CHIMACUM — As Gerald Bishop fed his cows hay — like he’s done for a half-century — he had no idea it was killing them.
It took 16 bales of hay before Bishop noticed telltale signs that something was wrong.
By the time a veterinarian could visit his Chimacum farm last week, four cows had dropped dead. Since then, four more have died.
Tests show that the animals’ livers are infected with pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which cause irreversible liver damage.
About 28 bred heifers, young dairy cows impregnated for the first time, fed on hay Bishop purchased from an unidentified distributor in Eastern Washington.
That hay contained a weed often called common groundsel, ragwort or old-man-in-the-spring, said Carol Dargatz, Jefferson County Noxious Weed Control Board coordinator. Experts call it Senecio vulgaris.
For cows, horses, goats and some other farm animals, consuming enough of the plant is a death sentence.
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If you have purchased hay from Eastern Washington that might contain the toxic weed common groundsel, here’s a contact to have it tested or to get more information.
Contact Dr. Rich Old at the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory at 509-335-9696.
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