Calf Problems

Alvary · #1 05/08/05, 07:45 PM

hello very body

story goes like this (have to tell it)...I was planning on getting 12 calves from my neighbour in late july (to raise to sell to buy some galoway girls)
Then, last saturday my neighbour cam round and told me to come and look at something
The 'something' was a TINY (12 kg) Jersy fresian x Jersy calf. She wanted to know if i wanted it...I said 'yes, if its a heifer'...it was.

Any way...I have had Ayala for 8 days now (got her the day she was born)...everythings was going well untill this morning. She has real bad diarea and is VERY wobbly on her legs. But her eyes aren't sunken and shes still livley.
The diarea looks to be mainly undigested calf pellets (she eats them already!).

I went to the vet this morning and she gave me some eletrolites to give her...And i gave her some plain yogart (to help with bactiria)

Basicly I just want to tell some body! Also, any ideas (like the yogart) wecomed!

I don't want to loose her...shes so sweet!
Jessica

JeffNY · #2 05/08/05, 11:36 PM

Pepto might help with the squirts. Also cayopectate (sp) can help with that. When we bought two Jerseys a couple years back they were eating too much, got the squirts. Called this lady who has been farming for years, she said "give them 30CC's of cayopectate". They came around, stopped squirting and did not bind up. Remember, too much can be bad too. The whole point of it is to get their manure to harden up a bit, so they aren't ****ing out their arse.

Goodluck!

Edit: If she is getting milk replacer, watch out for how much your giving too. Too much liquid will cause the squirts as well.

Jeff

agmantoo · #3 05/09/05, 09:33 AM

Grasp some hair on the calf's neck with your thumb and forefinger and pull outward. If the area leaves a "tent" then the calf is definitely dehydrated and needs the electrolytes immediately. A 12kilo calf does not need very much milk replacer. You are not killing the calf with kindness by overfeeding it are you?

Alvary · #4 05/09/05, 06:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by agmantoo

Grasp some hair on the calf's neck with your thumb and forefinger and pull outward. If the area leaves a "tent" then the calf is definitely dehydrated and needs the electrolytes immediately. A 12kilo calf does not need very much milk replacer. You are not killing the calf with kindness by overfeeding it are you?

Shes looking ALOT worse this morning. I did the skin test a few hours ago and she doesn't seem too bad (friend showed me it and how to tell).
She can't walk at all this morning, can hardly keep her head up. But shes trying as hard as she can and is still drinking very well. If it goes on spirit, she'll live...but if the body winns out, i don't have much hope.

I know its not from overfeeding...we saw the vet about feed requirements and she said i was feeding about right. She was growing really well...must have been about 20kg before she went down.

will keep you updated with any changes in her condition

Thanks
Jessica

agmantoo · #5 05/09/05, 08:01 PM

Alvary,
Out of curiosity were you feeding approximately 2 liters total per day? Have you given the calf anything to try to arrest the scours? Is Spectinomycin available to you? With the calf becoming so unresponsive things do not look promising without a vet perscribed drug IMO. Hope it pulls through!

MissKitty · #6 05/09/05, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by agmantoo

Alvary,
Out of curiosity were you feeding approximately 2 liters total per day? Have you given the calf anything to try to arrest the scours? Is Spectinomycin available to you? With the calf becoming so unresponsive things do not look promising without a vet perscribed drug IMO. Hope it pulls through!

Please let me know how she is...Still having the runs???..Do the kapectic and you you have to us a feeding tube for the electrolytes..That is what I had to do and we saved that little calf..MissKitty

JeffNY · #7 05/10/05, 12:13 AM

Id try the pepto if you haven't, gotta get it in her system without choking her. Also is she breathing fine? Laboring at all? Sometimes when they go off feed, they could have pnuemonia, it's how we detected it with our Jerseys.

Jeff

MissKitty · #8 05/10/05, 06:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeffNY

Id try the pepto if you haven't, gotta get it in her system without choking her. Also is she breathing fine? Laboring at all? Sometimes when they go off feed, they could have pnuemonia, it's how we detected it with our Jerseys.

Jeff

Jeff is right...the last Jersey heifer we had born on the Crippled G had "dust" pnuemonia"...It was hot and dusty here and her system was weak...The doc gave us shots ...nuflor...some type of serum...can't remember the name right now..This was in addition to the nuflor...Got to get that runny poop stoped..Ours was getting too mush milk also...but she was on her Mamma...My little one that is raised on the bottled was much healthier...but I OD'ed her one with milk replacer and she got the scours...I depend on the Kapectac...Let us her...I loves my Jerseys...any animals for that matter...MissKitty

lilsassafrass · #9 05/10/05, 06:22 AM

Is it possible , since you say you got her the day she was born that she didnt get any colestrum ?

Alvary · #10 05/10/05, 07:09 PM

My poor ayala went down hill so quickly, there was nothing we could do. She passed away early last night.
She had gotten plenty of colostrum (I fed her for the first 3 days on colostrum from her mother)
We contacted the vet and she had a look at her. She said that there may have been an internal problem resulting from her small size. She also said it would have beed a great battle for her to survive, being so small.

Well...I have the bag of milk powder and pellets sitting there, and the shed set up (and propperly cleaned). I'll ask my neighbour if i can do a labour excange for a calf. This time I will get a BIG girl (still jersy x fresian though!)

Thanks for your suport guys
Jessica

MissKitty · #11 05/10/05, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alvary

My poor ayala went down hill so quickly, there was nothing we could do. She passed away early last night.
She had gotten plenty of colostrum (I fed her for the first 3 days on colostrum from her mother)
We contacted the vet and she had a look at her. She said that there may have been an internal problem resulting from her small size. She also said it would have beed a great battle for her to survive, being so small.

Well...I have the bag of milk powder and pellets sitting there, and the shed set up (and propperly cleaned). I'll ask my neighbour if i can do a labour excange for a calf. This time I will get a BIG girl (still jersy x fresian though!)

Thanks for your suport guys
Jessica

Bless your heart Jessica...you did everything in your power...sometimes they just are to little or something is wrong and they don't not survive...Good idea to get another calf and start with a full size one...Good luck..MissKitty

JeffNY · #12 05/10/05, 10:52 PM

As long as you don't give up, keep pressing on, its the best thing to do. Sucks when they do go, especially if you do get attached to them.

Jeff