calf with a cough

[prairiegirl]

We have a 1 month old Jersey bull calf that has a cough/hack. There's some congestion that we can hear especially when he's sucking his bottle. No temp and his stool is normal. He's still perky as ever.

We have had a change in weather, but he's got shelter and windblock. Do calves and cows normally cough when a change in weather?

What would you do? What antibiotic?

Thanks for any advice.

prairiegirl

[Up North]

Originally Posted by prairiegirl

We have a 1 month old Jersey bull calf that has a cough/hack. There's some congestion that we can hear especially when he's sucking his bottle. No temp and his stool is normal. He's still perky as ever.

We have had a change in weather, but he's got shelter and windblock. Do calves and cows normally cough when a change in weather?

What would you do? What antibiotic?

Thanks for any advice.

prairiegirl

Usually two causes for respiratory Cough: One is if animal is eating dusty hay. Second more common cause would be fluid in lungs due to pneumonia. I would have to stand there and hear your calf's breathing to make a decision if to treat. But if it were my calf and I heard congestion in respiratory system and cough was persistant ( not a one-time thing from sucking grain or hay dust up it's nose) I would put calf on a run of LA-200 or comparable to be on the safe side. Read Label for dosage.

[RosewoodfarmVA]

A cough in a calf is nothing to neglect. Go to the local Farm store and get a bottle of LA200. We usually go for about three times the recommended dose (in our case the bottle says 1ml(cc) per 100lbs(about the same as the calf), so we use 3 ml. morning and evening). A calf's main killers are diarrhea (scours) and pneumonia, especially in cold weather. Give it to him until he stops breathing hoarsely and then give it another two days or so. It never hurts to give extra. We had one that was sick for a week before he got better. We have become very proactive about young calf treatments since we have lost some at a young age. Hope this helps. Nathan Black

[dosthouhavemilk]

How fast is your nipple on the calf bottle?
Is this a new occurance, or something you have heard since you picked him up?
With calves on bottles, we can get a "lung drinker." Meaning a calf whose throat does not close properly and they put the milk into their lungs instead of into their stomach. To fix that you need a nipple that does not flow as easily. One they have to work to get liquid from.

If this is a new occurance and you hear it even hours after the calf has drunk, then listen to the previous posters. We haven't had cases of pnuemonia in our barn in the last coupl of decades, so I wouldn't know how to treat a calf.