Local dairyman Mr. Harry Kromer has called on experts at an American university to probe into three mysterious cow deaths at his farm.

The cows, which died over a period of three to four weeks, were all "dry'' or non-milking cows, Mr. Kromer told The Royal Gazette yesterday.

He said the last animal died on March 14.

The dairyman, who owns approximately 120 dry and milking cows, believed the deaths stemmed from a problem with their feed.

The feed, which was pre-made in the United States, might have contained "too many vitamins'' or other non-specified ingredients, Mr. Kromer speculated.

He said that "a cow's stomach is very delicate'' and can be fatally affected by an improperly mixed diet.

"It happens every so often,'' Mr. Kromer said of a feed-induced death. "In the past, I've lost cows from eating too much grass, too much hay, too much alfalfa. They tend to get bloated and then sometimes die.'' Mr. Kromer's assessment was backed up by Government veterinarian Dr. Neil Burnie, who confirmed that a "disruption of the feed'' can occasionally kill a cow.

And while he claimed to be unaware of any recent cow deaths, Dr. Burnie said yesterday that he had heard about a feed problem from Mr. Kromer's herdswoman.

The veterinarian also noted that the Agriculture and Fisheries Department would only look into the matter if Mr. Kromer asks it to.

"We don't go investigating,'' Dr. Burnie said, "without the request of the farmer.'' Mr. Kromer, however, gave no indication yesterday that he would be soliciting any assistance from the Department.

And despite his characterisation of the cow deaths as relatively commonplace, the farmer said that he could not disclose the brand name of the feed that the stricken animals ingested or the name of the university to which it was sent for analysis.

Mr. Kromer also declined to reveal the location of the dry lot on which the cows expired, claiming that to do so "might alarm the residents in the area, might cause trouble.'' Under current regulations, Mr. Kromer is prohibited from keeping too many cows at one site and must therefore rear them on "several farms'' across the Island.

"They (Mr. Kromer's remaining cows) are all eating normally now,'' the dairyman told The Gazette .

He expected to hear from the specialists who are analysing the feed in the next week or two.

In the meantime, the general manager of the Island's largest dairy expressed no reservations yesterday about accepting milk from Mr. Kromer's farms.

Characterising the demise of the dry cows as an "isolated case,'' Mr. Michael Dunkley, vice-president of Dunkley and Pioneer Dairies, said he had every confidence in the "guidelines'' that safeguard the production of milk here.

"As long as the milk measures up to standards, it doesn't affect us in any way,'' Mr. Dunkley told The Gazette . "I check (the milk) and the Health Department checks it. We have been satisfied with what we have seen.'' Mr. Kromer's farm is one of "eight or nine'' suppliers of the Dunkley and Pioneer dairies, the general manager added.

He said that the dairyman was one of the few milk producers on the Island to bring in "his own'' feed.