Ky hills
Well-known member
This calf is around 10 weeks old and noticed this morning bloated looking.
What should we do for it?
What should we do for it?
Bloated calf
- Thread starter Ky hills
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bird dog
Well-known member
What has it been eating?
You can debloat it with a water hose pushed down into the rumen. Put a short piece of PVC around it t keep them from crushing it with their teeth. I always give them some mineral oil first. If you have the calf in a squeeze chute, use the chute to gently apply pressure to its side. If its working you can feel the stinky air coming out of the rumen.
I put the PVC in their mouth then slowly push the hose through it working it back and forth to get it into the stomach.
Edited to fix dumb mistake.
You can debloat it with a water hose pushed down into the rumen. Put a short piece of PVC around it t keep them from crushing it with their teeth. I always give them some mineral oil first. If you have the calf in a squeeze chute, use the chute to gently apply pressure to its side. If its working you can feel the stinky air coming out of the rumen.
I put the PVC in their mouth then slowly push the hose through it working it back and forth to get it into the stomach.
Edited to fix dumb mistake.
Last edited:
Rancher
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looks like it had eaten heavy before nightfall and slept on side too long. if that is a possibility then just run calf around for a while to break the gass
Silver
Well-known member
Surely you mean the rumen, not the lungs…
Silver
Well-known member
You could try walking her for awhile and taking off feed. If she gets to having a hard time breathing I would use a trocar. I've had good luck with the plastic ones that you thread in and leave in.
GoWyo
Well-known member
Sometimes they can get an infection around the vagus (sp?) nerve and they can't belch. Hose is temporary. Trocar is best til they get over the infection.
farmerjan
Well-known member
Anything to do for the infection? I have one that seems to look like that some days, then other days looks pretty normal... eats and drinks and sucks cow pretty much like normal... Calf is about 3 months....
GoWyo
Well-known member
Just standard longer acting antibiotics like Draxxin, NuFlor, etc. seem to get them through. I had to stick one with my pocket knife one time that was down and getting terminal to save it. Vet was out a couple days later and put in the trocar and it seems by the time the stitch holding the trocar disintegrated and the trocar worked its way out, the calf was fine (about 7-8 month old feeder calf). Some get pneumonia and now and then one seems to get this other infection. Might be pasteurella - not sure.
Travlr
Well-known member
Bloat isn't in the lungs.
There are different types of bloat. I would assume, since the calf is only 10 weeks old, it's not frothy bloat and would concentrate on free gas bloat. My go-to is to start by moving the calf around to see if it'll belch it up - or hark it out if it's an obstruction. Get the calf in. Take its temp to make sure it isn't from pneumonia. I have a stomach tube and a Frick speculum to expel the gas BUT check its mouth to make sure there isn't an obstruction (hedge apples are the bane of my existence). I have Bloat Guard on hand, but in a pinch, apple cider vinegar mixed with baking soda and water works. If the calf is in severe distress and you can't release the methane gas, resort to a trocar (or knife, if that's all you have). Placement is key. Obviously, this is a mature cow, but puncture between the last rib and hook bone.
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bird dog
Well-known member
yep, dum mistak. Rumen is what I meant. Thanksgiving wears me out. I fixed it.
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Silver
Well-known member
The pic of this calf was taken in 2018. Shortly after the bulls got out, she got bred and I had to lute her. Initially I called her Leaky (whistling sound through the trocar), but changed her name to Lucky after aborting her. She is still here and producing right on time every year. I figure she's positive for plag1.
OP
OP
Ky hills
Well-known member
That's what we did, LA 300 IM in the neck, but used more mineral oil than that, hope it wasn't too much. Stuck a needle in like a trocar and pulled the stopper out of the syringe, took the needle out after several minutes.
Silver
Well-known member
Hope it works. Castor oil is far better than mineral oil for getting things to move internally, but mineral oil can help.
kenny thomas
Well-known member
No such thing as too much mineral oil. You might waste some but what goes in will come out .
kenny thomas
Well-known member
Why give the LA300 IM?
The bloat in calves that age is usually caused by "over eating disease" or Enterotoxemia. LA takes the infection out. The vets here might explain more eloquently……
Silver
Well-known member
I thought enterotoxemia occurred in the abomasum, not the rumen. I do know it is caused by the sudden build up of bacteria in the stomach.
This calf is ten weeks old and should be out of the woods for abomasal bloat.
This calf is ten weeks old and should be out of the woods for abomasal bloat.
OP
OP
Ky hills
Well-known member
Update, calf made through the night.
Swelling had gone down, and looks normal, I'm gonna leave cow and calf up to watch him in case it happens again.
Swelling had gone down, and looks normal, I'm gonna leave cow and calf up to watch him in case it happens again.
