3 Day Old Cow Wont Eat

[LizHartley1991]

Update, I have to pretend to eat the pellets. She was eating them fine before. Now she just stares at them until I reach down to pick some up and "eat" it. I can't walk away either. I have to stand by her for at least ten minutes now. My cow daughter is spoiled or something lol

 

[angus9259]

Can you get her a calf buddy?

 

[danl]

You are certainly dedicated, calf deserves to prosper after all the effort you have put in.
I do wish you would start calling her a calf or heifer at least, would make me feel better I know
Baby cow just don't sound right.

 

[LizHartley1991]

Can you get her a calf buddy?

I would love to but no I can't. Not at the moment :/

 

[LizHartley1991]

Mira is doing good y'all. She's four months old today and getting big. Though she's still small compared to the other calves her age. She now comes to me when I click my tongue, which is something I do with my dog. It's pretty funny. She also has started giving "kisses". I had to pick up stuff off the ground around her lately - a terrible windy and rainy day blew a chunk of the barn siding and roofing off recently - and she comes up on me and "sucks" on my face while licking at me. Therefore, sloppy "kisses" lol. Also she's so big now that I gotta be careful when she gets affectionate. She about knocks me in my backside or steps on my feet when she gets excited. She's getting to big for "Mama!"

 

[farmerjan]

Glad to hear she is continuing to prosper. Once spring gets here you will see a big difference in her. Congrats on getting her to this point with your perseverance. Be careful about her getting too pushy as she doesn't know her own weight/size compared to you and can hurt you without ever meaning to. But I think you are realizing that. Always rub her from the side, never from the front and don't get into any pushing head butting type situations. And be a "good mamma" and if she gets too pushy, a serious "rap" on her nose is necessary. All kids need discipline and she does need to know her limits.

 

[LizHartley1991]

Mira will be 5 Months at the end of April. I have her now down to one bottle a day. She is very moo mad with me on that but I am working her down. By May she should be more adjusted and by the end of May she'll be 6 Months and I'll be cutting her down to 1 quart then eventually letting her loose of the bottle. I was told by my vet that this would be okay and to just make sure her grain intake keeps up. So yay! Progress!

 

[Workinonit Farm]

Very good. Time sure does go by fast. Hard to believe she's just about 5 months old already.

You've done a good job with her. Keep up the good work.

 

[LizHartley1991]

I don't know if any of you are still out there, but I figured I'd update you on some things.

As of April 27th, Mira is five months. She's huge now and comes up to eye level with my chin almost (I'm only 5'4/5'5) and she's grazing grass, eats two full dog bowls (that hold a gallon of water) of pellets and grain and drinks through three buckets of water a day (four now since it's getting Hot). Good news wise, she's still going.

Bad news, sadly, is that Mira's eyes were not fully saved. Her time of laying in the ground when she was born and the constant up and down sickness has had an effect on her eyes. They got mildly dehydrated and they're slifhlt swollen and they water often. It's not pink eye either.

We hope to have a vet over next weekend to take a look (none of us have the money to call one in and she's far too big to fit in my car anymore). A few people say it sounds like sever pink eye while a few others are saying eye cancer and others are saying it's a simple infection. Honestly no clue until someone can look at her. But I'm getting the feeling it won't be good news / expensive news.

Either way it's a rough time for the girl for her eyes. Otherwise she's really doing okay and I'm gonna be annoyed if I did all that work and she turns out freaking blind. But I'm happy with the work I've done too. Can only control so much, right?

 

[farmerjan]

Glad to see the update on Mira. Until the vet gets a chance to look at her eyes, there is probably not much else you can do. And if she is blind then you will do what has to be done. Does she seem to see anything? If there is even some sight, shadows etc., then she might manage. Let us know what the vet says. I am assuming that you will have the vet out when you need him for the other cows? Like do you do pregnancy checks on them or anything?

 

[Txpiney]

I don't know if any of you are still out there, but I figured I'd update you on some things.

As of April 27th, Mira is five months. She's huge now and comes up to eye level with my chin almost (I'm only 5'4/5'5) and she's grazing grass, eats two full dog bowls (that hold a gallon of water) of pellets and grain and drinks through three buckets of water a day (four now since it's getting Hot). Good news wise, she's still going.

Bad news, sadly, is that Mira's eyes were not fully saved. Her time of laying in the ground when she was born and the constant up and down sickness has had an effect on her eyes. They got mildly dehydrated and they're slifhlt swollen and they water often. It's not pink eye either.

We hope to have a vet over next weekend to take a look (none of us have the money to call one in and she's far too big to fit in my car anymore). A few people say it sounds like sever pink eye while a few others are saying eye cancer and others are saying it's a simple infection. Honestly no clue until someone can look at her. But I'm getting the feeling it won't be good news / expensive news.

Either way it's a rough time for the girl for her eyes. Otherwise she's really doing okay and I'm gonna be annoyed if I did all that work and she turns out freaking blind. But I'm happy with the work I've done too. Can only control so much, right?

I've been following this since it began, so yep we're out here. You have done a great job bringing Mira along. Keep us posted and keep up the good work

 

[Workinonit Farm]

If she's blind, and its not cancer, she could be okay. If she's kept in the same pasture, she'll adjust. I've known a couple of people that had blind cows, and the cows were productive.

I once raised 2 heifers that were blind. Brought them home from where I worked. Their blindness was from birth. I fed them out, and turned them into freezer beef. I know that you don't intend to do that with Mira.

 

[LizHartley1991]

Glad to see the update on Mira. Until the vet gets a chance to look at her eyes, there is probably not much else you can do. And if she is blind then you will do what has to be done. Does she seem to see anything? If there is even some sight, shadows etc., then she might manage. Let us know what the vet says. I am assuming that you will have the vet out when you need him for the other cows? Like do you do pregnancy checks on them or anything?

Nah. We only call up the vet to look over them if we see extreme trouble like a pink eye infestation or the works. We've always been more of a let nature run the race with the cattle. That's how my grandmother ran it with my grandpa and their family before it. Since I'm taking over soon - scaryyyy lol - I'll probably be trying to update on the check ups honestly.

As for seeing, yeah. I can tell she can see stuff. She can follow me and knows when I have a bottle and she knows where things are like her feed bowl and water buckets. But you can tell she has trouble seeing. Her eyes are constantly watering and she stays tucked away in the shade all the time now (that could be from the rise in warm heat from the sun though but it's something I still observe with her). I'm concerned mostly because of the heavy eye watering and the fact her eyes even look a little bulgy and the coloring is off (the whites of the eyes - the sclera - is brown/blackish with some small redding. It's like someone rubbed brown ink in her eyes (best way I can explain it anyway) and it looks painful to me.

She may be fine and it's absolutely nothing. But with her up and down health this whole time, I'm not much on taking chances with it anymore lol.

 

[Workinonit Farm]

The two blind ones I had, their eyes did not water and they were not sensitive to the light, nor did their eyes have a bulging look to them. The couple of people that I know, who had blind cows, their eyes did not water either, looked bulged nor were they sensitive to the light.

It would be a good idea to have your vet take a look, when possible.

 

[LizHartley1991]

Update: Vet is going to come take a look at her today. I'll update you all what he says. On a funny note, I had to get a new halter for Mira since the old one is broken. She's not a fan.

She keeps trying to chew it off and tugging at it. Poor thing. I feel mean because she knows that means she might be getting a shot (if he deems it needed). It is kinda funny watching her try to tug it off. She's determined!

 

[LizHartley1991]

Update: Vet is going to come take a look at her today. I'll update you all what he says. On a funny note, I had to get a new halter for Mira since the old one is broken. She's not a fan.

She keeps trying to chew it off and tugging at it. Poor thing. I feel mean because she knows that means she might be getting a shot (if he deems it needed). It is kinda funny watching her try to tug it off. She's determined!

Update 2: Mira got three shots. One for pink eye, penicillin, and a shot for black leg (he insisted on the black leg shot because of her age otherwise I don't see the purpose of it).

She is not happy right now. Heavy breathing, hiding away, and slight foaming at the mouth with spit. She's eating grass though and drinking water so I'm sure she's gonna be fine. But she was NOT a fan of those medical guns going off in her and being tied down.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Keep up posted.

 

[farmerjan]

Although you may not see the purpose in the blackleg, it is EXTREMELY important. You can lose a calf in a matter of 24 hours from seeing it not feeling good, to blackleg. Since Mira never got her mothers colostrum, it is a small miracle that she has done as well as she has. Blackleg is caused by clostridial bacteria, happens quick and kills them quick. They pick it up from pastures, where the bacteria can proliferate fast after a rainy session. Cows will transfer a passive immunity to their calves that is good for 6-12 weeks but after that it is important that they get a booster. That is the ONE vaccine that we give FAITHFULLY when they go to pasture in the spring. We lost several NICE HEALTHY looking calves at one place one year, and that is what it was. It is cheap insurance against a dead calf. You can google blackleg disease and read about it from several sources.
Good for your vet to insist on it.

 

[LizHartley1991]

Although you may not see the purpose in the blackleg, it is EXTREMELY important. You can lose a calf in a matter of 24 hours from seeing it not feeling good, to blackleg. Since Mira never got her mothers colostrum, it is a small miracle that she has done as well as she has. Blackleg is caused by clostridial bacteria, happens quick and kills them quick. They pick it up from pastures, where the bacteria can proliferate fast after a rainy session. Cows will transfer a passive immunity to their calves that is good for 6-12 weeks but after that it is important that they get a booster. That is the ONE vaccine that we give FAITHFULLY when they go to pasture in the spring. We lost several NICE HEALTHY looking calves at one place one year, and that is what it was. It is cheap insurance against a dead calf. You can google blackleg disease and read about it from several sources.
Good for your vet to insist on it.

I had never even heard of it before. My last calf I bottle raised went off to the pasture without getting the shot. Hell I've never seen any of ours get shots for it... That's Wild. But after looking it up and reading about it, it's like you said - pretty quick and nasty.

 

[farmerjan]

For years we did not do blackleg shots. We raised the cows, they had calves, we weaned them and kept some heifers. But, on this one rented pasture, we lost 2 calves in a few days and the vet said what it was, and after researching it, realized we had been blindly lucky. So now, that is the one MANDATORY shot we give. Glad that you have also been lucky like we were for quite awhile, and glad you took the time to look it up and realize it has the potential to wreck havoc with the herd if it gets a foothold. And you just never know when it might have an outbreak.

How has Mira done since the vet visit?