To ask what is wrong with this cow

[SHAR0N]

This dairy cow belongs to the farmer in the next village and it looks very ill. Should I report it to the RSPCA?

I know nothing about cows or farming and don’t want to cause trouble if it’s normal. But I don’t want to ignore it if the animal is suffering.

Why are dairy cows so skinny? Is it because they use more calories constantly producing milk than they can consume?

Ask thr farmer. It sounds quarantined. I lived next to a farmer during foot and mouth disease and although his cows didn't have it he couldn't have the old and sick ones put out of their misery anymore because he wasn't allowed to move them. He put them together on the nicest lushest green field together so they had some sort if comfortable rest together. He was pretty pissed off about it too.

It could be that because of Covid he can't have it put out of her misery. Best to put her alone with one or two friends then.

Dairy cows are not killed between 3 and 5, where on earth did you get that shite from

Very skinny cow. By the looks, there’s grass so I wonder if she is having problems eating it. Looks to me as though she is scouring too. Worms of some kind? No expert on cows though. Might be kind to coat her to keep her warm.

@rosiejaune Guessing you're on about AI? it's not rape and as a rape surviver I'm pretty disgusted at your comment. ☹️☹️

Part of my day job.

I would bet my bra strap that cow has a piece of wire in her intestine!

You would be amazed how cows can pick up bits of wire from their environment. It's because of the way they graze. They wrap their tongue around their food and pull upwards and if there are any bits of wire from chinese lanterns, food wrap, packaging etc. Down it goes and perforates. It often gets into the field because it gets sprayed there with the muck when they muckspread to enhance the pasture. Chinese lanterns, well we know how they get there!

She looks 'wire' to me' Whatever she needs attention.

It's not starving it's in a lush field of grass. It is a dairy breed either Holstein or Friesian which are more boney than a meat breed. To me it looks old and is probably near the end of its life expectancy. First why not have a chat with the farmer its probably isolated for treatment or if ill to stop spread to the rest of the herd. Reporting to authorities would be a last measure after you have tried to contact the farmer. Most farmers are chatty and animal welfare is a high priority otherwise their ability to sell on products to cooperatives and supermarket suppliers is lost.
It would be a bit like social services turning up to your door because someone had thought an ill or old relative was being abused even though you were giving them the best care you could in the circumstances.

We are dairy farmers... I would say that cow and possibly her friend are sick or recovering from something so are resting together in a field with good grass.

But if concerned it is best to check. She could be old and struggling so has been dried off (not being milked anymore) and put out to grass for rest of summer

When our cows get very old and can't cope anymore we do the same. Let them relax and eat for a few months in the sunshine before winter arrives. Then we have them put down so as not to put them through an other winter

There is good and bad everywhere. If you had not noticed very poor looking animals before hand then I reckon the farmer is doing what he should. If everything he has looks like that, there is a problem.

Cows don't carry a lot of weight on their hips like horses etc but that cow does look a bit poorly and underweight especially as it's just stood there and not grazing ( they are usually constant grazers unless laying down ) . You ought to report .

I would first of all go to the farm & just say there are a couple of ciws you've seen in your walk that you're worried about & ask if they know who owns them & take it from there. Hopefully they'll say they're theirs & tell you what's going on. If not I'd call the local vets & ask them & take their advice.

Poor cows 😢

So much bad advice on this thread, please do not feed her cows are actually very sensitive to what to they eat and you could easily kill her. She looks very thin but also appears to have something hanging out her rear end, the photo isn't too clear? could be a delayed afterbirth or a prolapse both would explain why she isn't looking to good. Cows especially Holsteins are naturally very boney, even when you see one that is overweight they still look very angular to an untrained eye. Because they are naturally slender when they get sick and don't eat for a few days they look very thin very quickly. The fact these two have been separated from the herd indicate the farmer is probably aware of illness and is doing something about it.
If you are worried contact the farmer or the RSPCA as mentioned above if they are treating the animal appropriately there will be nothing to hide.

My guess is very ill & there has been delay to euthanise them.

Just looked at the pictures on my laptop and can now see that is her tail, I think I better resign from my day job based on that . In which case its likely she is old, has a disease, has some wire in her gut so many things could explain it. I would probably agree with the above poster and bet on a piece of wire based on her condition and posture. But nobody can tell you exactly what is wrong over the internet.

dairy cows are not killed at 4/5 years old.

No, not exactly, but they hardly have long and happy lives.

Male dairy calves are often killed at birth, with the remainder killed around 8 months if they go for veal: www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/26/dairy-dirty-secret-its-still-cheaper-to-kill-male-calves-than-to-rear-them

The median age of a dairy cow (and this excludes the male calves killed at birth / in their first year of life) in the U.K. is 6.1 years: www.google.co.uk/amp/s/thefarmuponthehill.com/2017/08/20/myth-busting-cow-lifespan/amp/

A cow’s natural lifespan is about 20 years: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle

You have to make peace with the fact that lots of cows, including newborn calves, are killed on your account if you consume dairy.

OP - I wonder of that cow had worms, or an issue with her teeth? She looks desperately thin. I would report to the RSPCA. If she is ill and receiving treatment the farmer can reassure the RSPCA, but it could be evidence of poor farming or neglect and may be a much wider issue than one cow.

Speak to the farmer rather than report it in the first instance. The RSPCA are not always interested.

rosiejaune Great ssensastional rubbish. Not everyone wants to live your lifestyle so please don't ram it down everyone's throat. I'm trying to picture an animal signing a consent form before mating, very amusing. All the dairy cattle would be culled and the breeds would become extinct if we all drank soya milk.

If there are two old, skinny looking cows which have been separated out from the rest of a healthy herd then my guess would be that they’re either old or unwell and at the end of their useful life. They’ve likely been separated ready to be collected and slaughtered.

1. Many diary cattle are put in calf to beef breeds, so all the calves go to be reared as beef.
2. A cow's natural lifespan might be 20 years, but they're not pets. Most wild animals don't live out their natural lifespans either (and they often die in gruesome ways, of excess parasite loads, predation, injuries and disease).
3. Cows have zero concept of consent, so 'rape' isn't something they understand.

Just to expand on people arguing natural lifespan, I have worked on a very high welfare cow calf system dairy farm. All cows kept their calves, roamed in a herd with a bull so all mating natural, pretty much as close to a natural life as possible whilst still milking. Cows where only ever put down for welfare issues where keeping them alive would've prolonged suffering and death was inevitable. All cows considered to be past being able to care for a calf where taken away from the bull and retired to eat grass for the rest of their lives.
The cows did not live 20 years on average, we had a few that made it to then but most where elderly with long term issues by 12, some even younger.
Yes a cow might be able to live for 20 years if it is kept purely as a pet, but do you really think in the wild the bull would say ohh better not mate with that cow because she really needs a rest?

Many cows are slaughtered prematurely, it's true, but if the dairy industry didn't exist, they wouldnt have been born at all.

Many cows are slaughtered prematurely, it's true, but if the dairy industry didn't exist, they wouldnt have been born at all.

Personally I think this would be better, but I appreciate not everyone feels that way.