# panting cow



## gwithrow (Feb 5, 2005)

we have a heifer, due to calve in early June, who will stand at the fence with her tongue out, panting and drooling...I know she is hot, with her very long winter coat..and she is black to boot....we hose her down and she likes that, but do other cows do this...?? and will she ever be able to make it through having her first baby? she needs to lose this long 'yak' hair for sure...after she pants for awhile she goes back to chewing her cud...but she was doing this yesterday in the rain and the temps outside were only 70's...is there anything we should be concerned with and is there anything we can or should do for her? thanks..gwithrow


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## JeffNY (Dec 13, 2004)

What you can do, and it won't cost you much. Get a set of clippers, and shave her clean. Get that thick hair off, she will look good, and she will also feel good, cooler too. Some animals do pant, some don't. If she doesn't pant all the time, and seems to do this only in the warmth, humidity. She probably is suffering from that thick coat. A set of clippers might be 200+, however they don't go bad, and as I mentioned, you can clip her clean. They also seem to like it.


Jeff


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## Hammer4 (Oct 13, 2005)

Has this animal been wormed? Is there any shade the animal can get under?


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

Cows do need access to shade and they need to be free of parasites for certain. I noticed you are in NC. That being correct I would next guess your cow is grazing fescue. If that is also correct the the cow is reacting from the toxicity of the endophyte fescue she is consuming.


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## gwithrow (Feb 5, 2005)

good idea on the clipping, we can perhaps borrow some to just do this one cow...also I agree that it is likely the fescue, but what can we do about that? I can't just replant everything now...she has access to hay, though that is probably fescue as well...she shouldn't be wormy, we try to keep up with that...what kind of grass is good? should we try to get some different hay? she gets a small amount of sweet feed everyday...because she likes it...she doesn't pant all the time, and I know the heat contributes...there is shade for her, and now that the trees are coming out, there will be more...I suspect the yak like hair is causing most of this...the other two cows in with her are not doing all this...one is a guernsey steer, the other a simintal cross...thanks for the ideas..gw


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## JeffNY (Dec 13, 2004)

One of our beef cows pants in the summer, especially during a hot day. She is the only one to do so, and there isn't anything I can do, because she has shade, she can lay anywhere cool. Some don't have a tolerance for heat, if two aren't doing it, and 1 is. Sounds like that clipping will help things, if she still pants, she could simply have a lot of fat to shed, that will happen.



Jeff


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## Jena (Aug 13, 2003)

Feed a high mag mineral.

Jena


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## Up North (Nov 29, 2005)

Definately agree with clipping her clean. I respond only because we have 1 young cow who exhibits same symptoms when it gets hot. The vet determined she only has 80% of lung/breathing capability. His theory was that a case of pnemonia as a young heifer had done irreversible damage.
Our solution, per his recommendation, is to graze her at nite during hot weather and leave her in cool barn with fan during hot(above 80F) weather.
Then she does ok. The clipping or other solutions above may be the cure you are looking for. If none of those cure her, and condition persists or worsens as summer wears on, you could possibly have a heifer with lung damage. This is not likely or common, but it is a possibility.


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## Up North (Nov 29, 2005)

Jena said:


> Feed a high mag mineral.
> 
> Jena


Jena - I assume you mean high magnesium? Would you be so kind as to explain benefits /and or symptoms indicating need for this type mineral? TIA.


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

Gwithrow, I too live in NC and I have a beef herd and feed nothing but endophyte infected fescue and clover. The clover will offset the effects of the endophyte to some degree. Arrow leaf and Will variety are the two clovers I seed.


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## Jena (Aug 13, 2003)

Up North said:


> Jena - I assume you mean high magnesium? Would you be so kind as to explain benefits /and or symptoms indicating need for this type mineral? TIA.


If the problem is indeed endophyte infected fescue, then a hi mag mineral will help lessen the effects. Symptoms of fescue toxicity/grass tetany include a rough hair coat and symptoms along the lines with heat stress, such as panting. Feeding the proper mineral is a cheap way to fix the problem, or rule it out.

I've had a couple cows that were panters...they just didn't do well with the heat. I shipped them. Just as easy to feed a cow without a suspectibility to heat stress.

Jena


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## Up North (Nov 29, 2005)

Thanks Jena - We don't run in to that much here- different vegetation and not much heat,LOL.


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