Weak calf- 3 weeks old

patsy_mccabe

3 week old calf here that's still very weak. I always find her lying on her own. I stand her up and she wags the rail, licks her lips etc. She's just that bit weak and dull in herself. I started feeding the cow some dairy nuts this morning to try and boost milk. This her 4th calf and while she wasn't great for milk, she reared an ok calf.

Is there anything I could give the calf to get it thriving better. Would an egg a day help her?

Mooooo

Take a Dung sample in case there is anything up that way. Is the cow letting the calf drink?. Electrolytes would do no harm anyway.

tanko

Have you checked that the cow has much milk?
The dairy nuts should help.

patsy_mccabe

Calf is drinking cow ok. This morning calf had a good lather of milk around its mouth after drinking. Have a sneaky suspicion another stronger calf is drinking her too. I've seen him trying to drink her but she didn't let him. I'll seperate them when I have him polled.

Calf is just too lifeless for my liking.

Albert Johnson

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

Calf is drinking cow ok. This morning calf had a good lather of milk around its mouth after drinking. Have a sneaky suspicion another stronger calf is drinking her too. I've seen him trying to drink her but she didn't let him. I'll seperate them when I have him polled.

Calf is just too lifeless for my liking.

You could be right about another calf stealing the milk from her which would definitely be an issue if the cow is a poor milker to start with. I'd try and separate them immediately tbh as every day without sufficient milk is detrimental to the younger calf. Do you think the weaker calf would have gotten sufficient colostrum after birth? It's all the same now but I usually find that any calf that develops issues usually didn't get enough good quality beastings and has a weaker immune system.

The cow hardly has mastitis in some of the quarter's and therefore has even less or poorer quality milk? A neighbor lost a fine CHx bull calf a few months back when he was a week old. He was sucking the cow but whatever dose was in the elder had him poisoned before they spotted why he wasn't thriving. It would be no harm to check that the calf's mouth is fully developed and unobstructed so that he's able to suckle and ingest the milk properly.

There's lots of possible causes but if you're not happy with the calf's progress then there's almost certainly something amiss. At that age the calf should be very lively and thriving away. I'd be inclined to try and sort something about sooner rather than later as it's a critical time for development and they can still go down hill rapidly at that age.

_Brian

If it’s handy I’d be checking the calf’s temperature. Maybe consider a multivitamin injection.

oneten

A shot of selenium works here on calves like that , calf wouldn't be sick , no temp or anything just lifeless . lazy lump always lying down
cant remember the name of it right now, white liquid injection from the vet

tanko

Vitesel??

whelan2

Is the calfs navel ok?

oneten

tanko wrote: »

Vitesel??

thats it . on the ball
you use it ?

tanko

oneten wrote: »

thats it . on the ball
you use it ?

Yeah, my vets would have advised me to give it to a few weak calves over the years.

patsy_mccabe

whelan2 wrote: »

Is the calfs navel ok?

Ya, seems ok. I did it with iodine anyway.

I found her this evening drinking the cow and her tail wagging like mad. She just needs that little boost to get going.
I had to stomach tube her when born as wasn't sure if she drank. Could only get a litre from the mother at the time and wasn't so sure if she had drank the following day. I've been watching her like a hawk since.

50HX

With the temp change that's coming would you house the 2 of them plus rule out another calf drinkin mother as posted earlier?

patsy_mccabe

Would this be Joint ill ? I took this pic this morning.
It's the same calf. I noticed that she has biten the skin raw on her front shins. I take this as a sign she is in pain.

Otherwise she has improved a bit. I removed the other calf I thought was drinking the cow and I'm feeding meal to the mother.

whelan2

Did you give the calf multimin or some tonic? The hair loss I would treat with tonavet or something similar. Will the calf eat calf crunch?

patsy_mccabe

whelan2 wrote: »

Did you give the calf multimin or some tonic? The hair loss I would treat with tonavet or something similar. Will the calf eat calf crunch?

I might try some Growvite Forte on her.

tanko

Her right knee looks swollen in that pic, is she walking ok on it?

patsy_mccabe

tanko wrote: »

Her right knee looks swollen in that pic, is she walking ok on it?

Better front pic. They look ok to me.
Went out again to look at her and couldn't find her for a while. Lying in the rushes. I stood her up and she passed clear urine.
Younger calf with them and it running around with the cows.

whelan2

Do you think has the cow enough milk for her?

patsy_mccabe

Pic...

patsy_mccabe

whelan2 wrote: »

Do you think has the cow enough milk for her?

I'm given her dairy nuts so we'll see. Grass ain't great though.

Limestone Cowboy

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

I'm given her dairy nuts so we'll see. Grass ain't great though.

Did he get any bit of a scour? I had 1 out of a springer in June that got crypto and he spent 2 months trying to die on me before he came around.

Lime Tree Farm

we had two very frosty nights, maybe it is taking the calf a while to warm up in the morning and get going, especially if she isn't a fleshy calf. Maybe put them in a straw bed a night until she perks up.

I would give her the Growvite, 10 ml dose will last her 4-6 weeks.

patsy_mccabe

Limestone Cowboy wrote: »

Did he get any bit of a scour? I had 1 out of a springer in June that got crypto and he spent 2 months trying to die on me before he came around.

No scour whatsoever. This one just born weak and still slow to get going.

Lady Haywire

We had the exact same with that big dozy white bull. Would find him nibbling at his front legs, was always lagging behind the rest & would have to bring him to the cows. Funny smelling dung too but no scour.
Have you ever seen her nibbling at grass at all? Watching ours we never ever seen him graze or cud so gave him Kefir for a few days & a selenium shot & then tried him with soft grass but would have to tempt him to eat it. After about a week we finally noticed him grazing by himself.
Perhaps try her with some hay & see if she'll pick at it in the field.

whelan2

We had one a bit like that in the spring and we got the vet to him. He was about 5 weeks old, he was riddled with lice. Vet was saying you wouldn't normally think of it in such a young animal

patsy_mccabe

I gave it a dose today anyway of Growvite Forte. Caught her in the field with a strap and knocked her to the ground. She was lively enough now, but you would expect her to put up more of a fight.

patsy_mccabe

Lady Haywire wrote: »

We had the exact same with that big dozy white bull. Would find him nibbling at his front legs, was always lagging behind the rest & would have to bring him to the cows. Funny smelling dung too but no scour.
Have you ever seen her nibbling at grass at all? Watching ours we never ever seen him graze or cud so gave him Kefir for a few days & a selenium shot & then tried him with soft grass but would have to tempt him to eat it. After about a week we finally noticed him grazing by himself.
Perhaps try her with some hay & see if she'll pick at it in the field.

I'll keep an eye on her and see if grazing. Thanks.

green daries

As Whelan says a pour on for lice would be no harm have seen similar cases of weaker calves with lice fairly knocks them the grovite will help with her immune system shot of selenium possibly would help

patsy_mccabe

Just an update on this calf -
I had the vet out today with her. She has been breathing heavy for the last 4 days or so. I have her in a shed on her own 5 days and let the cow into her 3 times a day. I thought at first she was just winded from suckling the cow, with the cow having so little milk. I had listened to her lungs, but couldn't hear anything. It's like she is restricted in the throat or head. She also has a swelling on the left side of her mouth.
Vet reckoned she maybe got a kick from the cow. But the cow is quiet and mad about her. Maybe she got it outside from another cow. Vet is a bit baffled by it. He reckons she is getting enough milk and to get her on hay/straw first to get the rumen going before giving her meal.

Base price

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

Just an update on this calf -
I had the vet out today with her. She has been breathing heavy for the last 4 days or so. I have her in a shed on her own 5 days and let the cow into her 3 times a day. I thought at first she was just winded from suckling the cow, with the cow having so little milk. I had listened to her lungs, but couldn't hear anything. It's like she is restricted in the throat or head. She also has a swelling on the left side of her mouth.
Vet reckoned she maybe got a kick from the cow. But the cow is quiet and mad about her. Maybe she got it outside from another cow. Vet is a bit baffled by it. He reckons she is getting enough milk and to get her on hay/straw first to get the rumen going before giving her meal.

I presume the Vet ruled out diphtheria.

patsy_mccabe

Base price wrote: »

I presume the Vet ruled out diphtheria.

He never mentioned it. You could be right though. It looks like it from my quick google search. He left 2 injections of Marbocyl. Would that cover it?

Lime Tree Farm

Did the Vet examine inside her mouth and tongue.

We had one newborn, couldn't get it to suck. Maybe at 3 days old called the Vet, he was baffled until by chance it was mentioned that she seemed to flinch when trying to get the teat into her mouth. Sure enough her tongue was cut, probably by her teeth during birth.

Marbocyl is a strong antibiotic

Westernrock

Meal will develop the rumen quicker than hay or straw. Marbocyl is a good antibiotic but wouldn’t be first choice to treat diphtheria but maybe they are trying to cover a few options.

Base price

Betamox injection and spray inside their mouth with a solution of Iodine. I mixed 1 part standard 10% iodine with 3 parts water in a old windowlene spray type bottle and spray two or three times a day.

50HX

Defo not joint ill??

Check up underneath the hips ...bubble wrap like feeling

Base price

Patsy, how did the calf do today.

patsy_mccabe

Base price wrote: »

Patsy, how did the calf do today.

Slight improvement thanks. The swelling on the side of the mouth has gone down a bit and she's not breathing as heavy. Starting to eat a bit more meal too.

Base price

Patsy, just wondering how is she getting on.

patsy_mccabe

Base price wrote: »

Patsy, just wondering how is she getting on.

She's determined to live anyway. I rang the vet after his first visit and he laughed at the suggestion that it was diphtheria. He gave me more injections (long acting antibiotic and anti-inflammatory). Kinda mad over it as I'm almost sure that's what she has. I found this video and that's exactly how my calf is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j-XDOqxJzI

I did what you suggested with the iodine spray, but I gave 2 quick sprays in under the tongue, straight from the 10% concentration. I do this twice a day. It seemed to make a big difference but still a slight nasal restriction there. She's eating calf pencils and nibbling hay.
Thanks for your help, by the way.

patsy_mccabe

I dunno what to do with this calf. Last Friday she was breathing mad heavily and couldn't drink the cow. Left her a whole day and rang the vet. He said he couldn't do anything for her. He said to go again with a bottle of marbocyl and a shot of dexafort.
Morning after the first shots and calf is drinking cow again. I know once the injectons stop tomorrow, she'll go back to breathing heavily. She's also going over on her front knuckles when standing.
This is her drinking this morning.
I hate giving up on her when she's putting up such a fight. Any ideas?

Lady Haywire

I dunno Patsy, could try a blood test? It's what I'd do in that case. Just don't like the look of her neck, like she has very little reserves if she did decide to stop drinking/eating but you're giving her every chance!

Did the vet listen to her heart & have you seen her playing. Hardly a heart issue? Had a couple over the years which died to murmur, were both very lethargic.

Base price

The pneumonia is of concern. I looks like her lungs are damaged from the previous bout and her heart maybe under pressure. I would give her oral rehydration to help her along and a multi vitamin injection too.

whelan2

I had an outbreak of pneumonia a few weeks ago. They got draxxin, one shot of that. Multimin, 1 shot of that. Steroids for 5 days and noroclav for 5 days. The worst of them I gave life aid to aswell. I know what you mean by when you stop the drugs it will go back bad, but you can't keep injecting forever. You have worked hard on her so far.

funkey_monkey

Have you confidence in your vet?
Is there another practice or can you take it in and try to get another one to look at the calf?

orm0nd

she doesnt appear to have have raised temp. but have you checked it ?

can't see her eye too well but she looks like iv fluids might help

do you vaccinate for ibr ?

Westernrock

whelan2 wrote: »

I had an outbreak of pneumonia a few weeks ago. They got draxxin, one shot of that. Multimin, 1 shot of that. Steroids for 5 days and noroclav for 5 days. The worst of them I gave life aid to aswell. I know what you mean by when you stop the drugs it will go back bad, but you can't keep injecting forever. You have worked hard on her so far.

You sure they got Draxxin and noroclav? They shouldn’t be used together as they’re different classes of antibiotics.... 🀔

patsy_mccabe

funkey_monkey wrote: »

Have you confidence in your vet?
Is there another practice or can you take it in and try to get another one to look at the calf?

It's a large practice and a different vet comes every time. When you put in a call, they won't even tell you who's coming. :mad:

_Brian

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

It's a large practice and a different vet comes every time. When you put in a call, they won't even tell you who's coming. :mad:

The advantage to that though is they all hardly miss the same thing.

whelan2

Westernrock wrote: »

You sure they got Draxxin and noroclav? They shouldn’t be used together as they’re different classes of antibiotics.... ��

Yes, that's what vet prescribed.

minerleague

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

It's a large practice and a different vet comes every time. When you put in a call, they won't even tell you who's coming. :mad:

Are you giving anything like probiotic yoghurt / eggs, with calves on strong antibiotics you're affecting good gut bacteria aswell as the bad
Refuse to allow one of the vets in local practice onto farm here