3 Day Old Cow Wont Eat

Yes, they do poop while laying down. Our bottle baby did it all the time. As long as it is not running out it should be fine.

You can use a scotch comb or curry comb to clean her up without wetting her.

Got electrolytes into Mira today and she ate well today as well. She was showing more interest today in what was going on. I gave her fresh new hay, was able to clean up her tale and bottom better, and my father helped me get a light into the barn that she can't run into/knock over so I have better light to work with her at night / in the early morning. And if I need to it can be a heating lamp so that's a plus.

I haven't been able to take her temperature yet due to family emergency so that's a job for tomorrow. But so far the electrolyte, The LA 200 shot, and the extra attention I can give her are helping out it seems. I'll still be trying to contact a vet tomorrow as well since I still want their opinion.

I've also started to really understand why people call cows big dogs. Mira licks me like a dog and loves getting scratches and side/belly rubs

Liz - Glad she is doing better. If she has a respiratory problem, LA200 is NOT the drug of choice. That is really good for pink-eye & footrot. Please ask the vet about if he/she thinks you should give her an antibiotic for respiratory??

Resflor is a great antibiotic for respiratory issues. But when administering antibiotics to calves it's not a bad idea to give some probiotics as well as the antibiotics can really mess with the digestion process. Just something to think about.

She needs to get from vet, so it will be his call. But, probiotics is very important.

I'll of course be going to the vet tomorrow. This week has had no time to go in. But I'll definitely be looking into probiotics and such.

The LA 200 seems to be helping her a bit right now but I know you all are right about me needing to talk to a vet.

She hasn't been having anymore breathing problems. She's been more affectionate and a bit more active. A little slow as she moves around and still a bit wobbly but compared to the past she's showing good improvement.

I'll let you all know what the vet says and what I do.

New Update: My vet wasn't in but his partner was in and he knows me so I talked to him about what happened on Wednesday night and the heavy breathing and etc.

He got ahold of the main vet I talk to and they suggested Thiamine since they said it sounds like polio. So I'm to give her a shot twice a day for the next three days. So I got some thiamine and I'll be giving it to her the next three days.

His other suggestion was star gazed. But he was surprised since she can follow me around still and was able to eat. That's why he suggested to see how she does with the Thiamine the next three days and after...

If she has Polio then she's as good as culled... But we can try

Did you tell him about almost dying with minerals instead of milk

dun":3hw0yjpd said:

Did you tell him about almost dying with minerals instead of milk

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Actually I did. I brought the bag of the formula with the stuff to even let him know just what I did because I'm desperate to make sure I did everything right.

Guess what? It wasn't minerals. He told me it was a mineral bag but the stuff in the bag was OLD formula and therefore wasn't as effective as fresh formula. I was very confused but he assured me I wasn't giving her minerals but said it was still a good thing I gave her the newer formula since judging by the stuff the farm hand got for me, the stuff was old and just not the best to have been giving the newborn calf...

So I've been pretty upset because I really thought I had mineral poisoned my calf these last few days and turns out I was giving her shitty formula that was like four years old (that's what the vet and workers guesstimated it to be since it was so stiff and clumpy)...

So I didn't poison her at least but I was close enough to cutting off a proper source of nutritions all the same... I really suck at this you guys.

I was just curious if the minerals might have caused whatever her issues are. Glad to hear it didn;t

dun":3qlns6xj said:

I was just curious if the minerals might have caused whatever her issues are. Glad to hear it didn;t

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I'm glad to but I'm still sad for poor Mira having so many issues and she's not even a month old... I'm really hoping this Thiamine treatment will be helpful. I don't expect it to cure everything and make her well because if it is polio then... Well it could go either way. She could turn out okay with mild damage or I didn't get to her in time and she's gone blind and has brain damage or could just drop dead out of nowhere. I guess all I can do now is just do this and observe how she is... Poor calf.

Cattle polio is not the same as people polio.

Jeanne - Simme Valley":1c2uowcm said:

Cattle polio is not the same as people polio.

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It's not? Well... They didn't really explain about it to me. Just that the symptoms nd history I gave sound like Polio. Guess I jumped the gun to it being well human polio

I am not familiar with symptoms, but you might check these sites out:

https://vetmed.iastate.edu/vdpam/resear ... r-toxicity
"Polio in Cattle can be Caused by Sulfur Toxicity. QUICK LINK: Sulfur Calculator. Polioencephalomalacia (PEM) was first reported in 1956 and was described as a neurologic disorder of cattle characterized by blindness, ataxia, recumbancy and seizures. The micropathologic description was a laminar cortical necrosis."

Watch for "polio" this fall | Beef Magazine
www.beefmagazine.com/mag/beef_watch_polio_fall
Polioencephalomalacia is a nutritionally related disorder, commonly referred to simply as "polio." It is an infrequent but frustrating malady that usually begins occurring about this time of year. There are a couple of other diseases that can appear similar, but are caused by infectious agents.Although not discussed in textbooks ...

Jeanne - Simme Valley":2pbcrc9v said:

I am not familiar with symptoms, but you might check these sites out:

https://vetmed.iastate.edu/vdpam/resear ... r-toxicity
"Polio in Cattle can be Caused by Sulfur Toxicity. QUICK LINK: Sulfur Calculator. Polioencephalomalacia (PEM) was first reported in 1956 and was described as a neurologic disorder of cattle characterized by blindness, ataxia, recumbancy and seizures. The micropathologic description was a laminar cortical necrosis."

Watch for "polio" this fall | Beef Magazine
http://www.beefmagazine.com/mag/beef_watch_polio_fall
Polioencephalomalacia is a nutritionally related disorder, commonly referred to simply as "polio." It is an infrequent but frustrating malady that usually begins occurring about this time of year. There are a couple of other diseases that can appear similar, but are caused by infectious agents.Although not discussed in textbooks ...

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So it's kind of like a vitamin b deficiency that can kill / affects the neurological system of calves... Least that's how I'm understanding it.

Mira's poop is greener and yellow now. It's still runny and she's still getting it all over her butt. Otherwise she's actkng her normal self. Walks around a lot, stumbling, and licking her nose and mouth a lot now.

Question! When should I try introducing water and calf pellets? Ive been leaving water for her to drink in here but she shows no interest in it so I wondered if she's too little still? She's gonna be 20 Days Old tomorrow and I know after awhile they say you should try giving them starter pellets and what not just not sure when to try that?

Just leave the water in a small bucket for her to nose at it when she wants. If it freezes then just take it out at night and give her just a small amount to get used to. The pellets or calf feed is something she might be a little slow at getting started with since she has had some setbacks. They will try mouthing it at anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 weeks. Don't worry, as she gets more stable and all, she will start looking for other stuff to try. My bottle babies will constantly try chewing the baling strings on the hay bales. I use them to tie some of the gates etc., so they are always chewing on them. I have gone back to some short chains for the time being. If she has some hay in there then she will be trying stuff. Let her just do it at her own pace.
She has come a long way.

farmerjan":1f9ocfph said:

Just leave the water in a small bucket for her to nose at it when she wants. If it freezes then just take it out at night and give her just a small amount to get used to. The pellets or calf feed is something she might be a little slow at getting started with since she has had some setbacks. They will try mouthing it at anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 weeks. Don't worry, as she gets more stable and all, she will start looking for other stuff to try. My bottle babies will constantly try chewing the baling strings on the hay bales. I use them to tie some of the gates etc., so they are always chewing on them. I have gone back to some short chains for the time being. If she has some hay in there then she will be trying stuff. Let her just do it at her own pace.
She has come a long way.

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Thanks, Jan. She's started nosing the hay lately and licks it sometimes so she might be getting curious. I'll keep trying the small bucket of water thing too. I think the bucket I've been using is too big for her right now.

If she sucks your fingers, lower your fingers until they are in the water. Once her nose hits the water she should start to at least slurp some of it. Eventually she should drink it on her own. That is how we taught all our bottle babies.