I had a heifer born in mid Dec. with everything looking normal. She started sucking right away and for the first month or so was doing well. She seemed fairly tame as well and wouldn't run off like most of the calves when I came near.
Around early February I noticed she had scours which were grey in color. She started being more lethargic as well and never ran and played with the other calves. I treated her and the Vet treated her for parasites/worms as well. The scours continued for close to a month and always were a distinctive grey color. She also had (and still has) a smell different from the other calves/cows. An agent form the University observed that she didn't appear to be chewing cud when she should and so we started a regimen of giving her Glyceryl tributyrate with Silicon dioxide to help with rumen development.
Long story short, she survives but is not growing like her peers, probably less than 2/3rd their size. She is frequently bloated (swollen, not true bloat) on both sides daily, has a pocket of fluid/cud that rests in her throat frequently and undulates, is very pokey - never runs, but when she is excited and/or stressed will vomit. I moved the cattle one day close to a mile to reach new pasture and she was the last one to arrive and when she took a drink at the stock tank she vomited after each drink (over 7 times). She seems to poop and pee normally and grazes and sucks normally but doesn't seem to grow much.
I don't know if there is an enzyme deficiency or some other internal issue going on with her but it seems to have baffled us all. Without doing more expensive testing, I was wondering if anyone has had this type of experience before or has any suggestions.
Around early February I noticed she had scours which were grey in color. She started being more lethargic as well and never ran and played with the other calves. I treated her and the Vet treated her for parasites/worms as well. The scours continued for close to a month and always were a distinctive grey color. She also had (and still has) a smell different from the other calves/cows. An agent form the University observed that she didn't appear to be chewing cud when she should and so we started a regimen of giving her Glyceryl tributyrate with Silicon dioxide to help with rumen development.
Long story short, she survives but is not growing like her peers, probably less than 2/3rd their size. She is frequently bloated (swollen, not true bloat) on both sides daily, has a pocket of fluid/cud that rests in her throat frequently and undulates, is very pokey - never runs, but when she is excited and/or stressed will vomit. I moved the cattle one day close to a mile to reach new pasture and she was the last one to arrive and when she took a drink at the stock tank she vomited after each drink (over 7 times). She seems to poop and pee normally and grazes and sucks normally but doesn't seem to grow much.
I don't know if there is an enzyme deficiency or some other internal issue going on with her but it seems to have baffled us all. Without doing more expensive testing, I was wondering if anyone has had this type of experience before or has any suggestions.