Bottle Calf Bumpy ?rash?

[Hereford2]

Hi you all, I bought a 5 day old beef bull calf off of a friend's skinny cow, she wasn't giving much milk. He's now 9 days old, he is skinny and sluggish, has been since I got him, he was more active yesterday than he has been. Then last night I was petting him (like I do Everytime I feed him) and he has pea sized lumps all over his neck and shoulders and he acts like it hurts when I pet him, this morning the lumps are halfway down his back now too.??. This morning he walked out of his house fell down got back up and drank his bottle right down. He's getting 1to 1&1/2 quarts of fresh cow milk 3 times a day, I didn't want to overload his system with to much milk to fast, (he was super hungry the day my husband brought him home) . He has a good appetite, his poop looks normal, he weighs maybe 40 pounds. Any ideas? I'm trying to get ahold of my vet but her number is busy.

 

[Hereford2]

Well I got ahold my vet and she said it sounds like he has Rain Rot and I need to put iodine on him and when the bumps crust over to brush them off . Anyone ever had a calf with that?? I only have heard of horses having rain rot...

 

[TCRanch]

I've never had a calf with those symptoms or Rain Rot. But glad you talked to your vet and have an action plan. Good luck!

 

[puzzled in oregon]

Rain rot is not uncommon on the west coast, whether it is cows, horses or sheep. Little lambs and lambs up to a couple
months old can suffer the worst because of the wet wool. I have seen their hides start to get a light green color. We gave
injections of penicillin subcutaneously for two reasons, little lambs don't have a lot of muscle to inject into and subcutaneous
injections are absorbed more slowly, so daily shot not required.

 

[Warren Allison]

Rain rot is pretty common in horses. One of the best treatments is to wash them with Listerine.

 

[MurraysMutts]

Wow.
I've never heard of this.

Please let us know how it goes!

 

[Ferd]

You are milking another cow? Pretty good butterfat content? A calf that young needs good rich milk. It's not watery Holstein milk is it? They sell a powdered milk mix for newborns.

 

[Animal Track Farm]

That's interesting. I have never heard of rain rot. I hope he does well. Keep us updated.

 

[Hereford2]

Thank you for the reply's. I will keep you updated. It's good rich brown swiss milk, it tested better than my jersey milk. I'd have to look up what the milk fat content was. It's funny, brown swiss cream turns into butter faster than the Jersey cream. I've done timed test's when I make butter. Thank you for telling me about milk replacer, I'm well informed about milk replacer, I try to always keep 2to 3 bags on hand. All Milk,,, Milk Replacer. Price on replacement went from $76.50 to $89.50 in one week here. Getting back to the calf, He has a high fever, scours and he is weak, weak... I treated him with Exceed, Banamine, m B vitamin, BoSe and a A&D shot. My vet recommends the A&D for calves with questionable Clostrum intake. And Selenium is often needed on weak calves in my area. Here's him with
his mother. The day I got him. He's been weak like a newborn since I got him.

 

[Hereford2]

Thought I'd do an update on the calf, he had scours for 5 days lost weight that he didn't have to lose. So now he's having trouble standing and walking, he's drinking half of a bottle 3 times a day. I'm giving him Bluelite C Electrolytes, (any experience with Blue C Electrolytes?) I just recently started using them. They seem to work better than the multi species electrolytes I was using..

 

[TCRanch]

Poor little guy. You've followed your vets recommendations and he's just not thriving. Only thing I can think of is Pro Bios or Nursemate ASAP for gut health and energy. If he's still scouring, I'd try Sustain III calf boluses.

 

[puzzled in oregon]

Add a raw egg to the milk once a day, preferably not a store bought egg.

 

[Hereford2]

Thank you for the advice! He's getting Pro Bio's. He's doing really poorly this evening, he won't stand won't suck, he's sitting up with his head up acting alert. But I don't have much hope for him at this point. The rain scald is making his hair come out by the handful. Something I noticed tonight, his breath smells like a dead animal?.. Any ideas?

 

[MurraysMutts]

I hate to say it, but it's not looking good my friend. Is he still having a fever? Inside of his mouth warm or cold?

I also saw u used exceed and benamine.
Has he had any antibiotics for pneumonia?

I truly hope that calf turns around for you! It's not from lack of trying for sure!

 

[Buck Randall]

Acidosis is a common problem in calves that scour that long. Bluelite C is probably a better electrolyte than a multi-species, but it's still not great for sick calves. You need something with an alkalinizing agent to combat acidosis. Bluelite Replenish, Diaque, or Epic are good examples.

 

[Travlr]

Thank you for the advice! He's getting Pro Bio's. He's doing really poorly this evening, he won't stand won't suck, he's sitting up with his head up acting alert. But I don't have much hope for him at this point. The rain scald is making his hair come out by the handful. Something I noticed tonight, his breath smells like a dead animal?.. Any ideas?

Sorry to be reading about your troubles. It sounds like you are trying hard. I've always kept a couple of gallons of frozen colostrum in my freezer for new calves that I don't know if they ever got that first suck.

 

[Hereford2]

He had a shot of Draxxin because his lungs were congested, his lungs are clear, he doesn't have a fever or scours. This morning he drank about a cup of milk on his own, before he got to tired to suck, so I tubed him the rest of the milk. He tried to stand, but is to weak. It's the strangest thing he sits up with bright eyes and very alert this entire time, no matter how sick he is. In the past with calves that were to weak to stand they wouldn't hold their head up. I gave him Clostrum when I brought him home. But he was already several days old and weak so it didn't seem to help him. I've had success in the past giving weak calves clostrum. Thank you I will have to get those other Electrolytes.

 

[Hereford2]

Well the calf didn't make it.

 

[TCRanch]

Dang, I'm so sorry! Certainly not for lack of trying - you did everything you could.

 

[MurraysMutts]

Dern it!
Always stinks to lose one.
We know ya did all you could!

Keep.ur head up. I've been there. Hate to lose any of em!