Calf ate Plastic Bag

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Anonymous

Ahhh...my older (2 1/2 month) calf this morning ATE a plastic wal-mart bag. The vet said to give him 1/2 Cup Mineral Oil & wait & see what happens. Hopefully the mineral oil will help dissolve the bag. Is there ANYTHING else I can do but sit back & wait helplessly? I also gave him 10cc of Probios (enzymes). He's the one with the 'fat belly' already & is doing great; the bag must have blew into the pasture from the road....arrgghhh!
 
OP
A

Anonymous

Well, I've got him on a high protien diet....I don't know what else to give him. He's off the bottle; weighs around 150#; and eats quite well. (I call him Mr. Pig) All I've been told is to give him a high protein diet; I don't know what his exact problem is called....so far so good. It's been 20 years since I've had any bottle calves; so I'm quite rusty & not 'up-to-date' on everything. I know both of my calves like, no, LOVE to chew on wood....if they were horses I'd get rid of them for being cribbers. Is this normal?
 
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A

Anonymous

Boredom or lack of minerals will get them chewing wood. The plastic bag is one of those things. I've seen cows run all the way across the pasture to get to one of them and eat it. When they do I just keep an eye on them, haven't had observable problems yet. I'm aways curious how many they've eaten that I haven't seen them eat.

dun

> Well, I've got him on a high
> protien diet....I don't know what
> else to give him. He's off the
> bottle; weighs around 150#; and
> eats quite well. (I call him Mr.
> Pig) All I've been told is to give
> him a high protein diet; I don't
> know what his exact problem is
> called....so far so good. It's
> been 20 years since I've had any
> bottle calves; so I'm quite rusty
> & not 'up-to-date' on
> everything. I know both of my
> calves like, no, LOVE to chew on
> wood....if they were horses I'd
> get rid of them for being
> cribbers. Is this normal?



[email protected]
 
OP
A

Anonymous

Chewing wood isn't normal. Make sure you have a good, preferably loose, mineral mix available to the calf.

> Boredom or lack of minerals will
> get them chewing wood. The plastic
> bag is one of those things. I've
> seen cows run all the way across
> the pasture to get to one of them
> and eat it. When they do I just
> keep an eye on them, haven't had
> observable problems yet. I'm aways
> curious how many they've eaten
> that I haven't seen them eat.

> dun
 
OP
A

Anonymous

Something else to look out for is the plastic string that ties up the round bales.... I found out a neighbor had a cow eat some string once, nothing bad happened but he sure was worried for awhile!
 
OP
A

Anonymous

The plastic string on bales can really cause problems. It doesn't break down at all while inside the cow

dun

> Something else to look out for is
> the plastic string that ties up
> the round bales.... I found out a
> neighbor had a cow eat some string
> once, nothing bad happened but he
> sure was worried for awhile!



[email protected]
 
OP
A

Anonymous

> Well, I've got him on a high
> protien diet....I don't know what
> else to give him. He's off the
> bottle; weighs around 150#; and
> eats quite well. (I call him Mr.
> Pig) All I've been told is to give
> him a high protein diet; I don't
> know what his exact problem is
> called....so far so good. It's
> been 20 years since I've had any
> bottle calves; so I'm quite rusty
> & not 'up-to-date' on
> everything. I know both of my
> calves like, no, LOVE to chew on
> wood....if they were horses I'd
> get rid of them for being
> cribbers. Is this normal?

Give him low quality hay or straw to keep him busy chewing instead of eating wood.

[email protected]
 
OP
A

Anonymous

Plastic haystrings can really cause problems, such as death.

Had a horse at work eat a zip lock bag the other day..hasnt died yet. key word, yet.
 

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