CALF DOWN! HELP! - Update: T-Bone's doing GREAT! THANK YOU!!

[elevan]

1 of the calves that we brought home from the sale on Friday was down this morning. I called the vet and they advised that I just put him down since this was my first go round with cows and I didn't have the experience to nurse them through and bringing them in the hospital would be too expensive. I decided to fight for the little guy since he seemed to want to live.

Symptoms:
Very weak
Limp
Unable to stand or suckle
Cold (even in mouth)
Diarrhea

Right or wrong this is what I've done so far:
This morning:
Drenched with Pedialyte
10 ml Red Cell
1 cc Vitamin B Complex
JumpStart gel
Arrest in his milk to slow down the diarrhea

Then I ran out to purchase some real supplies. (Like a calf tube feeder).

At Noon:
Tube fed Calf Medic (milk, electrolytes, oxytet, neomycin)
Added a little Arrest to that
Hung the heat lamp in his stall for warmth.

At 5:00p:
He is a little more alert. I'll be tube feeding him electrolytes and arrest around 6:30p and then plan on another dose of Calf Medic around 11p

At 6:30p:
Tube fed 2 pints Bounce Back (electrolytes) with arrest mixed in.
He is still cold.
Suckle response is still absent.


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Please advise if there is anything else that you think I could be doing. I have supplies on hand for my goats and several stores that I can go to as well.

Thank you.

 

[Snowhunter]

Alright, I'm not sure how much help this'll be, but I'll give it a shot.

We picked up a calf that was basially hypothermic. Momma abandoned him in the cold rain. He was basically a frigid ragdoll!

What we did was bring him in the house, with a heat lamp about 2ft above him, rubbed him down vigorously with towels to dry him and get some circulation goin. Syringed warm milk replacer into the left side of his mouth as much as he would take (wasn't much, he lost all suckle reflex) No additives, just milk replacer. Took him three days of being under the lamp inside and basically force feeding the replacer to get him strong enough to go outside. After that, he was fine! My Jersey is playing nurse mama with him, so he's thriving.

I wish you the best. Its tough and frusterating when a calf isn't doin well.

 

[redtailgal]

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[aggieterpkatie]

Please don't feel bad if you can't save him. It is always a gamble buying calves from sale barns. YOu never know what kind of care they had before they were sold, like if they even got colostrum or got their navel dipped. It could be he didn't get colostrum and just doesn't have the needed antibodies to fight anything. Or he could have navel ill.

I agree though, don't give him any more milk. Electrolytes to help with dehydration and keeping him warm are important. You also may want to give him an antibiotic in case it's navel ill or something. Good luck!

 

[elevan]

Thank you. He's still hanging on but now the other calf we got is going downhill!!

So they each have a heat lamp. We added a tarp "roof" over the pen to lower the ceiling to hold more warmth in. Brisket is laying on and practically buried in hay for warmth as well as having warm towels on him. T-Bone seems to be maintaining heat with the heat lamp alone although I had to tube feed him as well this morning.

I will try the black coffee idea. I will stop tubing milk and switch to electrolytes only. I'll give them oxytet injectible (they have been getting it via tube with the calf medic.) And I'll inquire about the LRS IV setup.

eta: we have had a cold snap here within 48 hours of bringing them home and I'm sure that combined with other stresses is at the root of this. It's still cold outside. we went from 80* temps to 40* temps.

 

[redtailgal]

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[Royd Wood]

Hey Elvan - some good advice in above posts so and sounds like your doing your very best for them.

Drop calves = high death rate - what they really need is mum and mums milk

 

[goodhors]

Colostrum really only helps a calf in the first day or so of life. Fed later it does nothing helpful because his stomach won't absorb it well.

Sorry about the calf.

We had problems with ours last year, they had to give him a lot of fluids at the Vet Clinic. He had gotten some colosturm but was sharing his mother with 3 older calves. I really think she was mostly empty when he was born. He was a couple days old but then chilled during the trailer ride home, dehydrated fast. Cold tongue had me calling the VET! I hauled him over in the truck back seat to keep him warmer. They liquid IV'd into him, heat lamps in a warm room, got him going well enough to start bottle feeding again. Took a couple days there, but he came around. Got him home and I put him in the slightly warm, draft free, tack room on a rubber mat that didn't suck any body heat off him. He was fairly well after that, kept getting better. Lucky the weather warmed up early, so he could go to a barn stall to live and not get chilled.

This years calf was already 7 days old, from the farm, sucking well on his bottle, when purchased. They raise HUNDREDS of dairy calves there, no dumping anyone!! I decided to bring this calf home in the backseat of the truck, no getting chilled. Short trip, worked well. He has been all forward progress. We WERE careful during the cold to have a horse in his barn for more heat, and I made a calf blanket he wore when it got below 30F, thru Feb and March. Over doing it probably, but did NOT want to do the Vet thing! And he was cute in his red Holstein blanket!

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/579852853qTdfao

We hit some auctions looking for beef calves, only saw some very sad, young dairy calves earlier this year. No chance of me buying them! Sold better than I figured they would, some were really iffy. You would THINK that farmers would give them some attention, so they sell better, for more money.

The farm we purchased from this year, cares for all their calves, sells them as older animals and makes a much better return for the calf. They do sell to 4-H kids, but not many because they make more selling older calves. They had 4 big barns of 100 manufactured calf stalls for the babies of various ages. Not all in use then. Fed twice a day, checked several times daily, CLEAN. Off the milk replacer they go to lots, for hay and grain feeding. I was totally willing to pay more for the HEALTHY, well started calf. Saved me NOT having to pay Vet bills this year, which cut into the profit on last year's calf. Still made money on selling him, but COULD have made more without Vet expenses. My bad choice of calf sellers! Vet was real nice too on pricing, since it was daughter's 4-H calf, but he has to pay his expenses like anyone. Other folks in the 4-H calves bought cheap, lost 2 or 3 out of 5 head. Wasted money there.

Hope your calves make it, you got lots of good advice.

 

[ksj0225]

We are 0 for 2 with "drop calves", hope yours makes it.

 

[elevan]

Brisket did not make it. He died a little while ago

The other calf (T-Bone) is still holding on. He's a little older and bigger than Brisket was. He's also not as sick as Brisket was.
T-Bone's symptoms:
Weak
Unable to stand without some assistance
Suckle response is low
Diarrhea
He is maintaining normal body temp
Is responsive to stimulation

We'll keep working with T and hopefully he pulls through.

I just feel so awful - like I failed Brisket - makes me wanna puke.

This just reinforces my stand that there be no bottle babies on our farm...they should either be on their dam or be weaned. I know you can have issues with those as well but when they are so young things get more complicated. Next time we'll go buy a weaned calf from an Amish farm nearby.

Thank you all for your advice and support.