Help unwell calf

carole · Post by **carole** » Wed May 31, 2006 3:06 pm

Our very first calf was born on Sunday early evening to a second time mum. Everything seemed O.K at first but he was reluctant to get up. We left him overnight but nothing had changed by the morning. He is able to stand and walk a little bit now but seems to have a problem with his back legs and staggers about. We have just yesterday managed to get him to feed from mum but only when we stand him up and put him close to her but she is uncooperative and moves about a lot and as he is unstable he cannot hang on. (They are in a small barn together) We have been tube feeding him with colostrum as he is not keen on taking from a bottle. We are seeing a daily improvement in him but were wondering if anyone had any suggestions or had experienced similar and could offer advice. Thanks

timz · Post by **timz** » Wed May 31, 2006 3:50 pm

WE HAD SAME PROBLEM ,PHONED AROUND FRIENDS ,MILKED MUM AND FORCE FED THE CALF ,BUT WHEN A FARMER FRIEND CHECKED HER OUT AND FELT HER STOMACH TOLD US SHE MUST BE FEEDING WHEN WE ARE NOT THERE. THE CALF IS NOW 4 WEEKS OLD AND IS FINE ,BUT SHE WAS VERY SLOW TO CATCH ON DIDN'T SEEM TO KNOW WHICH END TO SUCK AND WAS VERY LAZY AND WHEN MUM WAS ALLOWED OUT SHE WOULD STAY IN AND WAIT FOR MUM TO COME BACK ,BUT ALL SEEMS NOW WELL.MY FRIEND TOLD ME SOMETIMES YOU JUST GET A DOPEY CALF, HOPEFULLY THATS ALL IT IS .BEST WISHES TIMZ

Duncan MacIntyre · Post by **Duncan MacIntyre** » Wed May 31, 2006 4:35 pm

I have to admit to having had bother with one of mine this year, got him delivered but had to rush of to emergencies and even though it was a Sunday was so busy I was not home till evening, by which time his temp was 91F. After giving a glucose injection got colostrum in with a tube, onto heat pad all wrapped up in the kitchen for the first night, by morning temp was up to 101F and he was well enough to go out to the shed again but unable to suckle for several days. He was tubed twice daily, 400ml lectade each feed first day then 400ml milk each feed till he began to be able to suck a bottle - mum by that time not wanting him. He is 10 days old now, getting stronger by the day and mum getting more interested though she needs to be haltered to let him suckle which I do twice daily - that should let him get hungry enough between times to try to get some by himself.

The main thing is to watch the body temperature is not falling, get enough colostrum in within the first 6 hours of life, and after that do not be tempted to overfeed or you will get scour. Watch the navel and joints are ok if they had a poor start. Ours got 1/2ml draxxin as a precaution since I was late with the colostrum. That is why he got the glucose by s/c injection too, if you warm up a hypothermic calf or lamb when they are also hypoglycaemic they go into fits and die. I was lucky to pull mine back from the brink due to the hypothermia.

Carole, yours sounds as though it might be easier to draw of some milk and use a lamb teat to feed it, that way you do not have an uncooperative calf and cow to contend with, then transfer the calf on to the mum when sucking is going better.

Duncan

carole · Post by **carole** » Wed May 31, 2006 6:04 pm

thank you timz and duncan, I suppose i'm most concerned about his joints because he seems to be struggling to get up and walk, any thoughts on this would be welcome. We tried haltering Mum which proved 'interesting' so we are giving him colostrum from a local farm but I have been feeding him 3 times a day which sounds like too much but it is obviously impossible to gauge how much he is getting from mum and I doubt he his getting anything from her when I am not there.

Duncan MacIntyre · Post by **Duncan MacIntyre** » Wed May 31, 2006 6:28 pm

If you are at all concerned about joint ill consult your vet, as early treatment makes a huge difference. Check the calf's temperature if you can.

Duncan

dai · Post by **dai** » Fri Jun 02, 2006 4:21 pm

it might be worth checking your soil for copper definciencies, if the cow wasnt being given cake. could this be similar to swayback in sheep duncan?

Duncan MacIntyre · Post by **Duncan MacIntyre** » Fri Jun 02, 2006 4:53 pm

I don't think there is an exact parallel between swayback and copper deficiency in cattle. The problem in sheep which causes swayback is low copper levels in the ewe's blood during pregnancy, and irreversible damage is caused to the developing nervous system of the lamb.

Soil copper levels can be useful but do not always tell you if the actual animals have enough since there may be other elements in the soil, such as molybdenum which block absorbtionof copper, so there is deficency in the animal even though the soil levels are fine. There is also dietary influence as you mention with the cake so soil levels not always the best to go by.

Trace elements might be involved though and might be worth checking some blood levels. Some viruses such as the inafamous BVD could also be involved, but it may just be that this calf did not get enough colostrum soon enough.

Duncan

carole · Post by **carole** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 7:53 pm

Hello just wanted to say thank you for all the advice, after a week of TLC the calf is now bouncing around the field and proving tricky to catch (much prefer that as a problem).
Thanks again.

Sylvia · Post by **Sylvia** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 8:13 am

Well done, Carole, put it down to experience and enjoy the little lad. If everything goes smoothly no-one ever learns anything :D

carole · Post by **carole** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 9:09 pm

thanks Sylvia, we had our second one born last weekend (another little boy) to a first time mum and that went without a hitch.