We are at our state show and a 2 week old calf has very cloudy eyes. The calf isn't as active as it should be. I think I read somewhere on the boards it can be a vitamin or mineral deficiency. Any ideas on how to help it?
2 week old calf with cloudy eyes
- Thread starter ffamom
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Mostly cloudy.....Not running at all....most of the pupil is a whitish color.
Show cattle are on the road from day 1. Sounds cruel,a but just the life of a show cow. In this particular case, you couldn't leave the calf at home since it needs help nursing.
Show cattle are on the road from day 1. Sounds cruel,a but just the life of a show cow. In this particular case, you couldn't leave the calf at home since it needs help nursing.
ffamom":rp2j6mw1 said:
Is the calf able to see? You got any contact lens drops? Try that. Nothing ventured, nothing gained and it won't hurt the calf. Now, if that doesn't work...
I'm gonna catch flak for this, but what the hey...get hold of some mastitis medicine. Squirt a little in each eye. We've been doing that for years...as did my father before me.
Alice
Sounds like pink eye. Go to the vet and he'll give you some antibiotic eye ointment, and maybe even a spray that is safe for use on a calf, some feed stores even have it. A few doses and should be cleared up pretty quickly. Worked well for us. A
TxSimbrahShower
Well-known member
ffamom":398ywdj1 said:
Has the calf had the cloudy eyes since birth?
If the eyes are not running, then it possibly could be IBR or BVD, that was passed to the calf from the cow.
I can't believe that they brought the calf, if the eyes were cloudy and it wasn't acting right. Hope your heifer's are up to date on their IBR shots.
Now I'm really glad my guys didn't go.
mom
TxSimbrahShower
Well-known member
ffamom":ykhsnpjk said:
The calves around here only go out on the show circuit after they are about a month old. I have heard too many stories of calves getting stepped on and smashed in the trailer's and stepped on at the shows by other heifer's. Crippling the calves.
In fact last weekend a new baby, about a week old, got kicked really hard at a show by another heifer. Not sure how that all worked out.
mom
Most of the folks at this type of show are serious. You can bet that their cattle are up to date on all their shots. As far as ours go, we vaccinate twice a year.
The cow/calf pairs owner is very responsible. If they felt the calf had something contagious, it wouldn't be here. If I felt it had something contagious, my animals would already be out of their. I'm pretty sure, it is some type of deficiency. I read about a case similar somewhere, but I just can't remember where. I was hoping it was on this board.
The cow/calf pairs owner is very responsible. If they felt the calf had something contagious, it wouldn't be here. If I felt it had something contagious, my animals would already be out of their. I'm pretty sure, it is some type of deficiency. I read about a case similar somewhere, but I just can't remember where. I was hoping it was on this board.
TxSimbrahShower
Well-known member
ffamom":10vg4r9p said:
If you find where you read that please post it, because, I just went through the beef manual from the vet and there is nothing about eye cloudiness in baby calves from a mineral deficiency in it anywhere.
The only things listing cloudiness in the eyes are pinkeye, IBR and BVD, which are all contagious.
As far as the cow/calf owner, if it's who I'm thinking it is, the only thing on their mind is winning, nothing else. For instance if only 1 or 2 cow/calf pairs were there, or they were the only one, then they can say that the were Grand Champion or Reserve Champion at the state show. Most that they would say that to, don't know that there is a cow/calf show.
As far as only serious folks showing there, some go because they know that others will not be there because of work, them or their parents, county shows, would rather spend the vacation time on an actual vacation, etc.
mom
Runningriverranch
Member
TurnThatCowLooseMaw":2r44hj5r said:
We had this problem recently in two baby lambs. Treated both with saline eye wash and then added a drop or two of PennG (long acting Penn ) directly in the eye. We had used this with dairy cows to good effect without the injection (which is tough for my shaky hands to say the least). Anyway, it seemed to work as the cases cleared up in two/three days.
These people are not competitive in the shows. They are really there for the junior member competitions. I helped with the public speaking. You wouldn't belief how well spoken this junior association is. One 9 year old girls drew a topic on EPD's. She did an incredible job with that difficult topic.
As far as the cow/calf competition, there was 12 pairs. Some of these cows had killer heifer calves. I can't wait to see how they grow. Too bad we only have bulls born on our place.
Thanks to everyone that took the time to reply. Your help was appreciated.
As far as the cow/calf competition, there was 12 pairs. Some of these cows had killer heifer calves. I can't wait to see how they grow. Too bad we only have bulls born on our place.
Thanks to everyone that took the time to reply. Your help was appreciated.
