Calf won't stand

[KellyAcres]

2day old calf can't seem to stand on its front legs. Possibly because we had to pull it, we are not sure. It's a very big calf. We gave colostrum last night and this am. Just picked up milk replacer as it's weak, so this could also be the problem. Anyone have any advice or suggestions? It would be appreciated!

 

[Alexander]

Hey new to the site. Love the advice. We had a calf 2 years back that was the same. Couldn't stand up and it wasn't looking good. Gave 500 mg of Taurine powder mixed in with the milk. Got her strength back in a day or two and started feeding by herself. Taurine strengthens the hearts and helps balance everything. Wonderfully little nutrient. You can buy it at most health food stores. Best of luck to ya.

 

[mwj]

Call the vet and get a selenium shot for it would be my first thing on the list. If you can milk out the cow, give it the colostrum by bottle or tube feed it. Milk replacer should be the last option if it has a live mother. Good luck.

 

[KellyAcres]

Call the vet and get a selenium shot for it would be my first thing on the list. If you can milk out the cow, give it the colostrum by bottle or tube feed it. Milk replacer should be the last option if it has a live mother. Good luck.

Thank you, yes will try to milk the mom first now that we have them in the barn. Thanks for the selenium shot idea too!

 

[KellyAcres]

Hey new to the site. Love the advice. We had a calf 2 years back that was the same. Couldn't stand up and it wasn't looking good. Gave 500 mg of Taurine powder mixed in with the milk. Got her strength back in a day or two and started feeding by herself. Taurine strengthens the hearts and helps balance everything. Wonderfully little nutrient. You can buy it at most health food stores. Best of luck to ya.

Thank you! Good idea!

 

[TCRanch]

What @mwj said. Better yet, take it to the vet to make sure its legs aren't severely injured from pulling. Assuming nothing is broken or pulled out of joint, I'm a fan of physical therapy. Either stand the calf between your legs for support or prop him over a hay bale, multiple times a day and eventually help him walk.

 

[KellyAcres]

What @mwj said. Better yet, take it to the vet to make sure its legs aren't severely injured from pulling. Assuming nothing is broken or pulled out of joint, I'm a fan of physical therapy. Either stand the calf between your legs for support or prop him over a hay bale, multiple times a day and eventually help him walk.

Yes, gonna try the hay bale idea too, thanks! We'd done that before on another calf.

 

[KellyAcres]

Thank you, yes will try to milk the mom first now that we have them in the barn. Thanks for the selenium shot idea too!

Vet is on his way!

 

[KellyAcres]

Call the vet and get a selenium shot for it would be my first thing on the list. If you can milk out the cow, give it the colostrum by bottle or tube feed it. Milk replacer should be the last option if it has a live mother. Good luck.

Vet is on the way! Yau!

 

[KellyAcres]

What @mwj said. Better yet, take it to the vet to make sure its legs aren't severely injured from pulling. Assuming nothing is broken or pulled out of joint, I'm a fan of physical therapy. Either stand the calf between your legs for support or prop him over a hay bale, multiple times a day and eventually help him walk.

Vet is on his way, thanks again!

 

[Ky cowboy]

Had the same scenario this spring mom didn't make it. Hard pull on an old cow she prolapsed and bleed out. Calf wouldn't stand for 2 or 3 days we would make it stand up and hold it up there for a few days then he got scours and ran a high fever that resulted in him losing most of his hair. He had. A rough start but is about weaned and eating grain and hay good don't give up on him yet

 

[KellyAcres]

Had the same scenario this spring mom didn't make it. Hard pull on an old cow she prolapsed and bleed out. Calf wouldn't stand for 2 or 3 days we would make it stand up and hold it up there for a few days then he got scours and ran a high fever that resulted in him losing most of his hair. He had. A rough start but is about weaned and eating grain and hay good don't give up on him yet

Had the same scenario this spring mom didn't make it. Hard pull on an old cow she prolapsed and bleed out. Calf wouldn't stand for 2 or 3 days we would make it stand up and hold it up there for a few days then he got scours and ran a high fever that resulted in him losing most of his hair. He had. A rough start but is about weaned and eating grain and hay good don't give up on him yet

Yeah we won't give up. He's stronger but still on his knees. Hard to watch. He wants to put that left foot up, so this is promising.

 

[OBAX]

It's my experience that unless his legs are broken or otherwise injured, he will come around. Birth is a lot of times hard on the nerves in the legs and it takes a few days for them to all get to working. Help him get on his feet and he will get his strength and coordination soon. I've seen more successes than failures when this happens. Good luck.

 

[Ridgefarmer63]

I had a calf last year that would stand on his front wrists. Hard to explain. His front hooves were curled under. Vet said I may have had something to do about the way he was positioned in the womb. Vet said it would clear and it did. Two weeks maybe?

It was painful to watch. Not sure if this applies to you.

My two cents. Good luck.

 

[KellyAcres]

It's my experience that unless his legs are broken or otherwise injured, he will come around. Birth is a lot of times hard on the nerves in the legs and it takes a few days for them to all get to working. Help him get on his feet and he will get his strength and coordination soon. I've seen more successes than failures when this happens. Good luck.

Thank you. Yes, we had the vet out and he didn't think we injured the legs when we pulled him at birth. We are putting him up during feedings, but the right leg is still very sore. He's too tall to straddle a hay bale. We are gonna try wrapping his lower legs with vet wrap and maybe a splint would help. Not sure.

 

[KellyAcres]

I had a calf last year that would stand on his front wrists. Hard to explain. His front hooves were curled under. Vet said I may have had something to do about the way he was positioned in the womb. Vet said it would clear and it did. Two weeks maybe?

It was painful to watch. Not sure if this applies to you.

My two cents. Good luck.

Ok yeah, his front hooves definitely hurt him from us pulling him out. The right is worse than left. Gonna keep propping him up during feedings and working the joint gently. Trying to support him and get him to stand a little several times a day. Hopefully.

 

[redcowsrule33]

Ok yeah, his front hooves definitely hurt him from us pulling him out. The right is worse than left. Gonna keep propping him up during feedings and working the joint gently. Trying to support him and get him to stand a little several times a day. Hopefully.

See if you can get a dose of meloxicam from your vet. It really helps the calf get over a hard pull.

 

[J Hoy]

2day old calf can't seem to stand on its front legs. Possibly because we had to pull it, we are not sure. It's a very big calf. We gave colostrum last night and this am. Just picked up milk replacer as it's weak, so this could also be the problem. Anyone have any advice or suggestions? It would be appreciated!

I know you most likely won't believe me, but while you are at the health food store, pick up a 500 tablet bottle of Hyland's Homeopathic Calc. Phos. 6X Cell Salt tablets. Give the calf one tablet every three hours. You can drop the tablet into its milk after warming it, but if you aren't feeding the calf every three hours, you need to put a tablet under its tongue in between feedings. Also, it sounds like what the ranchers in our area of Montana call Weak Calf Syndrome. Every calf I have examined or necropsied that was diagnosed with WCS had an underbite, so check its bite to see if the lower incisors actually contact the pad or if they are in front of the pad/underdeveloped premaxillary bone/underbite. As I said in a previous post, those are symptoms of mineral deficiency. Believe it or not, no one ever told the calves and other newborns that Homeopathic Cell Salts don't work, so they actually do work. Because Cell Salts are just a really good electrolyte in pill form, Calc. Phos. 6X will stimulate the calf's cells to uptake calcium and other minerals that you are providing in the colostrum and the cells will then be able to do their work much better. The calf's cells are not providing the energy that the leg muscles need to heal from being injured and function properly. If the calf recovers quickly as the wild and domestic animals I have given Calc. Phos. to have and if it does have an underbite, the underdeveloped premaxillary bone should also grow to normal size and the calf will have a normal bite after about two weeks. However, to make the underdeveloped bone (if it has an underdeveloped premaxillary bone) grow to normal size you need to continue to give the calf a tablet of the Calc. Phos. 6X at least once a day for most of the two weeks. But, that is a win-win for you and your little calf. I do not get anything for suggesting the use of Cell Salts. If your health food store doesn't have Hyland's Brand, they might have some other brand. Hyland's is just the brand that is carried in our area, so the kind that I and my rancher friends use. There are other brands and all brands of cell salts are all just really good electrolytes.

 

[KellyAcres]

See if you can get a dose of meloxicam from your vet. It really helps the calf get over a hard pull.

Thank you! Yes, the vet gave him that yesterday as well as caffeine and some other stuff. So glad he came out on the weekend.

 

[KellyAcres]

I know you most likely won't believe me, but while you are at the health food store, pick up a 500 tablet bottle of Hyland's Homeopathic Calc. Phos. 6X Cell Salt tablets. Give the calf one tablet every three hours. You can drop the tablet into its milk after warming it, but if you aren't feeding the calf every three hours, you need to put a tablet under its tongue in between feedings. Also, it sounds like what the ranchers in our area of Montana call Weak Calf Syndrome. Every calf I have examined or necropsied that was diagnosed with WCS had an underbite, so check its bite to see if the lower incisors actually contact the pad or if they are in front of the pad/underdeveloped premaxillary bone/underbite. As I said in a previous post, those are symptoms of mineral deficiency. Believe it or not, no one ever told the calves and other newborns that Homeopathic Cell Salts don't work, so they actually do work. Because Cell Salts are just a really good electrolyte in pill form, Calc. Phos. 6X will stimulate the calf's cells to uptake calcium and other minerals that you are providing in the colostrum and the cells will then be able to do their work much better. The calf's cells are not providing the energy that the leg muscles need to heal from being injured and function properly. If the calf recovers quickly as the wild and domestic animals I have given Calc. Phos. to have and if it does have an underbite, the underdeveloped premaxillary bone should also grow to normal size and the calf will have a normal bite after about two weeks. However, to make the underdeveloped bone (if it has an underdeveloped premaxillary bone) grow to normal size you need to continue to give the calf a tablet of the Calc. Phos. 6X at least once a day for most of the two weeks. But, that is a win-win for you and your little calf. I do not get anything for suggesting the use of Cell Salts. If your health food store doesn't have Hyland's Brand, they might have some other brand. Hyland's is just the brand that is carried in our area, so the kind that I and my rancher friends use. There are other brands and all brands of cell salts are all just really good electrolytes.

Thank you very much! Will check on that underbite at next feeding. Building fence today. Never ends!