Maybe a bit early as it is only 4:25 but I am calling today a win. This morning as I was feeding there was 3 brand new calves. Gave B a call. I spotted him coming to tag calves so I hopped on the quad. First thing I ran into was a down cow. B got there and we rolled her up. After he tagged the calves he ran home. Came back with 2 bottles of calcium and a IV set up. He didn't main line the IV but put in the side around the stomach. A vet told him it is just as effective and doesn't have the risk of killing her which can happen if you give too much too quick in the vein. I had some mineral tubes so we pushed one of those down her too. I ran to town to get high Mag minerals. When I took the minerals out to the cows our down cow was gone. I found her several hundred yards away standing by the spring licking her lips. Continued along that side of the field and ran into a cow with another new calf. So one down cow saved and 4 new calves. But it is early yet. Murphy still has time to show up.
Calling it a win
- Thread starter webfoot
- Start date
Puzzled
Well-known member
Can you explain the process of putting the calcium in the side around the stomach ?
I wasn't there when he actually stuck the needle in. Long needle on the same set up that is used to IV directly into the vein. Just looked to me to be inserted into the stomach from the side. My involvement fetching the second bottle of calcium off his front seat and then holding it up so it could run into the cow. B has a couple thousand cows and is pretty intelligent and observant. He is as good a cow vet as many cow vets.
That's also my preferred place to give calcium, Norcalciphos, etc. It's on the right side and right side only, because the rumen is on her left. It really offers safe, fast absorption in that spot (not to be confused with fast delivery, because it can still be slow going).
Just in front of the hook bone, behind the last rib, and just below the vertebrae, there's a 'hollow' place, for lack of a better term. That's where the needle goes, and sometimes you might have to reposition your needle during the process. Just use your standard IV setup, but be warned that the hide is harder to puncture there.
Ideally, the cow is positioned on her left side, because if she's laying on that right side, there is too much pressure for your product to flow well. If she's on her right side, it's almost essential to roll her over onto her left side, in my experience.
Use alcohol or some other disinfectant unless you just don't have it, because you don't want to introduce anything else foreign into her body cavity there as it can result in peritonitis. So, I give the area a good alcohol bath before and after.
I try to always take a big 90 or 120ml plastic syringe with me when doing these in case I have to change tactics and place it under the skin in a few areas instead. Sometimes a cow is just so full that you can't get it all to flow.
Just like all other IVs of 500 ml bottles, patience is a virtue, but having somebody else to give you a break holding it up is an even bigger virtue. Cowgirl/gate opener types are ideal for this.
This is referred to as an intraperitoneal (IP) injection, and you can probably google that for images or more information.
Just in front of the hook bone, behind the last rib, and just below the vertebrae, there's a 'hollow' place, for lack of a better term. That's where the needle goes, and sometimes you might have to reposition your needle during the process. Just use your standard IV setup, but be warned that the hide is harder to puncture there.
Ideally, the cow is positioned on her left side, because if she's laying on that right side, there is too much pressure for your product to flow well. If she's on her right side, it's almost essential to roll her over onto her left side, in my experience.
Use alcohol or some other disinfectant unless you just don't have it, because you don't want to introduce anything else foreign into her body cavity there as it can result in peritonitis. So, I give the area a good alcohol bath before and after.
I try to always take a big 90 or 120ml plastic syringe with me when doing these in case I have to change tactics and place it under the skin in a few areas instead. Sometimes a cow is just so full that you can't get it all to flow.
Just like all other IVs of 500 ml bottles, patience is a virtue, but having somebody else to give you a break holding it up is an even bigger virtue. Cowgirl/gate opener types are ideal for this.
This is referred to as an intraperitoneal (IP) injection, and you can probably google that for images or more information.
Puzzled
Well-known member
Really interesting/nice to know of these alternatives to the IV.
jodywy
Well-known member
I used Drenches on Milk cows, I use paste now, on any downed stock cows couple tubes like caulking gun, usually cows up fast sometimes before we even done dosing.
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Puzzled
Well-known member
The paste is very helpful. One little cow I have gets a small amount of the paste every day, about 1/4 tube, starting 3 or 4 days before she calves because that seems to be a factor in whether or not she goes into hard labor and delivers her calf.
I just mix it in some grain. I don't enjoy wrestling with their heads, they usually win.
Whether or not she needs this is hard to say. But the vet suggested I try it, and it seemed to work, and is a small thing for me to do just as a precaution. She also has other minerals. But I assume she has higher calcium needs than my other cows. I know she is a hamburger cow by most of your standards, but she has helped expand my knowledge.
The vet told me that she had only ever encountered one cow that did not go into hard labor, and did not even try to push the calf out as they assisted her. Two or three days later the vet had to go back and treat the cow for milk fever.
She felt that the cows low calcium levels was the cause or contributing factor to her not going into labor as she should.
I just mix it in some grain. I don't enjoy wrestling with their heads, they usually win.
Whether or not she needs this is hard to say. But the vet suggested I try it, and it seemed to work, and is a small thing for me to do just as a precaution. She also has other minerals. But I assume she has higher calcium needs than my other cows. I know she is a hamburger cow by most of your standards, but she has helped expand my knowledge.
The vet told me that she had only ever encountered one cow that did not go into hard labor, and did not even try to push the calf out as they assisted her. Two or three days later the vet had to go back and treat the cow for milk fever.
She felt that the cows low calcium levels was the cause or contributing factor to her not going into labor as she should.
Well we saved the cow. But today she had a dead calf. If it died inside her it hadn't been dead long. A little bit ago I saw she was laying down. I drove over to her. She just laid with a dead calf right behind her like she hadn't got up since pushing it out. Don't know and can't tell if it was born dead or died shortly after. Oh well, when we gather them out of the field in a few weeks she will get a trip to town.
I have been forced to fire myself as the calver. I went out to check on the other cow who had calfed. I saw the old cow was licking the calf. I thought she is licking the dead calf. Pulled up and the dead calf had its head up. Earlier when I thought it was dead I had pulled up beside it. Literally close enough that I could have spit and hit it. I told B that I was fired. He told me that they would cut my pay.
Puzzled
Well-known member
Did you really think you could get out of calving the rest of these cows 
Faster horses
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Everyone deserves a gift now and then. Glad you got one!
I am really thinking this will end up being a bottle calf. The cow is pretty weak and so is the calf. Tubed it with colostrum last night and again this morning. But bottle calves are selling mighty high.
Puzzled
Well-known member
I am actually impressed with how well these cows you purchase as your "one and dones" do for you.
Older cows with unknown histories, you do a good job on selecting them.
Older cows with unknown histories, you do a good job on selecting them.
Faster horses
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I had a cowman tell me once, "with those old cows, you have to give them a better home than they came from." Webfoot understands this and is successful at it, sounds like to me.
