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cow down

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  • 05-02-2012 11:03pm
    #1
    valtra2
    Registered Users Posts: 726 ✭✭✭


    hey guys have a cow down she calfed this morning and went back to see her this evening and she cant get up, gave here two bottles of calicuim under the sin at about 6 but she has not got up yet, she getting up half way, was talking to vet earlier and he said just give her calicum, will i leave her till morning and get vet outif she not up, also the floor is very slippy in ther just cleaned it out yersterday and just straw on it so maybe she might have hurt herself, any advise would be gratfull,suckler cow


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    #2
    Grecco
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,007 ✭✭✭Grecco


    Could be mastitis, might be no harm to check


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    #3
    valtra2
    Registered Users Posts: 726 ✭✭✭valtra2


    no checked that, milk fine and calf had sucked, seen her suck and have milked cow to give some to calf tonight


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    #4
    lefthooker
    Registered Users Posts: 1,691 ✭✭✭lefthooker


    Get the vet out tomorrow, no harm to check her over.

    Had something similar last weekend. Gave a cow a bottle of calcium after calving as a precaution, thought she was a bit wobbly. Anyway she was down in the cubicles the next morning so gave her another two bottles, under the skin. We got her out of the house to where the she could get a better grip but she was making no progress that afternoon so called the vet out. He gave her two bottles in the vein and a few injections, she was up within twenty mins.

    Cows are funny old creatures.


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    #5
    Grecco
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,007 ✭✭✭Grecco


    Just sounded a bit like a cow of mine that went down, she had mastitis, only got her up a few days ago but her udder is knackered


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    #6
    Bizzum
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,034 ✭✭✭Bizzum


    An odd one of ours would be very wobbly or indeed not able to get up at all after a difficult calving.
    It generally would be short lived and they would get stronger every day.

    What sort of a calving was it?


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    #7
    6480
    Registered Users Posts: 725 ✭✭✭6480


    valtra2 wrote: »
    hey guys have a cow down she calfed this morning and went back to see her this evening and she cant get up, gave here two bottles of calicuim under the sin at about 6 but she has not got up yet, she getting up half way, was talking to vet earlier and he said just give her calicum, will i leave her till morning and get vet outif she not up, also the floor is very slippy in ther just cleaned it out yersterday and just straw on it so maybe she might have hurt herself, any advise would be gratfull,suckler cow

    i had the same at half two today , a milker that calved at 8 yesterday evening , was in a bedded shed with her calf till she was milked this morning and let out with the other milkers on the slats , i noticed her not able to get up off cubilce , gave her 3 bottles of calicum ,at 8 this evening i folled her out of the cubalic and on to a spare mat, she nearly got up i got another mat and put it in front of her and she got up in a few minutes . i got her back up to the bedded shed (which is a base of woodchip and straw on top ) and she is back eating like a horse . its mainly fear that stops a cow from getting up and if u can get her on to good bedding it takes the fear of slipping and doing the spilts .


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    #8
    snowman707
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,279 ✭✭✭snowman707


    6480 wrote: »
    its mainly fear that stops a cow from getting up and if u can get her on to good bedding it takes the fear of slipping and doing the spilts .
    +1
    if possible ... into the power box and out the field is the best option


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    #9
    valtra2
    Registered Users Posts: 726 ✭✭✭valtra2


    cheers guys, no she calfed on her own no bother, ya hope to get her out that house in morning if i can, will get vet in morning if she not up, by the way how much bottles of calcuim show a cow get and at what intervils if she down, thanks


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    #10
    whelan1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,786 ✭✭✭✭whelan1


    if you can give her a bottle or 2 in the vein, works better than under the skin... depends how bad she is, if shes grindind her teeth , its milk fever


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    #11
    pakalasa
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,552 ✭✭✭pakalasa


    I'd agree with the fear thing too. Get her out in the soft ground for a few days, give her some Dairy Nuts and she'll be fine. I've often put my shoulder behind a cow trying to get up like that, like a rugby prop. Not one for the health and safety officer, but it works.:D


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    #12
    valtra2
    Registered Users Posts: 726 ✭✭✭valtra2


    cheers guys, all sorted went out to check cows last night at 2 and she was up, all fine now, have her moved to better house now,


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    #13
    Forthright
    Registered Users Posts: 41 ✭Forthright


    Hi lads,
    Had a Sim Cow that calved last Thursday, Lim calf fine (just about) but the cow is still down. Now she did get up a few times that day but hasn't since. It was a f**k up on our part wrt calving as she was calving too long and the calf was massive. she couldn!t bring the head but once that came we brought him handy enough. We have her out and are managing to get the calf sucking while she is down. She is eating and drinking fine but her legs were straying from side to side before calving so fear she may have got the splits or a bad muscle strain.

    Anyway firstly would lads be in favour or against hoisting the cow? Have heard good and bad.
    Secondly we have her back kegs strapped together so she doesn't get the splits, good or bad?
    Would appreciate any advice lads. thanks.


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    #14
    farmerjj
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,088 ✭✭✭farmerjj


    Forthright wrote: »
    Hi lads,
    Had a Sim Cow that calved last Thursday, Lim calf fine (just about) but the cow is still down. Now she did get up a few times that day but hasn't since. It was a f**k up on our part wrt calving as she was calving too long and the calf was massive. she couldn!t bring the head but once that came we brought him handy enough. We have her out and are managing to get the calf sucking while she is down. She is eating and drinking fine but her legs were straying from side to side before calving so fear she may have got the splits or a bad muscle strain.

    Anyway firstly would lads be in favour or against hoisting the cow? Have heard good and bad.
    Secondly we have her back kegs strapped together so she doesn't get the splits, good or bad?
    Would appreciate any advice lads. thanks.

    Could it be milk fever?


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    #15
    WheatenBriar
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,170 ✭✭✭WheatenBriar


    Yes definitely it's worth lifting her daily with the loader and cow harness that clamps below her hips
    We did this a month ago every day for 20 mins with a super cow for 2 weeks and shaking at first she eventually put full weight on her hind legs and now she's pumping 6+ gallons a day into the tank,wasn't that worth it versus the knackery?


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    #16
    WheatenBriar
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,170 ✭✭✭WheatenBriar


    farmerjj wrote: »
    Could it be milk fever?

    If it was untreated milk fever, the cow would be dead by now as this happened on Thursday

    Definitely hoist her and have her out the field-better grip


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    #17
    Forthright
    Registered Users Posts: 41 ✭Forthright


    farmerjj wrote: »
    Could it be milk fever?

    No we checked for that and mastitis but she's fine. It's almost definitely the tough calving. She's a second calver but when we bought her around this time last year she was after a C section to bring her first calf. So this was her first proper calving and between the big calf and long calving she is sore I reckon.


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    #18
    Forthright
    Registered Users Posts: 41 ✭Forthright


    WheatenBriar wrote: »
    Yes definitely it's worth lifting her daily with the loader and cow harness that clamps below her hips
    We did this a month ago every day for 20 mins with a super cow for 2 weeks and shaking at first she eventually put full weight on her hind legs and now she's pumping 6+ gallons a day into the tank,wasn't that worth it versus the knackery?
    Good to hear. We have been hoisting her since she went out alright but a few lads we spoke to said they wouldn't be in favour of it. Then again other lads like yourself said the opposite so it's hard to know what's best.
    Anyone ever put straps on a cows back legs to stop the 2 legs from sliding away from each other (splits)? I wonder is it much of a hindrance to a cow if she's trying to get up.


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    #19
    atlantic mist
    Registered Users Posts: 1,251 ✭✭✭atlantic mist


    could it be phosphors deficiency, its similar to milk fever, if not responding to calcium id get vet to give a shot of phospors, they would be wobbly for a week after being deficient


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    #20
    whelan2
    Registered Users Posts: 29,079 ✭✭✭✭whelan2


    Forthright wrote: »
    Good to hear. We have been hoisting her since she went out alright but a few lads we spoke to said they wouldn't be in favour of it. Then again other lads like yourself said the opposite so it's hard to know what's best.
    Anyone ever put straps on a cows back legs to stop the 2 legs from sliding away from each other (splits)? I wonder is it much of a hindrance to a cow if she's trying to get up.
    the rope will do no harm, would give her a bottle or 2 of calcium just to cover her


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    #21
    The man in red and black
    Registered Users Posts: 666 ✭✭✭The man in red and black


    I know every case is different and different people advise different things but I find giving bottles of calcium just in case to cows that are wobbly or weak but not down can do more harm than good.

    Reasoning behing this is that giving calcium to a cow that does not need it can drive her blood calcium very high, this in turn can shut down the parathyroid hormone response which is what's needed for a cow to mobilize calcium from her own bones and reserves. This causes the cow to then bounce from high calcium to low calcium and can cause an induced milk fever which is often poorly responsive to therapy. Any cow that is standing shouldn't be getting calcium in the vein or under the skin unless there is a very good reason for it.

    Boeheringer have brought out Bovi-Kalc boluses to give to cows at calving and 12 hours later. The logic behind them is that there is two different types of calcium, one fast and one slower release. The cow will only absorb as much as she needs from the intestines and no risk of driving her blood calcium high. I think they are to be launched in Ireland soon if not already. They will help the cows that may have been going to go down but also(and more importantly in alot of situations as it is a higher % of cows) help the cows that have slowed intestinal transit due to subclinical hypocalcaemia and help get the appetite going again.

    Also on that note I wouldn't wait long before calling a vet for a down cow, I'd always rather get out of bed a midnight and treat a cow who has been down an hour than go out at 8am to treat the cow down since midnight and starting to suffer from crush injuries.

    link to bovi-kalc: http://www.bi-vetmedica.com/species/cattle/products/Bovikalc.html


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