Frustrated with Jersey Heifer!

[redgate]

I have an adorably sweetheart of a Jersey--our first Jersey, and she is totally living up to the not-hardy reputation we've heard for years about Jerseys. She is pastured with our other beef cattle, all of which do just fine and thrive. Here's our situation with her:

Bought jersey heifer last year, so I don't know what was done prior to that (i.e. magnet or whatever). I did have a full vet check, which came back clean for everything tested. She did get bred a little early after jumping 2 electric fences, but vet said she would be fine as bull was smaller than her. Shortly after, she developed scours. We worked with vet, did multiple fecal samples over a 3 month period, and blood tested her. She tested negative for Johnes, BLV, and BVD. Turns out the vet was letting the techs do the fecal tests (which kept coming back negative), and when the vet finally did it, she was found to have coccidiosis. We treated her with Corid, and scours cleared up about a week later. Unfortunately, after 3 months of this, she had lost a lot of weight. She did continue to grow well, so I think the nutrition just went to calf and her growth, rather than her condition. She was fed high-quality dairy hay, supplemented with minerals, alfalfa pellets, and calf manna through the winter. Samples came back clean for worms and other parasites. Vet did NOT think we should go the route of magnet, as she didn't think it was necessary. When spring (finally) arrived, we weaned onto pasture just like the other cows. She developed scours again for about 48 hours, then seemed fine. Now, about once a week, she water-like scours for 24-48 hours, then seems fine. Each time, I dose her with minerals and probiotics. The vet just doesn't seemed concerned at all, but she is literally a walking skeleton with a huge calf-belly. Now she is building her udder nicely, and is due to calve in about 2 weeks. She is supposed to be our milker for the year, but I just don't know what to do with her.

Now that we have her on pasture, she has a voracious appetite for pasture and acts healthy in every way EXCEPT she isn't gaining any weight/condition, and she scours routinely for unexplained reasons. I know spring pasture isn't necessarily the most nutritious, but she also won't eat her alfalfa pellets any longer (she prefers pasture), won't touch corn, and with the scours, any grain I give her seems to pass straight through. We have a nice, clean pasture, and rotate the animals every single day to fresh paddocks. All tests show nothing is wrong with this heifer. If it were just the weight issue, I would assume it was because she was heavy with calf, but I don't understand the scours issue. The vet, again, doesn't understand it, but doesn't act concerned. Should I request she do something else, or are Jerseys truly this high maintenance?

My other concern is whether I should pull her calf, milk her, and bottle-feed to prevent over-taxing her little body (she is just a mid-sized jersey) by milking and free-choice feeding a calf? Any thoughts, suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

[kycrawler]

Post pictures of the cow from all 4 sides could be a problem. Could be your just worrying too much pics will get you a better opinion jerseys are not high maint I have 20 head and other than losing 1 to leaf bloat last fall we have very few problems

[redgate]

OK, here's photos of all sides, plus a couple angles trying to show the ribs and pelvic bones. You can see her tail is always gross from the scours, and she just looks unthrifty to me (i.e. rough hair coat). The vet said she's probably a 2 on a scale of 1-5 (3 being perfect), which is why she isn't concerned. Though I think she is on the thin side, I'm most concerned about the chronic scours. While I was taking photos, she raised her tail, and it looked like someone turned on a water hose--just pure green water. I'm not sure why she does it, and thus can't figure out how to fix it. I'm assuming she can't improve condition or weight much until we solve the scours problem.

[G. Seddon]

Hard to say what's going on....I can surely understand why you're concerned...she just doesn't look right, does she...the frequent scouring can't be a good thing.

Have the fecal samples been done at the vet's office? I think under the circumstances, especially since she's pregnant, I'd have a fecal sample sent to a state lab or university animal lab if you have one and tell them what's going on...they might be able to find out what's going on with her.

[collegeboundgal]

She's got some long hooves and seems to stand funny. Could be the way she was standing when the pic was taken. She looks fine weight wise to me. She won't ever fill out like a beefer though...

[redgate]

She does have much longer hooves than the beef cows. I've asked around about it, and everyone keeps telling me they will break off on their own. I can't find anyone to trim them. That being said, I am considering getting shoeing stocks for my drafts, in which case, we may use them for the jersey. I can trim myself if I can just keep her feet up. Any ideas?

I'm not sure about the standing funny. Can you be more specific? I have noticed that her shoulder seems to stand way up over her neck, and I don't know if it's the way she's built or what. She is blind in one eye though (the left), which explains her head tilt when looking at the camera. Would trimming the hooves help with her "funny" standing?

[redgate]

I've been doing some research tonight, and she seems to fit the entire description of "winter dysentery" completely. Anyone have experience with this? Is it possible that it could last longer then the 2 weeks most sources I'm reading say? It seems to recur with almost weekly frequency, then clears up, then comes back. I am so puzzled! Yet, none of the other cows are having issues with it.

[DJ in WA]

So she gets scours every week, about a week after your last treatment?

Maybe the "treatment" is making her sick a week later.

Benign neglect is often the best therapy. Sometimes we care too much.

Don't know what probiotics are, but likely unnecessary in a ruminant. Their rumens are naturally colonized with the right microbes. Don't need to throw other bugs in there. The coccidia never affected the rumen microbes - it is more in the lower end of the digestive system.

Also don't know what minerals you give after she gets sick. Just keep her on a regular mineral program and be done with it. Big dose of them could upset her system.

Even Corid doesn't do a lot for treatment, as the illness is about done by the time you see scours. That is at the tail end of the organism's life cycle when Corid is less effective. Best used for prevention earlier in the life cycle. Most cases recover fine without treatment and have immunity against future infection. Which is why it is mostly an illness in young cattle.

[Spamela]

I'd throw a magnet in her just in case, I've never heard of a reason not too....

This might be way off base.. but when you mentioned that she wouldn't eat grain just hay and grass, it made me think of a jersey steer I had a while ago. He wouldn't eat grain either, just hay and he lost a lot of weight. Finally had the vet out after about two months and turns out he had a twisted stomach. I didn't know cows could have a twisted stomach that long and survive. He did not have scours however. Just putting that out there... lol

[barnbilder]

Might want to send a fecal sample off to a lab to test for Johnes. That's not something a vet is going to be able to do or have his techs do, that needs to be sent off. The fecal is better than the blood test. From your post it sounds like the vet sent in a blood test for Johnes, and examined the fecal samples himself, for parasites. The fecal test for Johnes will take a long time to get the results back, they have to culture it for a long time.

Might want to dry lot her and get her off the spring grass, provide some high quality hay, centers of round bale or barn kept round bale, or square bales. Might want to try some different grain mixes to see if there is something she likes better, but my guess is get her off the spring grass and she will like grain better. She needs to be on a coccidia program, not just a one and done treatment, she probably needs to still be on the corid. If there is that much of a coccidia problem, watch your calves, she is loading the pasture for you. Might be a good time to look into your mineral program, too. Some bi-carb wouldn't hurt her, sometimes they get a little bit of acidosis when they have other problems , and that can make them finicky over their grain. Maybe some red-cell to help with anemia, and a little yeast culture would be nice, too. (Red cell in the water, drench the bi-carb, sprinkle the yeast culture on her grain.)

[barnbilder]

One other thing, depending on where that heifer came from, she might have not had any colostrum, and then suffered chronic coccidia problems without effective treatment as a calf. Either of those things alone, could cause the "guts all messed up syndrome". The damage from coccidia could be hard to reverse. She is really too old to be having too much trouble with coccidia, unless she has had a history of coccidia problems. If this is the case, she will look fine, as long as she is dried off and not bred. Put her under a little stress and it's a whole different ballgame. Hope you can get a live heifer calf out of the deal.

[redgate]

All her fecals came came back negative for worms or any parasite other than the coccidia. Yes, she was blood tested for Johnes. She came from a small Amish farm, where the family only had one family milk cow (who looked very healthy). I know they didn't catch or separate her for several months, as that is when an accident happened that blinded her eye. Thus, she should of gotten colostrum. Everybody gets minerals, only, as I said, she will never eat them like everyone else does. I've found that strange. I've ordered some dolomite that is supposed to really help in cases of scours, and we'll see if it does. It supposedly helps replenish some of the lost minerals from scours. That is what is so frustrating. She just doesn't "fit" anything. EXCEPT the winter dysentery. She fits the description of that that completely. It just won't clear up like the description says. Has anybody dealt with that? Unfortunately, we don't have a dairy anywhere near us. I asked our vet, and she's never heard of one within our reasonable driving area. Thanks for all the inputs in the mean time. I am reading them closely to make sure I haven't overlooked something. After seeing her appearance, would you let the calf nurse her, or pull it?

[G. Seddon]

Originally Posted by G. Seddon

Have the fecal samples been done at the vet's office? I think under the circumstances, especially since she's pregnant, I'd have a fecal sample sent to a state lab or university animal lab if you have one and tell them what's going on...they might be able to find out what's going on with her.

I quoting myself here because I believe that a good vet lab will offer you some testing options based on symptoms that perhaps your own vet's office may not have considered. But I don't think you told us who actually did the labs on this heifer.

Here's an older article but I think it might be worth reading; winter dysentery is associated with coronavirus and possibly BVD.

https://www.addl.purdue.edu/newslett...ring/bci.shtml

[collegeboundgal]

Originally Posted by redgate

After seeing her appearance, would you let the calf nurse her, or pull it?

Personally, I'd pull the calf. So much easier to monitor how much milk a calf is getting and, if momma needs it, extra feed during milking. I can't help but think that her ruff coat is nothing more than winter coat, and the loose stools are due to the spring flush of grass... But she's your baby and you need to do what you can to feel she's taken care of...
maybe a good worming would help, despite what the vet "didn't see"...

[Spamela]

Originally Posted by redgate

I have an adorably sweetheart of a Jersey--our first Jersey, and she is totally living up to the not-hardy reputation we've heard for years about Jerseys. She is pastured with our other beef cattle, all of which do just fine and thrive. Here's our situation with her:

Bought jersey heifer last year, so I don't know what was done prior to that (i.e. magnet or whatever). I did have a full vet check, which came back clean for everything tested. She did get bred a little early after jumping 2 electric fences, but vet said she would be fine as bull was smaller than her. Shortly after, she developed scours. We worked with vet, did multiple fecal samples over a 3 month period, and blood tested her. She tested negative for Johnes, BLV, and BVD. Turns out the vet was letting the techs do the fecal tests (which kept coming back negative), and when the vet finally did it, she was found to have coccidiosis. We treated her with Corid, and scours cleared up about a week later. Unfortunately, after 3 months of this, she had lost a lot of weight. She did continue to grow well, so I think the nutrition just went to calf and her growth, rather than her condition. She was fed high-quality dairy hay, supplemented with minerals, alfalfa pellets, and calf manna through the winter. Samples came back clean for worms and other parasites. Vet did NOT think we should go the route of magnet, as she didn't think it was necessary. When spring (finally) arrived, we weaned onto pasture just like the other cows. She developed scours again for about 48 hours, then seemed fine. Now, about once a week, she water-like scours for 24-48 hours, then seems fine. Each time, I dose her with minerals and probiotics. The vet just doesn't seemed concerned at all, but she is literally a walking skeleton with a huge calf-belly. Now she is building her udder nicely, and is due to calve in about 2 weeks. She is supposed to be our milker for the year, but I just don't know what to do with her.

Now that we have her on pasture, she has a voracious appetite for pasture and acts healthy in every way EXCEPT she isn't gaining any weight/condition, and she scours routinely for unexplained reasons. I know spring pasture isn't necessarily the most nutritious, but she also won't eat her alfalfa pellets any longer (she prefers pasture), won't touch corn, and with the scours, any grain I give her seems to pass straight through. We have a nice, clean pasture, and rotate the animals every single day to fresh paddocks. All tests show nothing is wrong with this heifer. If it were just the weight issue, I would assume it was because she was heavy with calf, but I don't understand the scours issue. The vet, again, doesn't understand it, but doesn't act concerned. Should I request she do something else, or are Jerseys truly this high maintenance?

My other concern is whether I should pull her calf, milk her, and bottle-feed to prevent over-taxing her little body (she is just a mid-sized jersey) by milking and free-choice feeding a calf? Any thoughts, suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

Don't blame the techs! the oocysts only show up in the fecal sample at certain times in their life cycle.

I'm a lab tech LOL for people tho not animals

[redgate]

Thanks for the inputs again. Honestly, come to think of it, I don't know who did the testing. I know the vet pulled blood and decals, and I know she sent them off for the BLV, BVD, Johnes tests, but I guess I should check and find out which was tested for which, or if the fecal was only tested for worms. I don't actually know now that I think about it.

[Wanda]

Originally Posted by redgate

All her fecals came came back negative for worms or any parasite other than the coccidia. Yes, she was blood tested for Johnes. She came from a small Amish farm, where the family only had one family milk cow (who looked very healthy). I know they didn't catch or separate her for several months, as that is when an accident happened that blinded her eye. Thus, she should of gotten colostrum. Everybody gets minerals, only, as I said, she will never eat them like everyone else does. I've found that strange. I've ordered some dolomite that is supposed to really help in cases of scours, and we'll see if it does. It supposedly helps replenish some of the lost minerals from scours. That is what is so frustrating. She just doesn't "fit" anything. EXCEPT the winter dysentery. She fits the description of that that completely. It just won't clear up like the description says. Has anybody dealt with that? Unfortunately, we don't have a dairy anywhere near us. I asked our vet, and she's never heard of one within our reasonable driving area. Thanks for all the inputs in the mean time. I am reading them closely to make sure I haven't overlooked something. After seeing her appearance, would you let the calf nurse her, or pull it?

There are several dairy farms in the Arthur area that your vet should have knowledge of. Have you checked with the large animal clinic at the Uof I? They have an awesome set of vets and some very eager students. They also have a nice mixed breed dairy just N. of Windsor road.

[redgate]

Yeah, I know they are around, just not local. Arthur is almost 2 hours from us. We are quite rural, on the western side of central IL.