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OT. but farm related

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chrisinsoky

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lost a heifer calf today. for the most part i think i know why. she seems to have had her colostrum. but she had a cold nose, tongue, etc.. pnemonia right. didnt have a chance to call the vet. though in this case i know you cant save them all. i belive she was chilled at birth, but forced colustrum down her. (not in the first hour though like your suppposed to)
and gave shots of tylon 50 as directed. usually that works great but in this case didnt help. what would yall have done. i am lookin at maybe a better way to save calves. see what everyone else is doin. it always sucks when you lose one
 
another ? what are yall useing for vaccinations?
i belive were usein the bovacare. 4 way i believe aint got the bottle in front of me but thats what the feed and seed dealer recommands
 
Sounds like you did the best you could- you can't save them all, and you can't afford to call the vet on every one that goes south on you.
 
We finally learned that some are just not going to make it... Something just not right for the animal to survive. All you can do is give it your best effort, and don't beat yourself up over the ones that don't make it..
 
i am lookin at the intial treatment of we as individuals treat a sick calf then go from there.
i want to make sure i took every step i could take to save em
 
It sounds like a classic case of hypothermia. If you had taken its' temperature you would have found it below a hundred degrees and probably dropping, indicated by a cold nose and a cold tongue. You should have taken it inside a shelter and either put a heat lamp on its chest area or like we do, use a diesel fuel heater and focus the warm air on its' nose and chest. I have saved a lot of cold babys this way. If their tongue isn't warm to the touch it means their core temperature is not around a hundred two or hundred three. They don't live very long if their cold inside. You don't need to worry much if their rear end is cold just make sure their chest area is warm and they are getting a supply of warm air into their lungs. I know sometimes it is hard to keep them warm until their little system gets to working but they need to be in out of the cold for awhile or they will never survive. I learned this from twenty years of lambing and calving in the winter.
 
thank you retired farmer. we did wrap her in a heated blanket tryin to get her temp up. when it finally did, she passed the next hour or so.
hypothermia took 1 a few years ago, i kept treatin for pnomia but the temp was low and not high like pnemonia. it was a hard birth for that 1 all around (freezin rain the cow wouldnt get in the barn. etc)
 
thank you retired farmer. we did wrap her in a heated blanket tryin to get her temp up. when it finally did, she passed the next hour or so.
hypothermia took 1 a few years ago, i kept treatin for pnomia but the temp was low and not high like pnemonia. it was a hard birth for that 1 all around (freezin rain the cow wouldnt get in the barn. etc)
 
Dairied for 30 years- for many years I had a plywood box, 3 sided that fit into a corner of the calving pen. Built it 4x4x angled door across the front, and 4 feet high. Heat lamp mounted in a cutout in the top. Saved many calves with that- they need to be dry, first of all...then warm them up, and feed colostrum. Keep drafts away. Rubbing them down and covering with straw in the calving box helps. Calf blankets was another nice invention- straps held them in place, and they worked well, holding in body heat. Cost about $30.
 
that is something we need to consider. we just put them in a dry, well ventilated stall, but its not very tight if you know what i mean. a little hut in the stall may be something to consider
 
You said you forced colostrum in her,I wonder how you did that?
A chilled calf will not even try to suckle,pooring fluid in the mouth often ends up in the lungs wich has the same effect as a bullet,they die.
feeding with a stomach tube is a far better option,as long as one again dont feed the tube down in the lungs,it takes a little know how to do that right the first time.Getting them warmed up is first priority,rubbing them vigourously with a towel gets the blood circulating while drying them of at the same time.I often put them in front of the wood stove for a while.A heatlamp is OK to keep them warm but IMO it aint enough to get them warmed up when its very cold(takes to long).
After they start feeling better they'll start looking for a drink.Then try to feed it
I been in dairy and beef for 40+ yrs and calved out plenty in very cold freezing weather.So i dealt with that situation more than i care to remember.
 
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