Sick calf after section

Finno59

had a section yesterday on blue heifer , calf was a charolais , it was 3 hours before calf was out. Tongue was swellled for a while after birth. its been a day and calf hasnt stood and doenst show any signs of it , not even when we lift him, very lifeless stomach tubed him the beastings. What can we do to give him best chance?

whelan1

sit him over a small square bale of straw to try and get him standing

vanderbadger

Finno59 wrote: »

had a section yesterday on blue heifer , calf was a charolais , it was 3 hours before calf was out. Tongue was swellled for a while after birth. its been a day and calf hasnt stood and doenst show any signs of it , not even when we lift him, very lifeless stomach tubed him the beastings. What can we do to give him best chance?

would the calf have a bit of fluid in the lungs? does it shake its head a bit like its a bit dizzy? if that happens they can be totally lifeless, i suppose if it was a section they might be less likely to take fluid though, a diaretic injection will clear the lungs in a day

Finno59

vanderbadger wrote: »

would the calf have a bit of fluid in the lungs? does it shake its head a bit like its a bit dizzy? if that happens they can be totally lifeless, i suppose if it was a section they might be less likely to take fluid though, a diaretic injection will clear the lungs in a day

No doesnt really shake his head. He wouldnt have much fluid in the lungs id say. No energy at all. have him under heater on straw.Doubt he'l make it.

Kovu

May be an old cure but a wee dose of poteen wouldn't hurt him. Heat him from the inside out. Heat lamp and massaging his legs to get strength into them may help as well. Shame to lose him after getting him alive.

what happen

Finno59 wrote: »

had a section yesterday on blue heifer , calf was a charolais , it was 3 hours before calf was out. Tongue was swellled for a while after birth. its been a day and calf hasnt stood and doenst show any signs of it , not even when we lift him, very lifeless stomach tubed him the beastings. What can we do to give him best chance?

how is the calf doing now.

Finno59

what happen wrote: »

how is the calf doing now.

Same , lying down same place since yesterday , head down eyes half closed but breathing is ok.

reilig

Finno59 wrote: »

Same , lying down same place since yesterday , head down eyes half closed but breathing is ok.

The only thing that you can do is keep him going. Is he moaning in pain? If not, then he should be ok. Your vet can give you an injection that will put a bit opf life back into him and encourage him to suck. Might be worth chatting to him.

Finno59

reilig wrote: »

The only thing that you can do is keep him going. Is he moaning in pain? If not, then he should be ok. Your vet can give you an injection that will put a bit opf life back into him and encourage him to suck. Might be worth chatting to him.

Ya going in this morning to talk to him. Calf moved a bit last night so thats a good sign but a long way to go still. :rolleyes:

reilig

Finno59 wrote: »

Ya going in this morning to talk to him. Calf moved a bit last night so thats a good sign but a long way to go still. :rolleyes:

That's a good sign. Keep the milk going into him - half a pint every 2 or 3 hours. It will keep him going. Don't give him too much though.

Finno59

ya , vet gave a 5ml injection to be put in to muscle to make him hungry and lively so will see how that goes.

reilig

Finno59 wrote: »

ya , vet gave a 5ml injection to be put in to muscle to make him hungry and lively so will see how that goes.

Sometimes that injection works, sometimes it doesn't. It should give him power in his tongue to suck. It will take a day or 2, but hopefully he will be ok. I had a similar problem with a calf 2 weeks ago. Not a section but a hard pull. The injection worked for him, he was sucking out of a bottle in a few hours. He was too heavy to stand so we were eventually able to prop him on a bale to get him to suck the cow. His poor legs were kind of pointing outwards and they wouldn't take the weight of him so we made splints with small pieces of timber and cotton wool - fixed them to the legs with long cloth bandages and wrapped him up in duck tape - he was able to stand up in them and suck for himself. I took them off him yesterday and let him out. While he's still a bit wobbly, he'd walking around and the legs have bulked up a bit. Its amazing the lengths you go to to make sure a calf lives, but its worth it in the end to have a live calf.

Finno59

reilig wrote: »

Sometimes that injection works, sometimes it doesn't. It should give him power in his tongue to suck. It will take a day or 2, but hopefully he will be ok. I had a similar problem with a calf 2 weeks ago. Not a section but a hard pull. The injection worked for him, he was sucking out of a bottle in a few hours. He was too heavy to stand so we were eventually able to prop him on a bale to get him to suck the cow. His poor legs were kind of pointing outwards and they wouldn't take the weight of him so we made splints with small pieces of timber and cotton wool - fixed them to the legs with long cloth bandages and wrapped him up in duck tape - he was able to stand up in them and suck for himself. I took them off him yesterday and let him out. While he's still a bit wobbly, he'd walking around and the legs have bulked up a bit. Its amazing the lengths you go to to make sure a calf lives, but its worth it in the end to have a live calf.

Some great DIY work there , glad to hear ur calf got there in the end. hopefully injection will work , will give it to him soon. will keep ye posted

Finno59

still down , makes no effort with his legs at all. Put him up on a bale every so often but nothing. taking his beastings tho.

reilig

Finno59 wrote: »

still down , makes no effort with his legs at all. Put him up on a bale every so often but nothing. taking his beastings tho.

Once he's taking the milk he'll make it. Could take him a while before he stands up.

Finno59

finally after many days sitting on bales and giving him vitimins and minerals he is walking and sucking lovely calf didnt think he'd make it early on

pakalasa

whelan1 wrote: »

sit him over a small square bale of straw to try and get him standing

Whelan1 - Thanks for the tip. Saved me a lot of hassle at the weekend. I had a big charolais bull calf that came backwards after a difficult pull. He was very weak, head flat out on the ground. No way he was standing.
I throw him over a bale and held his head up to the cow in the crush. Couple of sucks and the tail starts wagging. Gave him his belly full and lifted him back out into the field. Went back to get the cow and when I came out, he was up on all fours.:D
Often the simple things that work best.