Calf weak in hips

[novatech]

I have a calf a couple of months old. When it was born I had to get it up to mom and put it on the tit. It made it OK but has always tucked it's hind quarters like it was constipated. I know it wasn't because I have had to treat it for scours. Now it is getting extremely weak having a hard time getting up and even wobbles when it walks only in the back legs. It has scours again so I am giving injections of Nuflor. The calf seems plenty strong but small for its age. I have never seen it graze or chew cud although the stools are black.
Any Ideas? Nerve damage or arthritis?

 

[alisonb]

Not perhaps a spinal injury?

 

[novatech]

Not perhaps a spinal injury?

It will make it up when I walk up on it, with a bit of a struggle. Then it trots off with the cow ok. It does not get up to follow others grazing around the pasture. Seems to be more pain than ability.

 

[milkmaid]

Fawn calf syndrome?
http://usa.absglobal.com/news/releases/ ... ng_FCS.pdf

Copper deficiency? scroll down to the last slide on page 9.
http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/vetsci/Course ... l_2010.pdf

Easy calving or difficult birth? maybe it's an injury due to being pulled?

My relatives had one kind of like what you're describing - I put a video of it somewhere - but that calf developed the problem later in life and it seemed to be more of an injury (ie fractured vertebrae) than anything else.

 

[regolith]

bull or heifer?
Had one once with cystitis, developed into kidney damage. She walked real funny for most of her short life - died just before 2, probably from complications to navel ill as a calf.
Her problem was pain, not injury. She walked with her hind legs kind of out and stiff, tail high, was reluctant to move but always had a lovely shiny coat, looked real healthy.
I shouldn't have persevered with her.

 

[larryshoat]

2 months old and still scouring ? That'll mke one stagger too. What about PI BVD ?

Larry

 

[novatech]

Fawn calf syndrome?
http://usa.absglobal.com/news/releases/ ... ng_FCS.pdf

Copper deficiency? scroll down to the last slide on page 9.
http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/vetsci/Course ... l_2010.pdf

Easy calving or difficult birth? maybe it's an injury due to being pulled?

My relatives had one kind of like what you're describing - I put a video of it somewhere - but that calf developed the problem later in life and it seemed to be more of an injury (ie fractured vertebrae) than anything else.

The Angus calf in the pic (FCS) looks exactly like mine. There is one major exception, mine is pure Brahman. Do Brahman get FCS? Sounds like I had better be going to the vet.
The calf did not have a difficult birth, but was born in the cold, newborn brahman calves suffer quite a bit in the cold. She never got up on her own. I had to help, but once I got her started she was ok.

 

[rockridgecattle]

Navel ill now turned joint ill gone bad?

Did the calf get the colostrum within the 18 hour window of birth, preferably before that? Did it get good quality and enough? A stressed calf, and cold is a stress, will need more quantity of colostrum due to the problems absorbing it because of being stressed. It's that passive transfer thing. More stress equalls less ability to accept complete passive transfer.

 

[novatech]

Navel ill now turned joint ill gone bad?

Did the calf get the colostrum within the 18 hour window of birth, preferably before that? Did it get good quality and enough? A stressed calf, and cold is a stress, will need more quantity of colostrum due to the problems absorbing it because of being stressed. It's that passive transfer thing. More stress equalls less ability to accept complete passive transfer.

Very possible although I never noticed any type of navel infection.