Orphaned calf

[jhm47]

One shot of LA 200, given subcutaneously will last her for 3 days. I am not familiar with LA 300, but suspect that you may have made a typographical error.

 

[redtailgal]

Please, no more milk while she is scouring and definately do the electrolytes. I HIGHLY recommend that you go by the protocol in my previous post.

With her nose being snotty, be sure to encourage her to get up and walk, it will help prevent pneumonia.

 

[julierx1]

Update on the calf. I gave 1 pint 4 different times yesterday of electrolytes. It was hard to get her to take bottle but after a bit of work she did. This morning I go out and find her standing ( which didnt happen yesterday without help) She came to me and started nursing instantly. I gave her 2 pints electrolytes. I did see where she had scoured thru the night. The scours are slimy yellow but dont notice a real nasty smell. She was running and jumping after the bottle and chasing my little goats. My question is how long to do electrolyetes? I will be giving yogurt today also. How else to stop scours and when to give milk?

 

[redtailgal]

If she is still scouring, continue just the electrolytes for another 24 hours. Then reintroduce the milk as I stated above, staying at the half strength portions until she stops scouring, then proceed as stated above.

You can get her some sulfa pills or a product called "scour halt" or "scour stop" at the farm store, or by this time, you could give her a dose of Bepto (I'd giver her about 3 tablespoons). I wouldnt do the pepto for more than three doses, as too much will constipate them.......constipation is far worse than scours.

I'm glad to hear she is up and moving!

 

[julierx1]

Update on Baabette. After giving the electrolytes for 24 hrs. I gave her 1 1/2 pints of diluted milk replacer. 50/50 She is still scouring but so much more energetic. She ran and played all day with the goats. She also is starting to nibble hay and I found her earlier sipping from the water trough. My plan is to go back to electrolytes for the morning bottle, but Im at my witts end here. I usually am the one doctoring goats so I dont know much about calves. After 24 more hrs of electrolytes I will try milk again. I did give pepto today also. Is there a good recipe for electrolytes? Buying it for goats is so much less expensive then calves!

 

[redtailgal]

At this point, I'd switch her over to some gatoraide. The powdered form of gatoraide is pretty cheap around here.

Glad to here she is doing better. It may take a couple days for her gut to settle. Are you doing the probios or yogurt.......if your not, get a couple containers, it should help quite a bit.

 

[herdsman]

Awsome that this one survived I had a hereford like that

 

[julierx1]

She seems to be getting more and more active. She is still getting morning and evening bottle of electrolytes but mid day bottle of diluted milk. She is still scouring but it looks maybe a little thicker and a little darker in color but not much. Can someone tell me what the normal poop looks like in a 5-6 day old calf

 

[redtailgal]

Normal poop, lol. Isnt it lovely the things we talk about without even thinking about it?

Normal calf poop can vary greatly depending on the feed/milk, location, age, and even the calf itself. Of course, a milk fed calf is not going to make very solid poop. If I have a calf that has non bloody, non smelly (within reason, it aint gonna smell like roses, ya know) poop that is at least as thick as pudding I am happy. As far as color, it can be a little yellow esp if you are feeding cow milk and not replacer, but should not be YELLOW YELLOW......that means they are getting too much milk. Green means too much grass or other forage. It should not have a horrid smell, that means coccidia or other infections. It should not have blood or mucous, that means coccidia or some other parasite. It should not be black, this normally means a blood sucking gut parasite. The calf should fart occasionally but should not sound like it's rear end is exploding when it poops.......this means scours are coming. Grey usually indicates a mineral imbalance or a toxicity issue.

My rule of thumb with calves.......if they poop and it doesnt SOUND gross (think plop not splat and a small gasy toot, not ffffffffffhhhhhhhttttttshhhhh), SMELL gross, or look gross, it's all good.

Yeah, I guess that doesnt clear it up too much for ya, but well, thats how it is here. And on this farm "normal poop" is called "purty poop".......we'll say something like "thank GOODNESS! That scouring snot is finally pooping purty!"

Dont be shy......if your in doubt, take a pic of a FRESH poop and show it to us. We are not squeamish.

 

[julierx1]

I will probably need to take the pic for you all to see. From the way you describe it, I believe it is ok but want to make sure! Thanks again