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calf - no colostrum

S

slyfarmgirl

Member
Joined
Apr 4, 2011
Messages
12
Location
Saskatchewan
Hi, I have a calf that is four days old now. His momma is one of those terrible cows with a low udder and big teats. When he was born he got up and found the sweet spot and was sucking so I left well enough alone. He seemed well for the first few days followed mom every where and one teat was always clean and puckered. On day three when I did my morning rounds mom was mooing a lot to the calf he was on the opposite side of the feeder and was not responding to her. Was quite weak. So I went back in my memory files to when I lost a calf because she seemed to be sucking but mom had mastitis and calf was getting no milk. So I ran big momma into the chute and tried to milk - nothing. Had a neighbor come and try to milk her also - nothing. Shoot!! Sure makes you feel stupid. But now I have to keep this baby going. Giving him milk replacer. Last night he got right up and was sucking very vigorously - this morning not so much. Took a long time to get the milk down. Should I give some electrolytes? I have also heard of giving them eggs because they have some immunoglobulins. Any ideas would be appreciated!
 
our tubing mix is 1 tsp lite salt, 2tsp baking soda, 1/2 a little envelope fruit pectin, 10 oz can beef consume---makes 2 qts.

salts, nutrition, heals the gut, counteracts acidosis---

this is great on scours---by time scours have really got a calf down, stomach ain;t getting much good outa milk, scour bug thrives on it.

but sick calf--or under nourished one---is usually dehydrated---if your calf was ours, he'd probably get a couple doses of this

i don't think much of milk replacer on babies---if we can't steal some 'real milk' we'll dilute condensed milk---seems to have a lotta "whack" to it

range calving and somebody needs a 'jump start'. father in law always had thermos's of hot water--dump a little out, pour in can of milk, tube 'em, put on floor by heater for a while, roll 'em out by mom
 
Give her vitamin b12 and A&D . Get electrolytes from your ag store and give her a feeding of that ,do not stop milk replacer, and make sure it is made of real milk, not soy and is at least 20-20-20. I would also give her a shot of meds like Nuflor JIC.

Keep feeding her, or graft her onto another cow if at all possible.

You can tell if a calf is dehydrated by there skin and how bad it tents also if there eyes are sunken .
 
He was given A & D and Selenium E shortly after birth. I gave him one feeeding of electrolytes that I had here from the vet clinic. Gave one more feeding of milk replacer from the local feed supplier (20 - 20- 20). Also did give the shot of Nuflor. He is still breathing heavily and laying flat out. I have put him under a small radiant heater that we have to warm chilled calves. Not sure what else I can do but wait. I still feel stupid about not noticing that he wasn't really getting any milk! I hate these lessons!!
 
slyfarmgirl said:
He was given A & D and Selenium E shortly after birth. I gave him one feeeding of electrolytes that I had here from the vet clinic. Gave one more feeding of milk replacer from the local feed supplier (20 - 20- 20). Also did give the shot of Nuflor. He is still breathing heavily and laying flat out. I have put him under a small radiant heater that we have to warm chilled calves. Not sure what else I can do but wait. I still feel stupid about not noticing that he wasn't really getting any milk! I hate these lessons!!
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I did the same thing with a big pretty crossbred calf two weeks ago! :mad: Calf hit the ground at 11 pm and was up sucking when I went to bed. Looked great at 5 am before I left for work, cow had two quarters sucked or so I thought. That night after work, he was down. Tubed him and everything and lost him. :mad: Cow had lots of milk but had to milk her for almost a minute to get any started! Calf never got any I guess. Grafted a twin on and they are doing fine. Sure makes a guy crazy! Good luck!
 
The odds are stacked against the little guy. My experience if the calf doesn't get colustrum with the first 24 hours, his odds of surviving are slim. But you have to try something, I would be treating with antibiotics as he will become acceptable to everything.
 
slyfarmgirl said:
He was given A & D and Selenium E shortly after birth. I gave him one feeeding of electrolytes that I had here from the vet clinic. Gave one more feeding of milk replacer from the local feed supplier (20 - 20- 20). Also did give the shot of Nuflor. He is still breathing heavily and laying flat out. I have put him under a small radiant heater that we have to warm chilled calves. Not sure what else I can do but wait. I still feel stupid about not noticing that he wasn't really getting any milk! I hate these lessons!!
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Just keep what you are doing and if he won't drink make sure you tube him, it is best to do many small feedings than a couple of lrg ones. I would still give him a shot of B12 as well as a shot of predef . It is a steroidal anti imflammtory that helps stimulate the appetite , where as banamine is a nsaid . If he does have pneumonia the Nuflor should kick in soon and predef will help with the lungs as well.
Good luck with him, sometimes no matter what we do they don't make it and I too hate those lessons. Heartbreaking to say the least .
 
Well I have given my little darling another feeding of milk replacer and also another feeding of electrolytes - shouldn't be dehydrated. He seems a little perkier than earlier this afternoon - but likely the Nuflor kicking in. This may be a stupid question, but what is predef? I tink I will give him another feeding late tonight before we tuck ourselves into bed. Looks like two more are going to calve tonite. I know the odds are stacked against me but as long as the little guy is breathing ( all be it heavily) I will do all I can for him. Just a perhaps funny thought- but - I have seen mention of camphor oil on this site for lung related issues or calves that just need some help getting going. Not sure if it is available here in the form mentioned but Vicks Vapo Rub is mostly Camphor. Would it hurt to put some around the nose of an animal so they breathe it in just like we do when we put it on our chest? Not the nose specifically but maybe in the fur. Just a crazy thought. I have a very, very old vet book that has some extreme ingredients for some cures. Most of the them are illegal. But camphor oil is mentioned in it. Just a crazy lady thinking out loud.
 
I am the one who mentioned the etherated camphorated oil.
I have some, I wish you had it. :cry:

I didn't know what predef was either so I looked it up:
http://www.allivet.com/PREDEF-2X-p/27192.htm

Sounds like it is made for some different situations,
and if hillsdown recommends it and it I could get some,
I'd sure give it a try.

This calf for sure needs nourishment, as in the milk replacer.
That would be my first order of business and it sounds like
you are taking care of that. I don't think it would hurt to put
some VaporRub in his nose. I don't know if it will help, tho.

Again, good luck with the little bugger.
 
strawking said:
Dex is a pain killer, don't think that would do anything in this case. Just keep doing what your doing and hope he makes it. Good luck.
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DEX is not a pain killer :roll: . It is a strong, steroidal anti inflammatory.
Dexamethasone is a potent synthetic member of the glucocorticoid class of steroid drugs. It acts as an anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressant. It is 20 to 30 times more potent than the naturally occurring hormone cortisol and 4 to 5 times more potent than prednisone.


Was wondering if you did an Im injection of nuflor or sub, as in these cases I really like to do IM, it hits them faster .

Vicks cannot hurt at all, not up the nose though, I would just do around the nose(sinus cavities) and even the chest will not hurt as long as you are still keeping him heated.

Best of luck .
 
Something to consider on a down and out calf is blood sugar levels. If they haven't had any nourishment, they will be down. Milk takes a while to kick in. Glucose doesn't. Corn syrup has lots of easily available glucose. Even rubbing it on their gums if they aren't swallowing will get it absorbed and get the blood sugar level up. Amazing recovery and increase in sucking level if that is a problem. Regular sugar is sucrose and has to be broken down to be useable so it won't work. It has to be glucose, also known as dextrose. Get them warm and get their blood sugar up. If they don't respond to that, there is more going on than just starvation.
 
aspen said:
Something to consider on a down and out calf is blood sugar levels. If they haven't had any nourishment, they will be down. Milk takes a while to kick in. Glucose doesn't. Corn syrup has lots of easily available glucose. Even rubbing it on their gums if they aren't swallowing will get it absorbed and get the blood sugar level up. Amazing recovery and increase in sucking level if that is a problem. Regular sugar is sucrose and has to be broken down to be useable so it won't work. It has to be glucose, also known as dextrose. Get them warm and get their blood sugar up. If they don't respond to that, there is more going on than just starvation.
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That is why you give electrolytes in these cases, the main active ingredient is dextrose. If I have a cow in shock, or down, the first thing I give them is an IV cocktail of dextrose, and B12. It does wonders .

Thanks for the reminder . :)
 

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