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Odd 600 weight calf problem

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DiamondSCattleCo

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Had an odd one today. Last night, all my calves were fine. This morning I had a 600 weight calf bloated like crazy. Hay isn't hot feed at all (1st cut alfalfa with some quack grass). I tossed some BloatEze into her, then pierced her when that wasn't taking effect (couldn't get her up). I let the gas out, and she didn't move a muscle which was odd I thought, usually after a piercing they kick and bellar like crazy. She was shaking alot though.

Anyway, she's been down for a few hours now. I've put some electrolytes into her, and I've got her covered with straw to try and warm her up. So did I just not catch the bloat in time? Or is there something else that made her bloat thats causing to her to stay down?

Rod
 
I would almost guess that the bloat is an after effect of her being down. Her shaking like crazy suggests shock.

I'd be tempted to infuse a batch of cal/mag under her skin just in case it is mag deficancy.
 
Lots of things can cause bloat, including pneumonia. (It can affect the nerves to the rumen) Has she blown up again since you let the air out?

Also, make sure she's passing manure, because a twisted gut is a possiblilty, if she's not. :( Sounds like you've done all the right things, so I guess it's up to her now.

Good luck. Let us know how she does.
 
Unfortunately I lost her. When I was piercing her to let the bloat down, I did notice some fresh manure on her tail, but definitely not enough to match what she'd been eating the day before. She never did re-bloat. I suspect a twisted gut or perhaps she got into twine somewhere that didn't get cleaned up.

Its been a tough year around here. I finished with an over 100% live calf rate, but have lost 2 7 weights, this 6 weight, and the kid's bottle calf.

Rod
 
Boy, you got that right! :shock:

It can cause anything from septic arthritis, to abscesses in the heart, to pneumonia and ITEME. It's a funny bug, it circulates through the system, and the form it takes depends on where it lands in the body.

It's also the bug that responds the poorest to vaccine. Always booster H somnus vaccine. :!: One shot is a waste of time.

Sorry to hear about the heifer. :( It seems like it's impossible to get 100 % of them to survive. Just when you think you've got it made, some disaster strikes. You've still done well with that good calving rate though!
 
Kato said:
You've still done well with that good calving rate though!

<chuckle> I got alot to live up to. My grandparents ran 50 Shorthorn and Red Polls from 1930 - 1982. In that time, they had 1 vet visit and lost 3 calves total (of the ones that calved live calves. They never kept a calving rate). I may grow bigger calves than they ever did, but its pretty tough to argue with 3 dead calves in 52 years.

Rod
 
Seems like if you have a good percent of live calves born seems you make up for it somewhere down the road. Like the vet said yesterday-sometimes its just out of our control. Glad the vet told my husband that as I have a thousand times and got a nasty reply!
 
I see where you're coming from. I had a 6 weight steer bloat up and died a couple days after I weaned on Mon. No grain yet whatsoever. Got the calves started on cracked corn/DDG mix now.

Had some older alfalfa/grass mix hay and Smartlic barrels in the pen. Had one do similar prior to giving my fall shots. (Novartis Virashield 6 +HS, Pfizer One Shot Ultra)

IMO, bloaters seem to have a death wish. Whether they are caught in time to mess with them or just find them 4 feet in the air, it always turns out the same! :???:
 
I had a 600 or so bull calf thie past month that was acting a little listless - - seemed to have a bloated belly - - - not normal bloat very low down.

Had the vet out and it seems that when I turned the cattle out to clean up the fields after harvest he must have picked up a couple of cockel burs in the hair around his penis and when he urinated and drew it back he carried the burs back inside him. He then urinated inside his belly and poisened himself. The vet stuck her finger in and removed the burs and gave several antibiotics and said just wait if the bladder was burst he would die but if it was intact he would recover - - - he died :(

I have never heard of this but in talking to others it seems it is not all that uncommon.

Just goes to show they will find new ways to die no matter what you do.
 
We've seen that in calves that had urinary stones, but that's the first time I've heard of burrs doing it! :shock:

We call it waterbelly around here. Sometimes it's a problem if the calves have been off water for a time during pasture season, usually if the water source is unreliable. A couple of months down the road, they can develop stones that become lodged in the urinary tract. Our vet treats it by doing a really slick surgery where he goes in and re-routes the waterworks to come out the back so the steer functions like a heifer. No more blockage, and no more problem. Not nearly as easy as pulling out burrs though. :?
 
On a plus side, I think we finally figured out whats happening with the other sick calves I've been having this year. A guy that I cowboy with was over to pick up a load of bales and he poked his head in on a calf I was treating (it went down on Sat morning. Same as three others: sudden scours, maybe runny nose, maybe not. Responds to NuFlor). He noticed that its nose was looking a bit grey, and told me the vet warned him about an IBR strain thats been making its way around the country this year and last. Apparently the typical IBR vaccines haven't been working, except for CattleMaster 4. It seems odd, as I use BoviShield (Same maker as CM4), but I'll run the critters through on Monday and see if it takes care of things. Getting a little tired of stuffing $100 worth of NuFlor into every calf on the place, lol.

Rod
 
Waterbelly is urinary calculi disease and there are two types.

Being on a good year-round mineral program can help prevent waterbelly. Sometimes there is a need for the mineral to be as high as
6 to 1 calcium to phosphorus. Producers with problems that went to a year-round mineral program saw a vast difference in the incidence of the disease.

Check out Ivan Rush's (Extension Beef Specialist, University of Nebraska) work on it at: ianrpubs.unl.edu/beef/g465.htm

Sorry, I don't know how to post a link, so you will have to type it in the address bar. Guess I need to learn how to do that.
 
I had never heard of this. I was quite surprised to see her run her finger in and pull out two burrs.

According to her ( the vet) she almost always sees this in animals that are cleaning up tilled fields as cattle will eat the burr plant in pastures and not allow it to set seed. However in the fence rows of tilled fields the plant can mature and then cause the problem.

I would have sworn I had no burrs on the farm but in looking after word I found about a half dozen plants ( not many on 300 acres) but I guess it would only take one.

I guess you live and learn / die and forget it all.
 

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