monongahela gal

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I have a 7 year old jersey/holstein milk cow that has been down for 4 days, she was artificially inseminated with some calving ease angus semen. She was due to calve yesterday with her 5th calf. She had no problems with her other calves. She's still eating and drinking and trying to get up occasionally. She's in a 16 X 25 foot pen in the barn on concrete with hay for bedding.

She's having trouble getting traction on the floor but when she first went down she was up on the manure pack and had good traction but not enough strength in her back legs. Since then she has wormed her way down onto bare floor.

This morning she had gotten her legs out straight behind her, so we rolled her around and got her in a more natural position lying on her chest with her legs under her. She has been stringing clear with a very small amount of blood for the past two days.

She's on hay. It's not super high quality but not to poor either. We have also been giving her a couple of cups of grain each day. She has salt and minerals. Her ears and nose are cold but we don't have any way of knowing her temperature. Her milk has not come in yet.

Do you think that she will be able to have the calf fine while being down?
Can you think of any reasons that she would be down?
Is there anything else that I should be doing?

Thanks in advance for any ideas.
 

frustratedearthmother

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I'm not a cattle person, but I can't believe that a 'couple of cups' of grain is enough for a cow in late gestation. That's just a guess on my part. Wish I knew more, but I'll tag some folks who might be able to help you.

@WildRoseBeef @Bossroo

Hope she comes around!
 

monongahela gal

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She didn't have any grain during the last 3 pregnancies and she was fine. I only give her about a quart of grain each milking when she is milking. It has never been a problem before.

We are planning on calling a vet on Monday (tomorrow) if she shows no improvement.

I don't think she has ketosis, because don't cows lose their appetite when they get ketosis?
There is no acetone smell. The link won't work for me, but thanks anyway.
 

frustratedearthmother

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Again, I'm a goat person, not a cow person, but...

She's older now - she might need more.

I hope the vet can give you an answer and give her some treatment that helps her out.
:hugs
 

alsea1

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My guess is your cow is in serious trouble. In order to give birth and do what she needs to do she needs to be able to get up on her feet. If she were my cow I would not wait at all on that vet call. They appreciate being called in before its too late to be of much help.
 

WildRoseBeef

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If she's got some nerve damage affecting her ability to urinate or poop while she's down (has she tried to defecate/urinate while down or no?), she may have trouble calving out. No mention was made of her body condition either, like how much fat cover she actually has. How long have you had her? And would you mind getting a picture of her for us to see?

I concur with the vet call, but from the sounds of it, you should've called the vet yesterday or the day before, not delaying it until tomorrow.

Ketosis usually doesn't show up this early; in most dairy cattle it shows up 2 weeks after she's calved. It's rare to have it show up this early, and the symptoms (see the link posted above and this one from Merck: http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/m..._in_cattle/overview_of_ketosis_in_cattle.html) mentioned so far don't match what would be a textbook case in the links shown.

The reason she's down could be because she either has a pinched nerve, or she is indeed very weak in energy and doesn't have enough dietary energy to keep up with her metabolic energy needs. A couple of cups of grain and some not-so-great hay is not nearly enough for her nutritional needs. What minerals is she getting (calcium, iron, selenium [if it and/or iron are deficient in the soil in your area], copper, phosphorus, iodine, cobalt, etc.)? What kind of hay are you feeding her (grass, grass-legume mix, legume)? Have you had the hay tested at all?

You will need to up her grain intake to at least double what she's getting now. Figure about 2% of her body weight in grain per day. BUT, it's really important to not suddenly bump up the grain so quickly; do so over a period of 2 weeks, until she's on full grain. Also, get some better quality hay, preferably that which is good quality (considered "dairy quality") with legumes to meet her calcium and protein requirements. Like with the grain, bump up better quality hay slowly; do so by making the switch gradual. This is all to allow her rumen to adjust accordingly.

Dairy cattle need higher quality feed than beef cattle do, so what would be perfectly fine for a beef animal like an Angus cow, is not so for a Jersey, Holstein, nor Jersey-Holstein dairy animal. This is probably why she's gone down like she has; a veterinarian will confirm this.

Hopefully she's not going to be in such serious shape that she'll need to be put down, and you can make the nutritional changes that will help her out and up.
 

monongahela gal

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The mineral mix we're using is the one Granddad's been using for a long time. It has all of the minerals you mentioned and a few others. We've not had the hay tested but we did just get some better hay that we'll start feeding her.

In answer to @WildRoseBeef We've had her for 4 years. She is urinating and pooping while she's down. And she doesn't have a lot of fat cover.
 

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