4 week old calf....sick...abruptly.

[slamotto]

A Hobby Guy Here.....I've got a four week old bull calf named Bandit (75% Holstein 25% angus). His dam is a Holstein/Angus cross (First Calf Heifer). I put Bandit on his dam twice a day for nursing. Up to this point, he's been doing great. He's been taking all of her milk...growing like a weed....no signs of scours at any point.

At last night's feeding...his dam still had milk left when he was done. This was odd, but I didn't think much of it. I hand stripped what was left...it didn't amount to very much. I did not notice anything else out of the ordinary with Bandit at last night's feeding...other than he didn't take all the cow's milk.

This morning....Bandit has some issues:
* Lethargic.
* Diarrhea (Brown...not yellow)
* No Appetite (Didn't nurse at all. Just hung around his mom)

I hand-milked the cow. She gave over a gallon of milk. (10 1/2 pounds, to be precise).

I have not been able to take Bandit's temp yet. Don't think my wife wants me to use the household thermometer on him :-)

Any thoughts on what might be the problem?
Is it possible that the cow has just gotten her legs under herself after a month, as it relates to milk production, and is now making too much for him?
What other things should I check on him/watch for?

Thanks in advance!
-Alec.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Keep stripping that cow and she's going to give more n more - to a point.

Calf will likely be hungry next feeding. If not, then I would be worried.

Have you considered grafting another calf with this one. She's half milk cow.

 

[slamotto]

I was going to put a second calf on her....but initially, she wasn't producing enough milk for two. So I thought I would just keep her inputs lower...and have her just nurse the one calf...rather than pushing her harder to raise multiple calves.

But now, perhaps I should revisit that.

 

[backhoeboogie]

It's awfully hard to postulate that calf's condition based on a few words on the Internet. My gut feeling is that he's getting more than he needs. May not be developing an appetite for grass/hay/feed like he should. Or maybe he got a gut full of hay after cud chewing and wasn't hungry much. If he's got a temp or if he doesn't eat at the next feeding, then I'd be concerned. A month old calf is usually on their way.

 

[backhoeboogie]

How's that calf doing today?

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Are his ears hanging a little low? Is his nose dry? These are signs of a fever without a thermometer. But, you should run downtown & get one - they are cheap. A fever is a sure indicator that he must get treatment.

 

[slamotto]

His appetite was back on Friday evening...and by Saturday morning...he was back to his normal self.

I haven't been able to secure another calf to put on the cow...but I'm hoping to be able to get one this week.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

If this calf had more than a bellie ache - I sure wouldn't want to expose him to a new calf for a while unless it comes from the same farm as the first one. ALL "healthy" cattle herds have different bugs. If your calf doesn't have the exact same immunities built up as the new one - you're asking for both to get sick from the exposure to each other.

 

[ThreeCrossBuckaroo]

Sounds like milk scours and not chriptic scours,I would give a dose of micro manager to get his gut active again and put the good bacteria going again