Young Steer won't get up! Help!
 

I've got a young steer Holstein who hasn't gotten up today. It's like his legs won't work! He's eating what I bring him but I'm afraid the cold is keeping his legs from working. What can I do?

We had two Holstein steers that did the same thing. We found out it was white muscle disease from a lack of selenium. We had to give them selenium shots. Unfortunately we caught it too late. I'm no expert, but it sounds similar to what we experienced. Hope everything's ok.

This would be the second one I lost this year, too. At this point my fear is hypothermia as he was laying on the snow all day. He was moving around this morning a little sluggishly but after morning feeding he has basically grounded.

I would definitely try the selenium.

Maybe a bit swollen knees, no scours for the last four months, eyes look normal.
At this point his temp seems low.
Nostrils look slightly inflamed.

I believe he was born first week of October. I purchased him October 21 along with another bull calf. The other died November 11.

Thanks folks for the advice.
I guess my next question involves what comes next. I have him basically bound in a king size blanket and hauled him into a small shed. Have a small heater going for him. He's eating hay and gave him two bottles of water to help him stay hydrated. I'm considering the humane option and then the freezer. Would you guys wait for signs of improvement or take the next step?

If he is still eating and drinking, acting like he still has will to live, I would try the selenium. There is a "BoSe" shot you can get from the vet that seems to really boost them, but I've never had to use it personally.

You gotta give them some bedding. They lay on cold ground, it steals their body heat from them. What kind of shelter do they have?

There is a three side lean-to and a shed inside the fence. Raised floor made of pallets with plywood over that. The lean to has a dirt floor. Both have hay for bedding. What's weird is last night he slept on the snow outside the structures, which both my cattle sometimes do but last night it seems to me adversely affected him.

The weather was between 12-29 degrees above zero. But cold enough for hypothermia if one was to lay directly on the snow.

I still have him under blanket and heater in a smaller shed and he's eating away. He tried to get up but it's like his legs wouldn't unfold.

I had a calf do that. I had to drag him into the shelter. I was heavy pregnant. My son and I did it. I had him on a thick layer of bedding and mounded on his sides, covered with a big blanket , also a heat lamp. My guy i think got nocked down on the ice and could not get back up. He became chilled. Give him warm bottles of sugar water to give him energy and if you can get b12 that will help. some mu-se or bo-se will help a lot. With the deep chill he is at great risk for pneumonia. He may have it already. 10 cc penn g and 10 cc la 200 once a day form5 days was our course. He survived and is doing fine. Took a couple of days but he pulled threw.

Consulted by phone with vet this morning. She had me take temp (under 100). Commented it sounded like nutrition. Said she sees a lot of calfs and young animals go down the second half of winter after thriving the first half. Attributes that to reserves being depleted in the first half (our winters are six months more or less). Said to gradually triple grain rations with all remaining stock and with him ASAP. Keep him hydrated and warm. Commented out local hay isn't good (brome or Timothy only) and consider feeding them on imported hay or pellet hay until grazing starts again. She also said monitor for fever as if he develops one consider him inedible. Otherwise eat him now while he has no fever.

He's still acting pretty chipper but not standing to eat. His appetite leads me to think she has something there about our local hay. It's pretty stemmy and pretty much just good fiber.

Wanted to update you folks who helped be thru last night. Thanks yall!

We had the same issue with hay last year. We gave shots of mu-se helped a ton and gave small flake of alfalfa to top the bad hay.

Whatever you do you need to get him up, if you don’t get a downed cow up within 48 hours there is a faery high risk that liquid will start to leak into the lungs and they will die of pneumonia. You can delay the risk by rolling him from side to side 3 or 4 times a day so he does not have all his body weight on one side ( cant really tell you why this helps it has something to do with getting weight off the lungs)

That's good advice, too. I've been doing as you suggest there.

quick update- he's still with us, eating and drinking normally. Twice a day I've been moving him to clear out all the hay from beneath him as well as his leavings etc. Wiping him down with handfuls of hay to make sure he's dry.

He doesn't seem stressed at all, but that may just be bovine nature.

He tried to stand this morning and got his hind end a few feet off the floor but it just rolled him over. Made me want to cry.

If I can't keep this up I'm going to have to put down.

If I were you, I would get a set of "Hip Huggers" and lift him for a while. You can also make a type of sling (not a rope) but a type of sling such as a strong sheet and lift him up and hold him there for a while. I have seen many do pretty well.
http://www.shoof.co.nz/docs/11_Cow_l..._Sheet_AUS.pdf
http://www.farmshow.com/a_article.php?aid=993

I see your in alaska if you have a old ski-doo track they work great for slings. Put chains through ends n hook to bucket and pick up its wide enough so dont cut in when pickin up

It's time to get this guy up. If you can't do it he needs to be put down.

I had one that wouldn't get up a few weeks ago. Turned out to be a broken femur and dislocated hip. We put a brace on the leg and have been hand feeding and watering since. He now gets up by himself but has no use of that leg. Still haven't figured out how it happened. He had been inside on clean straw so there was no ice or anything to get caught in. I don't know if another one could have kicked him hard enough to break it or not. He is about 175 pounds.

Me and the wife are still hashing over sending him to the freezer. He had a bout of scours last week but that's fixed. The extra work is causing me to neglect other chores. Like I had skipped last week doing the hog pen clean up. So today it was three full 5 foot FLE buckets worth!

It's tough to decide, particularly because he seems so healthy aside from the not getting up thing...

Checked around for the BoSe and I gave to order it in.

I'm betting by now he is not going to get up if he isn't up already. I'm sorry to say but it's time to end this.

This is a classic case of White Muscle Disease (selenium vitamin e deficiency)

It typically affects fast growing calves at 3-5 months of age, when the conditions are stressful such as cold temperatures. The low temperature is due to the muscles not firing and working properly. Hypothermia in cold weather is a common cause of death as is heart failure. You have to keep his temperature up above 100-101 degrees first and foremost. Second he must have a pretty good regimen of BoSe injectable shots. If he's still around, keep him propped up, keep him warm, and get nutrition in him like grain or milk replacer if he's not able to nurse. One of the best ways to get his temperature up is to take cloth bags filled with rice, heat them in the microwave for a few minutes, and lay them on top of him with blankets over the top of them to retain the heat.

If he got a timely shot(s) of BoSe and hasn't died of hypothermia or heart failure, he may be down for a couple of weeks. There may be some permanent damage to the heart muscle, but in many cases they can make a full recovery too.

I stopped by the slaughter house while nearby for work. They won't take him in unless he can walk in. Used to be they'd take them if they had no temperature but they changed their policy sometime.

Guy at the slaughterhouse said "White Muscle or spinal injury".

Have you given him BoSe yet?

My sister had a young steer that had very similar symptoms. The vet thought it could be either tetanus or white muscle. He was treated with anti-toxin and BoSe. After almost a month down, he now is able to stand and walk!

Well good news! We were able to get him outside and stood up today. He even walked around a bit after about 15 minutes of standing there with his legs shaking. He stood for about an hour and ate then started walking around the yard. So we let him back into his house and he laid back done.

We appreciate all the advice and help. The best I was able to do in the selenium department was to buy some feed dressing for horses and start adding that to his water and chow.

I will keep you guys and gals posted on his recovery. For now, we're keeping him in his own side of the yard and giving him feed and water by himself.

I know we're not out of the woods yet, but today has given us some indication there have been improvements in his condition.

The weather in our part of Alaska is currently cooperating by obligingly being in the high +20f with no wind.

Glad you got him up. Looks like it has taken it out of him as he is thin. Can you get Animax or calf manna? Would help him a lot. Also some molasses in his water daily. A sweet protein lick block might be good also.

I'm feeding him Calfmanna right now.
I'm really hoping on this guy!

Here's some photos of him tonight: eating Calfmanna and standing. He stood as long as it took to eat this half bucket.

Can you get a salt with added selenium and vitamin a?

I'll look for it this week, myheaven thanks

Zimobog I presume there could be a dairy operating in the area since you have pure Holstein calves. If so could you check with them to see what medicine that they keep on hand. I would say that the amount of selenium in a mineral mix would not be enough to correct a severe deficeoncy.

Did he get the shot of Bo-Se?

Can't find it. If anyone has any they will sell me, shoot me a PM please.

You have not addressed the issue of Selenium defeciency. That is what it sounds like. If it is, a shot or two of BoSe will fix him right up, it's like magic. Did the vet discount this? I have had this exact thing happen, heifer down, still eating, drinking, pooping, etc normally. Bright eyed. Get her up and legs don't work. Unless you want to butcher him, check it out. If you have looked into it, let us know.

Zimobog, Bo-Se is available from a vet. They may not sell you a dose unless they've seen the animal. But Bo-Se works very well and it sounds like your calf might need it.