Jun 15, 2004 7:50 am US/Eastern
(1010 WINS) EAST WINDSOR, Conn. -- University of Connecticut officials were performing a necropsy to determine what killed five calves at an East Windsor farm.
A neighbor called police Sunday afternoon to report that someone was attempting to bury five cows in a field, the Journal Inquirer of Manchester reported.
A sixth calf had a fever and was being treated with antibiotics, East Windsor animal control officer John Patsky said.
Patsky said there were no signs of mad cow disease. He said he has never seen anything similar before.
"There's no markings on them," Patsky told WFSB-TV. "It's got to be some type of disease."
Patsky said the eight mature cows in the herd appeared healthy. He said it could have been something the three- to four-month old calves ate or drank, or a bacteria or virus.
Results of the necropsy were expected Tuesday afternoon at the earliest.
Patsky notified the state Department of Public Health.
Ray Jones, who lives near the Harrington Road farm, said the cows were making a lot of noise over the weekend.
"A lot of mooing. It was loud," Jones said. "I live five doors down and I could hear it like it was in my backyard. And it went on all day long. I wasn't just something that went on for a few minutes."
The owner of the farm was reportedly in South Africa and returning to Connecticut. Patsky said the owner, whom he would not name, hired a part-time caretaker to tend to the beef herd, and the caretaker was very upset about the deaths.
Karen Grava, a spokeswoman for UConn, said she could not immediately comment on the testing. One calf was taken to a veterinary laboratory on the Storrs campus for the examination.
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