope you're not quality assured.

If you read my post again, you'll see that the dead animal is left away from the other livestock, so it won't be hazardous for to the other livestock in the shed. The dead animal collection service, which can take a couple of days to arrive, will then bring away the animal. We, as many other farms in Ireland, don't have say a shed or pen devoted for dead animals, as it is obviously pointless. inevitably, the dog will stumble across the dead animal.

The fact that a dog might have a random bit of an animal is just nature and it is a very rare occurrence for the matter anyway. Its not like we have bits of dead animals all around the sheds and yard. Even then, the bone or what ever is taken away from them. The quote is completely out of context.

Haha, Don't worry either, we're quality assured. (This wouldn't have any effect anyway)

Akrasia

Itavara wrote: »

If you read my post again, you'll see that the dead animal is left away from the other livestock, so it won't be hazardous for to the other livestock in the shed. The dead animal collection service, which can take a couple of days to arrive, will then bring away the animal. We, as many other farms in Ireland, don't have say a shed or pen devoted for dead animals, as it is obviously pointless. inevitably, the dog will stumble across the dead animal.

The fact that a dog might have a random bit of an animal is just nature and it is a very rare occurrence for the matter anyway. Its not like we have bits of dead animals all around the sheds and yard. Even then, the bone or what ever is taken away from them. The quote is completely out of context.

Haha, Don't worry either, we're quality assured. (This wouldn't have any effect anyway)

I used to live near a piggery and the neighbours dog used to come home sometimes with decapitated pigs heads and leave them in our garden.

It was like lord of the flies but also nothing like lord of the flies

Itavara

Akrasia wrote: »

I used to live near a piggery and the neighbours dog used to come home sometimes with decapitated pigs heads and leave them in our garden.

It was like lord of the flies but also nothing like lord of the flies

Haha, wouldn't be a nice thing to find, lol. I've been to one of the bigger abattoirs in Ireland a few times, and they have a shed where the sort all the offal (obviously away from the meat) and it has front loader buckets filled with lamb heads or lamb skins. Its gruesome/morbid but its just the nature of the beast.