dead livestock

[mhaggy]

on a walk yesterday around trellech in woolpitch wood came across about eight sheep carcasses any ideas of causes and has anybody came across something similar very strange .

[Doddy]

I would report it to the local Environmental health. It is costly to dispose of fallen stock legally so there is temptation for farmers to dig a hole and bury them themselves. There are implications to the ground water supplies and disease of self disposal.Though the farmer may be just waiting for the fallen stock company to arrive.

[mhaggy]

in the wood there was a fair bit of storm damage blown over trees could this be linked has in frightened them .

[Doddy]

Unless the trees are on top of them I would guess not.
I have talked to a lot of shepherds in my time and most say sheep are rum beast and spend 24 hrs a day finding new ways to kill themselves.

[Tin]

I have come across these twice before, the first was actually on a bridleway and the second was within a few metres of another. I remember thinking both times it wasn't a very clever place to dump carcasses.

[Hillhiker1]

I remember reading of someone encountering a large herd of deer in similar circumstances. There was some sort of investigation and the conclusion was that they'd probably been killed by a lightning strike which contacted the ground in close to proximity to them. Maybe something similar happened here..?


Edited to add a link I just found:


https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/30/world/europe/hardangervidda-norway-lightning-reindeer.html

[barewirewalker]

Difficult to guess without knowing the type of sheep and age, the fact that they were in a wood might indicate poisoning such as yew, if they had broken out of an enclosed field to find additional grazing if they were being poorly fed. Clostridial deseae such as 'Struck' can bring small cluster deaths out of the blue but are usual associated with good feeding conditions. I always look at the feet when I find a sheeps carcase, poor treatment is always a sign of bad husbandry.


At this time of year, with quick snowfalls, suffocation is a possibility, but location is always a good indication of this. The farmer would love it to be lightning strike this is a good insurance claim. Other possibility is that that were moved there. Talking to a farmer/shepherd in mid Wales a few years ago, I understand the authorities use helicopters to survey for dead carcasses and the landowners can get quite heavy fines if the do not recover their dead carcasses. He told me that this had increased the attacks by Red Kites on newly born lambs because less natural wastage was left on the hills.


Does not do to be too judgmental until all possibilities have been weighed up.

[Tin]

I remember reading of someone encountering a large herd of deer in similar circumstances. There was some sort of investigation and the conclusion was that they'd probably been killed by a lightning strike which contacted the ground in close to proximity to them. Maybe something similar happened here..?


Edited to add a link I just found:


https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/30/world/europe/hardangervidda-norway-lightning-reindeer.html

Interesting article and could explain the first ones I found but the second ones had died over a period of time and the remains of one of them still had some flesh on it which, considering the amount of scavengers, must have been very recent.


Not sure if it's connected but Iolo Williams made a tv programme on an eagle that was spotted in the area. One of the farmers interveiwed who had witnessed it lives on a farm less than a mile away from the site. I actually passed them filming whilst driving to the walk.

[mhaggy]

one of the sheep had a circular wound on its side about four inches wide that had gone through the fleece and made a hole into the body the others had no obvious marks .

[mhaggy]

the weather was poor should have took photos me and my brother who was walking with me did not really not now what to do if anything should be done .

[Tin]

Does not do to be too judgmental until all possibilities have been weighed up.

True, and I have always wondered why these carcasses were all together and why, if the farmer wished to avoid paying the disposal charge, he didn't just bury them. I know he could be fined for this too but either dumping or leaving them all together is very odd, especially on/near a path.

[Dyffryn Ardudwy]

Last September, whilst searching for the Drovers Road in the wilds above Pentrefoelas, there is a farm, with some simply terrible attitudes to animal welfare.
There were seven dumped sheep carcasses on the grass embankment as one was leaving the backend of the out buildings, and by their condition, they had been there some time.
Thankfully the farmer or residents, were no where around, as i could imagine a confrontation having occurred.

You simply know how well a farm is maintained, and its animals looked after, by the condition of its animals.


You do not expect or want to see partially rotting carcasses of animals, its the sign of animal neglect, and a poorly managed farm.

Ive visited and walked through a fair number of farms over the many year's, and ive never seen similar disregard for the disposal of dead animals, it upset me,  and thank goodness there was no one around, as i would have had said something unpleasant.

[barewirewalker]

Bloat is a condition that can result in death of a ruminant very quickly. As a ruminant digests cellulose, the structure of plants, by fermentation in it's first stomach, the rumen, it produces continuous gas, which must be expelled by belching. If the rumen becomes obstructed the build up of gas will compress the lungs and suffocate the animal.
A sudden change of diet will bring on an outbreak of frothy bloat in sheep, which can kill a large number very quickly, an emergency treatment is a ruminal puncture, with a trocha and canular, done high on the left side of the animal, behind the ribs and forward of the pelvic bone. It is a very quick and miraculous cure for cattle but not so effective with sheep.


Pregnant ewes late in gestation or with heavy sodden fleeces can get trapped on their backs, in this position they blow very quickly and then cannot get back on their feet. Mrs BWW and I found a ewe stuck in a tractor rut a few years ago, I was able to pull her over onto her front and rock her a bit until she started to release the gas, after 5 minutes or so she could get back on her feet and run off to join the rest of the flock.


The wound on the side could have been a crude attempt at a ruminal puncture. Perhaps that animal had been alive if the others had died from bloat. Their bellies would have been very distended for quite some time after death, though if they had been moved this could cause the release of gas post mortem.

[Dyffryn Ardudwy]

This is all very fine, but it does not condone the wilful neglect of farm animals.
The sheep i saw, were in a extended state of decomposition, and the smell of their putrid flesh was very overpowering.
Due to the farms fairly remote location, over three miles from the A5, the farmer thought it was ok to leave decomposing carcasses out in the open.

I will never forget driving past   the large carpark opposite the Storey Arms, during the foot and mouth outbreak, some years ago, with all the sheep waiting to be slaughtered in a public area, its a scene that will stay with me for ever.

Extremely upsetting, and yet some farmers still feel fit to neglect their livestock.

It fills me with great anger, being an animal lover.