Community Chat

[GoneButNotForgotten]

I'm a fan of Dr. Jan Pol ad recently there was an episode during which a cow died. What I've always wondered is, what is done to bury such a big animal? The poor thing more or less froze to death giving birth to a calf--which survived, I' happy to say.

But that was a huge cow and it also brings to mind how do farmers bury, inter, whatever, large anials?

And please excuse my bad typing; I have a new pair of glasses and am still getting used to them.

[J Town Girl]

I had a co-worker who bred and raised Llamas and when they would pass away she told me they were taken to a rendering plant.  

She said it was the hardest thing she had to do but you can't really bury such a large animal.  

I would imagine that the remains of all large animals who pass away are treated in the same manner.

[On It]

@GoneButNotForgotten In some areas, there is a service that will pick them up and haul away.

[Kachina624]

In most places, livestock owners call a local rendering company which has the capacity to pick up the dead animal and take it to a plant for processing. 

[SharkE]

farmer next to me has backhoe and buries them

[Katcat1]

How about cremation?  You would have to dig a very big hole to bury the cow and cremation would be better for the environment.

[Kachina624]

@Katcat1   Theres no way you could make a fire hot enough to cremate a large animal.  Most farmers also don't bury them.

[Sooner]

Call the abattoir.  That's what we did when one of our cattle died.  You go to feed, count them and if one is missing you have to go look for it. 

[RedTop]

It really depends on what killed the cow, as it can die from several things and still be edible.   After the basic field prep, we would load the cow in the truck, get it to a local meat processor to get the meat hung in a freezer ASAP.   

Anthrax and brucellosis were still active in cattle at the time my Grandpa was farming.  Those sick cows were pulled by the tractor to a safe, far corner of the farm where kerosene was poured on them and burned.

Sometimes the cows were drug and thrown into rock bars or ravines where they would rot away.    

[SeaMaiden]

A friend of mine had a horse die of old age....she loved it and had it for many many years. They took a back hoe and dug a huge hole on the property and buried the horse. Of course she had the land and means to do this.  The horse had a proper burial with a head stone and all.