A:   I cannot say with any certainty what this condition is. The brisket sweling may be localized tissue damage from lying on wet freezing ground. It may also represent a disease condition of the heart or chest cavity, or other systemic disease. Heart failure, due to many conditions, will cause fluid to fill in the brisket area. For example, this sometimes happens in hardware disease when a wire in the reticulum (hardware stomach) punctures into the tissue around the heart. Cattle with low blood protein or anemia may also develop brisket edema.

The condition may have already existed when you found the cow lying down (her lying down may be an effect of the disease, rather than the cause). She should be examined by a veterinarian, who may also want to do a few blood tests.