Calf Won't Get Up. A Little Help?

Farmer Jayne · #1 10/22/13, 08:18 AM

I'm a first time poster so if I do anything wrong or irritating just let me know.
We bought a sick calf at a sale (I know, I know). We bought her on 9/30 of this year. She weighed 205 at purchase, but should have been closer to 300. She had a cough so we figured shipping fever. Also scours, which goes with being so skinny, sick and most likely wormy. The next day we vaccinated her, wormed her, and started her on a course of Oxytetracycline. She has been in a pen by herself since then. The other calves that we bought that day are fine, but they weren't sick to begin with. I thought that she was recovering just fine. She has been eating like a champ and gaining weight. Her scours disappeared. Her disposition changed. She was no longer scared and depressed, but was looking forward to being fed and was letting me scratch her head. Her eyes were bright, you know? Well, they are still bright and her recovery is going well, but she won't get up. If I bring her feed, hay and water she eats and drinks with gusto. Her poops and pee are normal. Her temp is normal. She seems content and just looks around chewing her cud. She still coughs, but that has improved and the drainage from her nose is clear. My husband and I lift her to her feet, and she will stand and even take a few steps, but then lays down again and will not even try to get up or help with the process. She is dead weight until she is on her feet. This has been going on for three days, now. We have been lifting her twice daily. Unfortunately, my husband had to leave on a business trip and I can't lift her by myself, so she has been down for 24 hours.Any ideas on what could be wrong with her? She's an Angus. I don't know how old she is but was well weaned when we got her. Thank you for your help.

TRAILRIDER · #2 10/22/13, 02:32 PM

Wow, I'd be interested to hear more too. Chewing her cud and bright eyes but won't stand? I wish I could offer advice but I'm a newbie too. Good luck.

G. Seddon · #3 10/22/13, 02:50 PM

If this has been going on for 3 days without her getting up, I think I'd take her temp again and get the vet out to check her.

topside1 · #4 10/22/13, 03:44 PM

Good guess, read the portion "up to 12 months old."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutrit...ular_dystrophy

topside1 · #5 10/22/13, 03:45 PM

http://www.iowabeefcenter.org/Beef%2...m-Diseases.pdf

G. Seddon · #6 10/22/13, 04:21 PM

topside1, yes, selenium might be the culprit, in which case a shot of Bo-Se (Rx) could certainly help, available through the vet (who most likely needs to visit in order to dispense it). I don't think it would hurt to rule out other stuff since this calf had a rough start and was purchased at a sale barn.

Farmer Jayne, if you are new to calves and don't yet know a large animal vet, please consider getting to know one so that you have someone to call in an emergency and someone to offer you guidance when you have animal problems. Hope you can get this calf back on her feet!

Farmer Jayne · #7 10/22/13, 09:21 PM

Thanks so much for your replies. The calf's condition hasn't changed much. I got my kids to help me get her up this evening. She is in good spirits and eating everything in sight. It's funny, I looked up white muscle disease, but ignored the Wikipedia entry. The articles I did read were more concerned with explaining what the muscles look like upon necropsy, which does me no good at all. Trust Wikipedia to be succinct in their description of a calf with this deficiency. I will look into this further tomorrow. I don't know why she is showing symptoms now. Her food has both selenium and vitamin E in it, as well as the minerals she has had free access to. I also have four cows that have been on the property for several years and eat the same food and are fine. The vet issue is a problem. Our wonderful old Doc Davis retired this year. His replacement is nearly phobic about cows. I had her out to treat a calf in the spring. She could barely bring herself to touch the calf, who was very calm and used to being handled. She was afraid it would kick her. Although it's no fun being kicked, it kind of comes with the territory.

haypoint · #8 10/23/13, 07:50 PM

Ask your cowphobic Vet if she'll give you a syringe of Bo-Se, saving her the trouble of doing it herself. She isn't suppose to hand it out without having knowledge of the calf, but maybe she will to keep her muck boots clean.
I put selenium up there with penicillin as wonder cures.
Next time when sick calves are being auctioned, sit on your hands. Also, read the big sticky above about sale barn calves. Sounds like you've done everything right. I'd turn her over so she doesn't lay too long on one side.

Farmer Jayne · #9 10/26/13, 04:47 PM

I had to have the vet out for another reason so I had her look at the calf. This vet was very different and definitely knew her way around a cow and wasn't intimidated. That other woman didn't last long, I guess. Doc didn't know what was wrong with the calf without a full blood work up. I really don't have the money to throw at this calf. I wish I did. However, she did give her a shot of Bo-Se, a stronger antibiotic and a shot of an anti- inflammatory . That was two days ago and there is not much change. We get her up and walk her around a couple of times a day. Her front legs eventually buckle and she goes down like a ton of bricks. I also turn her. and lay her on her side and move her legs around. She's still eating everything I give her. She's still skinny but has actually grown in height and length.
About the sale barn. I buy poor calves because I can't afford the nice ones. This is the first of almost 20 that I have not been able to turn around into a nice fat yearling and sell for a nice profit. It's a lot of work and I do everything I can to keep costs down. Most of the calves just need to be wormed and a lot of decent food. Some need antibiotics, but rarely anything else. I try to keep everything really clean and stress free. And I keep them away from my other stock until I know they are ok.
I guess it's time to decide what to do with her. She can't live like this forever. Thanks for all your help and support.

haypoint · #10 10/26/13, 07:21 PM

Poor calves are often the most costly. You have done way better than normal odds. If mopst were cheap to fix, they wouldn't be cheap to buy.

Allen W · #11 10/26/13, 10:09 PM

It's part of the game, some times all you gain is some more knowledge. Hang in there.

Farmer Jayne · #12 10/27/13, 11:23 AM

She's a little better today. Maybe the selenium takes a while to work. We got her up this morning and she stayed up for more than an hour. She stood in the sun and hit the minerals pretty hard. When she did go down she moved to the shade which is a huge difference from just plopping down where she stood. My husband is back. When he is not travelling he works from home. This is good because we can stand her up more often., She is starting to get two pressure sores on her hip. It's hard to keep her clean and dry when I can't move her and she is peeing on herself. The sores aren't through the skin yet, so now that I can move her more often I can keep them from getting worse. I dare to hope that soon she will be getting up on her own.
Buying poor calves at the sale is certainly a gamble. I get a lot of satisfaction from taking these sad creatures home and making them all better. We have come out ahead so far, but it's a lot of work. Most of the people I know who raise calves don't want to have to bother spending so much time on one calf. I don't have money, but I can spend some time on her. We'll see whether I come out ahead or behind on this one.

Allen W · #13 10/28/13, 09:23 AM

All you can do i try your best and learn from the experience, I've paid my fees in that school several times and still learning. When i get this wheat in the ground I'll be back at it, need to find some grazing cows.

Farmer Jayne · #14 11/05/13, 12:19 PM

Update on the calf. She still can't get up on her own. The difference is that now she tries. I can just boost her back end and hold her steady until she gets her front feet under her. Once she's up she is fine. No staggering or falling down. She looks pretty normal except that she's still skinny. We have talked about putting her down several times, but then she improves and we decide to wait and see for another day or two. I'll keep trying as long as she is improving.

Oakshire_Farm · #15 11/05/13, 04:44 PM

I would pound the grain to her! Give her some electrolytes in her water as well. Keep getting her up, as long as she is staying up and wondering around once she is up. You sound like you are winning!!!

I am glad that we do not have a auction around here.... I would have a bard full of rejects just like you! hahahaha

Farmer Jayne · #16 11/06/13, 10:51 AM

Thanks for the vote of confidence. We have switched her to a better feed and added some corn. She gets electrolytes once a day and probiotics. Just finished another round of antibiotics because of the fluid in her lungs. It's better, too, but I've dealt with pneumonia before and it takes a long time to clear up.
I'm glad in a way that I don't have more money. I would be coming home with a lot more pitiful calves as well as anything with spots and big horns. I love the Long Horns and Florida Crackers. I don't want to have to handle them, but I think they are so beautiful. I do sit on my hands when they come around, but I really like them.

lakeportfarms · #17 11/06/13, 02:21 PM

One shot of selenium isn't going to do it. We've had two calves with white muscle disease before we started giving Se shots to all newborns. Both of them survived, though one was touch and go. He received two shots three days apart, then another one 7 days later. It took almost two weeks for him to stand on his own. It was the middle of winter and the lack of movement caused his body temperature to drop to 97 degrees for a while. He spent a week under an old down coat, with rice filled bags heated in a microwave on top of him and under 2 heatlamps to keep him warm. He's made a full recovery and is a handsome little Dexter bull now.

I'd get that calf another shot of BoSe, and follow up with one 5 or 6 days later. It's not expensive, but if there is no improvement in a week I'd let nature take it's course from there on.

lakeportfarms · #18 11/06/13, 02:22 PM

Duplicate post...

Farmer Jayne · #19 11/07/13, 06:10 AM

Thanks, I've been trying to get hold of the vet for just that reason. She should call me back this morning.

And I thought I was spending a lot of time caring for this girl. I'm in Florida so it hasn't gotten very cold, yet. I have been keeping an eye on the weather. The last thing she needs is to get wet and cold. She actually got up by herself yesterday afternoon. It wasn't pretty and she spent a second or three on her face trying to get her feet under her, but she did it. My cheering her on probably just scared her into getting up more quickly.
Our bull is a Jersey-Dexter cross. He throws the nicest calves. He's also very easy to handle. And he's nice to the girls.
I'm really grateful for this site and all the help, encouragement and comments you all contribute. Besides my husband, I don't really have anyone to talk to who knows much about cows. Not only did I get good advice here, but it helped to just be able to share with others. So, thanks.

Cheryl aka JM · #20 11/11/13, 06:25 PM

Odd that this post should be on the first page as I come today looking for why my calf won't stand up.

Two months ago I purchased 4 bottle bulls to raise on my nurse cows. Didn't even get all the way home one was bloated. Took him to the vet~ but he died despite the vet trying to save him. Said there was air under his skin between his muscles and skin~ like trauma but of course the seller said no trauma and never a sick calf on his place. Fast forward two months~ today I find one of the other three calves down. He looks fine~ poops fine~ eats fine~ WONT stand up. I backed the tractor up on him~ tied ropes around him and used the hay spear to hoist him up and haul him across the pasture~ then my sister and I stuffed him in my van. Would not stand on his own at all. Took him to the vet~ temp was 102.8F. Not very high consider the stress of riding across the pasture tied to my hay spear! Of course~ at the vet the calf stood up and walked just fine! Vet gave him Draxxin and Nuflor for walking pneumonia. Said to bottle feed him for a bit to be sure he was getting his share of milk.

Think I'll ask for some Bo-Se tomorrow. Same vet wouldn't sell me any for my goats a couple years ago~ but since he was stumped by the lethargic calf maybe he will now if I bring him the write up about white muscle disease.