Friends calf down- Not a bottle baby

freedomfrom4 · #1 04/04/10, 09:48 PM

Hi All looking for some help for a friend.
Cow had calf Tuesday
Friday he found calf in field on side head flat on the ground and back with eyes rolling back in head. Calf had not been nursing from the looks of cows engorged blown up udder and the mud caked to them. After much working we were able to get a bottle in calf. The calf was walking around again shortly there after a little. Weak but up.
He is trying to bottle feed the calf and at the most can get 2 pints in her. She wont take any more then that and is weak. Cow is attentive to calf and has had many babies before. The calf is up walking at times but not normal.
Why will the calf not eat? Any thoughts about course of action or causes?These are black beef cows.
Thanks All

randiliana · #2 04/04/10, 09:58 PM

Could be several reasons.

1. Cow's teats may be plugged so that when the calf tried to suck it got nothing and eventually just weakened and went down.

2. Could be some sort of illness, e-coli scours or pneumonia can have similar symptoms.

Ronney · #3 04/05/10, 06:04 AM

Forgive me for being blunt but the cow had a calf on Tuesday and the owner didn't realise there was a problem until Friday.

How long does it take. He's lucky to have a calf at all.

The calf will be suffering from malnutrition, dehydration and be very weak and tired as a result. She's a strong calf to have lasted that long which will work in her favour but it will take weeks for her to come right, if she ever does completely. If all she will take is 2 pints, don't push it to take any more until she is ready to do so. If the cow is happy with her calf I would also be going to some effort to bring them into the yards when the calf is stronger and trying to get the calf to suckle from it's mother.

Be on the lookout for problems associated with lack of colostrum and malnutrition - blindness, joint ill, stomach problems.

Please ask your friend to ensure that all his calves have suckled within 12 hours of birth and if he is doubtful, find out why they havn't.

Cheers,
Ronnie

freedomfrom4 · #4 04/05/10, 06:53 AM

Calf was nursing at first. Cows front teats are blown up like they get after they get older. Could it be that cow just got so engorged and teats so big calf can't get hold of it? I think the vet may come out today to look at the calf.

Moma cow isn't skitish or mean like my dads cows but I don't think she would look to kindly at one of us trying to milk her. I would like to live to see tomorrow

This is an old dairy farm though so he may have a head gate or shoot to restrain her.

jerzeygurl · #5 04/05/10, 07:50 AM

plugged teats could be a problem for mamma, mastitis ect...

Allen W · #6 04/05/10, 09:08 AM

Yes the cows teats can be to big for the calf to suck and break the seal on the teat. If thats the case the calf never got any colostrum.

randiliana · #7 04/05/10, 09:11 AM

That's always my favorite excuses, "well, the cow won't like it" or "we don't have the facilities"

Well, TOUGH, if you're going to do something about it, you're going to have to deal with it somehow. Doesn't matter if the cow doesn't like it, or if you have facilities. You need to get hands on the cow's udder, don't matter how you do it, you can rope her neck and hind legs and stretch her out, use a squeeze chute or pin her behind a gate.

Could be the teats are too large, and not all cows get that way as they get old either, that is simply poor udder structure. We have plenty of cows over the age of 8 and none have big teats like that. If that is the problem you're going to have to milk her out so the calf CAN get ahold of the teats. If they are plugged you'll have to milk her to find out too.

And, Ronnie, it is pretty easy to miss problems like this, until the calf get's down and out. Takes about 3-4 days in good weather for an otherwise healthy calf to starve to death. We lost one a few years ago because the calf never figured out how to get the teats in his mouth. We'd see him up sucking and bunting around, but by the time we realized he'd never actually gotten anything it was too late. Had 2 this year that had problems we didn't see for a couple days. 1 calf just wasn't sucking and the other, the cow's teats were plugged....The calves were pretty weak when we figured out their was a problem.

freedomfrom4 · #8 04/05/10, 11:19 AM

The vet is coming out so he and the farmer that owns the cows can check out mamma. I am afraid of cows that is why I keep only calves or goats at my house. Thus not my cow I'm not going to be the one messing with mamma. I help the neighbor but my help can only go so far

Maybe one day I won't be afraid of them. I used to be afraid of chickens till we raised our own, but I'm still scared of horses and my hubby has 2 of them. I will let you know what the vet said if the calf is still alive.

randiliana · #9 04/05/10, 12:13 PM

We'll wat for an update then....

Ronney · #10 04/06/10, 07:03 AM

My apologies if I appear to have come across a bit rough but I'm sorry, I still feel that there is little excuse for lost calves due to initial feeding difficulities. However, I'm also aware of the fact that detection also comes with experience.

I'm also suspecting that as the calf initially suckled, since then the cow's milk has come in big time and she is full, sore, possibly has caked udder and kicking the calf off as a result. New born calves being constantly kicked off by their dams give up very quickly. My advice would be to get this cow into the yards and milk out as much as possible then attempt to latch the calf on to her. If this is the problem, it may have to be done for several days.

Cheers,
Ronnie

freedomfrom4 · #11 04/06/10, 11:54 AM

Sorry I didn't come back yesterday, I cut my finger open trying to fix the tiller and it swelled up so I didn't get as much done as I wanted to.

Ronnie that is kinda what I was thinking about how the situation developed , but the cow will be allowed to just dry up and we will bottle feed the calf if she lives.
The guy with the cow talked to the vet yesterday and got an antibiotic and 2 other shots. The vet didn't come out cause for one it doesn't look much like the calf is goinig to make it and two there isn't much the vet can do other then give a few meds which we can do ourself. The guy didn't remember the names of the drugs but gave them to the calf. I went over and looked at the calf. She is just lethargic and laying around. She doesn't pick her head up when you approach or anything. He is able to get 2 and half pints in her twice a day. I guess we will just wait and see what happens.