2 year old cow had her first calf

[blue albion]

The calf was born dead 1 week ago. The cow is acting a bit sick and seems depressed. She's drinking and has been eating but I think less than normal. She at times keeps to herself. Yesterday she was in the barn alone. She's always done that. It's cooler in there. She's not crazy wild but I was able to walk right up to her and she wouldn't get up. A hour later I seen her outside with the others. Looking her usual depressed head kinda low look. I've wasted $ on vets before for sick animals. Never ever once have they done anything useful. It's up to God and the animal to get better.

 

[M.Magis]

Seems it would at least be worth taking her temp.

 

[TCRanch]

Were you there when the calf was born? Possible malpresentation and tore something? Neospora? Calf had already been dead a while and she has an infection? Could be a number of reasons. But not uncommon to be depressed - they have feelings. I agree that taking her temp would be a start.

 

[SBMF 2015]

Did she clean? Dead calf, hard labor, didn't clean= infection. Even if you don't see any after birth now. Does she stink?
Call the vet. Get an antibiotic.

 

[devonian]

Has she cleansed have you seen the after birth all come out? Call the vet if you are not sure thats what they are they for, otherwise she'll join her calf.

 

[moses388]

Normal temp 100F to 103F or 38.3C to 39.4C. If she has a fever, a vet will give her antibiotics. If the cow gets better and any drugs clear her system, I would cull her.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

"It's up to God and the animal to get better."
If you are not knowledgeable to diagnose what is wrong - and you refuse to spend the money for a professional to care for the animal - I would suggest for you to ship all your cattle.
Maybe you never had a good result from a vet because you waited too long to call for help.
Did you take the animals TEMPERATURE??? She calved a week ago. Do you know if she cleaned? Does she stink? I realize you just posted this morning, but taking an animals temperature is the first thing anyone should do if in doubt and thinks something is wrong.
Let us know what her temperature is. We do like to help, but you have to be willing to follow suggestions.

 

[MurraysMutts]

I seem to recall u having some problems as well last year @blue albion

How is everyone else doing this time?

Listen to these guys. They know!
I'd sure be doing something. Benign neglect does NOT apply to this situation my friend

 

[GoWyo]

May not have cleaned out. With a calf born dead there may have been a twin that is still in there? Benign neglect isn't the strategy I would use and definitely not with the price of cull cows.

 

[moses388]

I've wasted $ on vets before for sick animals. Never ever once have they done anything useful.

How many veterinarians serve your area? Have you tried different ones? Some are better than others.

 

[tex452]

I have had mostly good experiences with good vets, most know what they're doing, with the price of cows it would be worth it to haul her in if you can get her loaded, if not get them to come out.

 

[Travlr]

The calf was born dead 1 week ago. The cow is acting a bit sick and seems depressed. She's drinking and has been eating but I think less than normal. She at times keeps to herself. Yesterday she was in the barn alone. She's always done that. It's cooler in there. She's not crazy wild but I was able to walk right up to her and she wouldn't get up. A hour later I seen her outside with the others. Looking her usual depressed head kinda low look. I've wasted $ on vets before for sick animals. Never ever once have they done anything useful. It's up to God and the animal to get better.

So are you a one and done poster? Lots of good advice here so far... pretty much all advising you use the services of a vet. Put me in there too. Get over your reluctance and do something to help the animal.

And let us know how things are going.

 

[Mark Reynolds]

The cow has been "off" for a week now. Everyone has different tolerances, but after 3 days and not recovering I would have called the vet. It sounds like an infection, and if caught early is very likely treatable. Now? I'd say you are 5 days slow, but it seems the cow might be trying to fight the infection, if that is what it is, and needs some help to recover. I'd do the following: Get the vet to treat her, ASAP. Once she has recovered, cull her. If you don't do that, make arrangements for a backhoe.

 

[Mark Reynolds]

I seem to recall u having some problems as well last year @blue albion

How is everyone else doing this time?

Listen to these guys. They know!
I'd sure be doing something. Benign neglect does NOT apply to this situation my friend

Problems last year? OK. is a CE bull being used?

 

[Mark Reynolds]

I've wasted $ on vets before for sick animals. Never ever once have they done anything useful. It's up to God and the animal to get better.

What I'm wondering is how long has the animal been sick before you call the vet? Pardon the pun (going with dependence on God) but it sounds like you wait until the animal has 3 feet in the grave with the 4th one slipping before you call the vet for a "hail Mary" attempt to save the animal. The vet isn't a "miracle worker". If a vet, for his/her fee, can save only 1 animal out of 4 attempts, and maybe more (which is a TERRIBLE record) the vet fee will pencil out and save you money, but you have got to let the vet know in a reasonable time frame (and a reasonable time frame will also mean a lower fee).

I wish you success with getting the animal to recover.

 

[simme]

Poster said "I've wasted $ on vets before for sick animals. Never ever once have they done anything useful."

That is a powerful indictment of vets (or maybe there is something else). Healthcare (people or animal) has to be a partnership between the customer and the provider. DVM's and MD's have better results when they get involved early.

 

[Mark Reynolds]

What I'm wondering is how long has the animal been sick before you call the vet? Pardon the pun (going with dependence on God) but it sounds like you wait until the animal has 3 feet in the grave with the 4th one slipping before you call the vet for a "hail Mary" attempt to save the animal. The vet isn't a "miracle worker". If a vet, for his/her fee, can save only 1 animal out of 4 attempts, and maybe more (which is a TERRIBLE record) the vet fee will pencil out and save you money, but you have got to let the vet know in a reasonable time frame (and a reasonable time frame will also mean a lower fee).

I wish you success with getting the animal to recover.

A parallel example here. My wife works in a warehouse (she is the manager) and is the first to arrive and least to leave each day. This past week, a hummingbird entered the warehouse at 4:00 pm. My wife got home at 7:15 pm and told me there was a hummingbird trapped and would be dead by morning as she has seen this before. (Hummingbirds shouldn't go longer than 2 hours without food as their metabolism is astronomically high, which will be important for another reason in a minute) I grabbed a spare hummingbird feeder we had while my son cooked up some sugar water. my wife and I made it back to the warehouse by 7:45 pm (its a 20 minute drive) we got there and the bird was still flying. 5 minutes later (or less) it dropped like a stone without warning. Lucky I saw it drop. I scooped it up. (Eyes shut and nearly lifeless) and stuck its beak into one of the flowers on the feeder. Almost instantly the bird's head starts bobbing and you can tell its drinking frantically and its eyes open. Within 5 minutes (remember, high metabolism) the bird takes off and flies away. If I had hesitated in grabbing the feeder and making food, by only 10 minutes, the bird would be dead. Maybe a hummingbird isn't that significant, but it shows how important even a small amount of time can be for life vs death.

 

[tex452]

A parallel example here. My wife works in a warehouse (she is the manager) and is the first to arrive and least to leave each day. This past week, a hummingbird entered the warehouse at 4:00 pm. My wife got home at 7:15 pm and told me there was a hummingbird trapped and would be dead by morning as she has seen this before. (Hummingbirds shouldn't go longer than 2 hours without food as their metabolism is astronomically high, which will be important for another reason in a minute) I grabbed a spare hummingbird feeder we had while my son cooked up some sugar water. my wife and I made it back to the warehouse by 7:45 pm (its a 20 minute drive) we got there and the bird was still flying. 5 minutes later (or less) it dropped like a stone without warning. Lucky I saw it drop. I scooped it up. (Eyes shut and nearly lifeless) and stuck its beak into one of the flowers on the feeder. Almost instantly the bird's head starts bobbing and you can tell its drinking frantically and its eyes open. Within 5 minutes (remember, high metabolism) the bird takes off and flies away. If I had hesitated in grabbing the feeder and making food, by only 10 minutes, the bird would be dead. Maybe a hummingbird isn't that significant, but it shows how important even a small amount of time can be for life vs death.

I never knew that about hummingbirds, learn something everyday.

 

[Mark Reynolds]

We know it might be hard for you to imagine, so we will try to explain it another way. Their lifestyle is so fast-paced and energy-intensive that they must consume at least ½ their body weight and drink almost eight times their body weight in nectar just to get through a day.

I never knew that about hummingbirds, learn something everyday.

I just looked it up. I really thought it was "only" 2 hours was all the longer they could supposedly go. Based on the below information, I'm wondering how the one my wife and I saved was even still alive when we did save it. Not that you can believe everything you find on the net, but wow.

If you have a feeder in your yard, you must have noticed that hummingbirds return to it often. These birds need to eat every 10 to 15 minutes to meet their needs. If they don't eat something for more than 20 minutes, they risk death from starvation. Therefore, we believe that there is no better answer to this question than non-stop.

Their lifestyle is so fast-paced and energy-intensive that they must consume at least ½ their body weight and drink almost eight times their body weight in nectar just to get through a day.

if a man of 12 stone (76 kg) had the same fast metabolism and lifestyle as this little bird, believe us, he would have to consume at least 121,600 calories a day, or in other words, about 875 cans Coca-Cola just to survive the daily challenges.

 

[SBMF 2015]

Did she clean?

Has she cleansed

Do you know if she cleaned?

May not have cleaned out.

Seems to be a reoccurring theme .
Everyone except the OP seems to be on the right track. If this is one of those "
Survival of the fittest, fend for themselves " kind of herds why even bother to ask?