Well, Christmas brought a phone call. A nieghbor where we winter our pairs and breed called. Dead Balck Cow....
I went out and it was one of the hiefers I put in with the cows we are breeding. Dang the Luck, but at least it does not mean an orphan calf...
I put out Alfalfa and there is aout 10 inches of snow on the ground..Look over and almost missed a white cow. She is 3/4 Angus BTW, goes back to a Shorthorn cow...
She is laying in the irrigation ditch and has an odd look. I know in my heart she is going thru a Calcium Deal... I call the wife and tell her to call the vet (Xmas day, no returned call) and gather up all we have...
Well, Dang the Luck. I have 1/2 bottle of Calcium Sol'n... I generally IV more than that, but it is all I have. She had gotten up to eat some Alfalfa, a good deal.... Wife grabbed a halter, but..No Rope... She was just healthy enough I could not get to her with a halter...Also, did not want to risk her going down in an alley or chute....
So..I trek back thinking the vet may call yet.... Ok, get the rope. No horse but she is weak enuff I just run it around her afew times and pull her down as it wraps her legs up. Get the halter on and tie the head back to hind hock so I can IV her....
I get the 1/2 bottle in her. As i go to take stuff to the pickup, she is feeling better and ries to get up..Stupid me, I had not taken the rope off and it is still around her neck. Luckily it did not tighten to choke her...She tried to stand up and ended up flipping over with her head under her. I can't access the halter or ropes. Dang it, I know better....
Anyways. I did end up getting the rope off and I thot the slip not pulled free on the halter... Work the halter off her head. And get her up.... She is much better and goes over to eat Alfalfa again... I am happy but worried I did not have enough. I have lost a cow who was given 1 full bottle before and the vet even gave more to the rumen on that one...
Next day go get supplies and am asking people.... Vet, feed store... Anyone....
They say adding Calcium to the diet may backfire..WE feed straw/wet corn screenings and alfalfa. I can put a heavy nursing cow into a body score 7 or 8 in the winter if I want. So adding alfalfa is not an option attractive to me.. I want to add calcium without adding calories is what I am saying...
One thing to note, my cows have a tendency for this....
The irony that strikes me is they say don't add calcium, but feed alfalfa because it has calcium in it.... LOL, feeding alfalfa is adding calcium... I have that Supreme Mixer and can add anything to the ration. That would be my preference...
Anyways, I have lots of folks working on this... Likely will start culling this line of cows at a younger age, though I hate to as they have really great calves..
The bad news is I lost a hiefer to enterotoxemia thoughshe has been vaccinated several times. Good news is when I went to feed today, the white cow is still going, so I don't have an orphan and a dead cow...
PPRM
I went out and it was one of the hiefers I put in with the cows we are breeding. Dang the Luck, but at least it does not mean an orphan calf...
I put out Alfalfa and there is aout 10 inches of snow on the ground..Look over and almost missed a white cow. She is 3/4 Angus BTW, goes back to a Shorthorn cow...
She is laying in the irrigation ditch and has an odd look. I know in my heart she is going thru a Calcium Deal... I call the wife and tell her to call the vet (Xmas day, no returned call) and gather up all we have...
Well, Dang the Luck. I have 1/2 bottle of Calcium Sol'n... I generally IV more than that, but it is all I have. She had gotten up to eat some Alfalfa, a good deal.... Wife grabbed a halter, but..No Rope... She was just healthy enough I could not get to her with a halter...Also, did not want to risk her going down in an alley or chute....
So..I trek back thinking the vet may call yet.... Ok, get the rope. No horse but she is weak enuff I just run it around her afew times and pull her down as it wraps her legs up. Get the halter on and tie the head back to hind hock so I can IV her....
I get the 1/2 bottle in her. As i go to take stuff to the pickup, she is feeling better and ries to get up..Stupid me, I had not taken the rope off and it is still around her neck. Luckily it did not tighten to choke her...She tried to stand up and ended up flipping over with her head under her. I can't access the halter or ropes. Dang it, I know better....
Anyways. I did end up getting the rope off and I thot the slip not pulled free on the halter... Work the halter off her head. And get her up.... She is much better and goes over to eat Alfalfa again... I am happy but worried I did not have enough. I have lost a cow who was given 1 full bottle before and the vet even gave more to the rumen on that one...
Next day go get supplies and am asking people.... Vet, feed store... Anyone....
They say adding Calcium to the diet may backfire..WE feed straw/wet corn screenings and alfalfa. I can put a heavy nursing cow into a body score 7 or 8 in the winter if I want. So adding alfalfa is not an option attractive to me.. I want to add calcium without adding calories is what I am saying...
One thing to note, my cows have a tendency for this....
The irony that strikes me is they say don't add calcium, but feed alfalfa because it has calcium in it.... LOL, feeding alfalfa is adding calcium... I have that Supreme Mixer and can add anything to the ration. That would be my preference...
Anyways, I have lots of folks working on this... Likely will start culling this line of cows at a younger age, though I hate to as they have really great calves..
The bad news is I lost a hiefer to enterotoxemia thoughshe has been vaccinated several times. Good news is when I went to feed today, the white cow is still going, so I don't have an orphan and a dead cow...
PPRM
