Calves with weepy eye.

[hillsdown]

I have a few calves that have one weepy eye, looks more like an irritant than an infection. Definitely NOT pink eye ... It usually clears up within a few days on it's own. They get weepy in one eye and then the yellow crusty goop and then they clear up. The first calf of the year never had it but the second is when I first saw it.

Everything on the place has been vaccinated since calfhood with the works (IBR ,BVD etc) and each subsequent year after that. The only thing that is different is the hay(we had to buy hay last year) and the straw. The straw is from the same place I always buy from but it smells almost like it has been treated with a chemical and the cattle will not eat it this year at all, but last year they would demolish a bale and I was not rationing them on feed like I am this year ..

Kind of confusing, it seems just about every calf has it at one point , from the new ones a few weeks ago to the AI calves that were born in Jan. but they are all healthy everywhere else..

 

[larryshoat]

Hmmm? With someone less experienced with calves I would have a list of suggestions, but in your case I don't know. In calves, success of passive transfer is always in question, but it sounds like these calves are meeting the challenges. In young calves when I start to see large numbers of calves with watery eyes I start looking for ear infections. Obviously not every calf that has watery eyes will get an ear infection, but that is one of many possibilities. The number of people with cows that come to me wanting help with scouring calves at this time of year has been increasing in recent years. That tells me that with all we know about passive transfer, we're still not able to consistantly improve the immune response in calves ( and I think BSTP levels overall support this idea). Unlike many I'm a big fan of treating early, I just feel a small amount of medicine up front, prevents a large amount as problems become worse.

Larry

 

[hillsdown]

Thanks Larry, they all have access to 18% dairy ration calf starter with deccox . I just do not know what to think, as they clear up on their own . I am just wondering if I might have a PI cow somewhere in the group. Maybe it is time to do some ear notches at herd health this fall.

I also have to add that the neighbors had two renegade cows (non vaccinated herd) that jumped the fence last summer and spent 2-3 weeks with my herd before I could separate and sort them out. I have no idea what is going on in that herd, but I do know that they lose a tremendous amount of calves every year. I just thought that my group should have a good immune system to fight BVD off even if it is airborne from a neighboring farm .

I guess I will have to talk to Dr. U and come up with a plan, I kind of know what he will say "No your herd is too healthy to have BVD or IBR."

Thanks again for taking time to respond, I appreciate it ..

 

[3waycross]

don't rule out environmental HD. What you said about the straw made my radar flash. It may just be something that after a few days their immune system gets strong enuf to handle on it's own.

 

[Workinonit Farm]

don't rule out environmental HD. What you said about the straw made my radar flash. It may just be something that after a few days their immune system gets strong enuf to handle on it's own.

I was thinking along similar lines. You say the straw is 'different' from last year's straw, perhaps it has been treated with a preservative of sorts, and that is what the calves are reacting to.

Katherine

 

[hillsdown]

Thanks 3way and Katherine, I just had a funny feeling about it. It smells like there is a chemical and truth be told I get weepy eyes and a really bad reaction after I break a bale up. But I just thought it might be allergies as i am allergic to pollen. I think it is time to call my straw guy and ask if they were treated at harvesting. After the horrendous drought and crop year anything is possible. But geesh you think they would tell you that especially since alot of ranchers wanted to feed mostly grain and straw this year.

I will call first thing in the morning,, thanks for letting me know that I am not just "grasping at straws".. ;-)

Edit :I just spoke to hubby and he said sometimes they spray something to" kill it ?", so it ripens faster :? .. Now I really need to know what was done (if anything) to it..

 

[Workinonit Farm]

Thanks 3way and Katherine, I just had a funny feeling about it. It smells like there is a chemical

Could also be the reason they aren't eating so much of it.
As I'm sure you know, sometimes they don't like new 'flavors'.

Let us know what you find out.

Katherine

 

[rockridgecattle]

dust....just like us with allergies. Some calves experience it alot playing in dusty hay and straw. Especially if the hay or straw has been unrolled by a tractor or if the use of a bale shredder is used...all that dust in the air. We had the same problem in 2003/04 and in 2008/09 winter

 

[larryshoat]

The fact that it's in one eye and they clear up after a predictable period of time makes me question the allergy/irritant theory. Just a thought.

Larry

 

[rockridgecattle]

The fact that it's in one eye and they clear up after a predictable period of time makes me question the allergy/irritant theory. Just a thought.

Larry

I guess it was a dumb thought, sorry about that.

RR

 

[hillsdown]

The fact that it's in one eye and they clear up after a predictable period of time makes me question the allergy/irritant theory. Just a thought.

Larry

I guess it was a dumb thought, sorry about that.

RR

Actually I usually only have problems with one eye as well when I have an allergic reaction to dust and pollen. It is always my right eye that gets blurry ,irritable, weepy and then sometimes glued shut in the morning. Calves may not be that different .....

Thanks again for all of your very helpful responses.. :wave:

 

[larryshoat]

The fact that it's in one eye and they clear up after a predictable period of time makes me question the allergy/irritant theory. Just a thought.

Larry

I guess it was a dumb thought, sorry about that.

RR

Rockridge I've found with cattle there are no dumb thoughts. We've all seen some crazy things happen, So it was not a dumb thought at all. Like all your posts it was helpful and based on a lot of knowledge.

Larry

 

[hillsdown]

Well so much for finding out if it is treated straw, called this morning and they are in Arizona .. Glad my hard earned dollars are going to at least someone having fun.. :lol:

I guess I will do the wait and see. Larry I may just treat the next one that comes up with a broad spectrum antibiotic or special formula(cortisone) and see if that speeds up the recovery process, if it does, than I know I may have some underlining health issues. Thanks for everyone's help and I will keep you updated..

 

[penshearing]

Thanks 3way and Katherine, I just had a funny feeling about it. It smells like there is a chemical and truth be told I get weepy eyes and a really bad reaction after I break a bale up. But I just thought it might be allergies as i am allergic to pollen. I think it is time to call my straw guy and ask if they were treated at harvesting. After the horrendous drought and crop year anything is possible. But geesh you think they would tell you that especially since alot of ranchers wanted to feed mostly grain and straw this year.

I will call first thing in the morning,, thanks for letting me know that I am not just "grasping at straws".. ;-)

Edit :I just spoke to hubby and he said sometimes they spray something to" kill it ?", so it ripens faster :? .. Now I really need to know what was done (if anything) to it..

It's usually sprayed with round up (glyphosate) to "kill it" and supposedly ensure an even release of the wheat berries just before harvest. Thanks to Monsanto pushing through the legislation to do so.

 

[penshearing]

Thanks 3way and Katherine, I just had a funny feeling about it. It smells like there is a chemical and truth be told I get weepy eyes and a really bad reaction after I break a bale up. But I just thought it might be allergies as i am allergic to pollen. I think it is time to call my straw guy and ask if they were treated at harvesting. After the horrendous drought and crop year anything is possible. But geesh you think they would tell you that especially since alot of ranchers wanted to feed mostly grain and straw this year.

I will call first thing in the morning,, thanks for letting me know that I am not just "grasping at straws".. ;-)

Edit :I just spoke to hubby and he said sometimes they spray something to" kill it ?", so it ripens faster :? .. Now I really need to know what was done (if anything) to it..

Hi,
It's unfortunately a common practice for many commercial farmers to spray glyphosate (round up) shortly before harvest to "ensure an even and complete release of wheat berries/seeds).
Thanks to good ol monsanto for that little piece of legislation getting pushed through to make it legal.

 

[wbvs58]

I'm sure Hillsdown will be listening to what you are saying.

Ken

 

[coachg]

Grass stems as they graze and flys are 2 that cause watery, weepy eyes

 

[devonian]

Ha this was over ten years ago, I was hooked reading through it I'd love to know the outcome from Hillsdown n co. We grow some wheat and spray it to dessciate some years but we've never had a problem that I've noticed with the straw, although funnily enough I did notice one calf the other day with a mucusy/ slightly watering eye that I'd never seen before and wasn't pinkeye, it cleared up ok.

 

[J Hoy]

I have a few calves that have one weepy eye, looks more like an irritant than an infection. Definitely NOT pink eye ... It usually clears up within a few days on it's own. They get weepy in one eye and then the yellow crusty goop and then they clear up. The first calf of the year never had it but the second is when I first saw it.

Everything on the place has been vaccinated since calfhood with the works (IBR ,BVD etc) and each subsequent year after that. The only thing that is different is the hay(we had to buy hay last year) and the straw. The straw is from the same place I always buy from but it smells almost like it has been treated with a chemical and the cattle will not eat it this year at all, but last year they would demolish a bale and I was not rationing them on feed like I am this year ..

Kind of confusing, it seems just about every calf has it at one point , from the new ones a few weeks ago to the AI calves that were born in Jan. but they are all healthy everywhere else..

This sounds consistent with exposure to a toxin. Often the right side is more affected than the left side, like you mentioned with the right eye being the most often having the yellow drainage. I saw this issue on many of the accident killed animals I necropsied and on live wild animals like deer when I was doing studies to find the prevalence of birth defects on wild grazing animals. Those animals were being exposed to the chemicals that were in the rain and sprayed on fields they lived near, especially in late spring and early summer. The eye or eyes usually clear up in two or three days unless the animal is extremely sensitive and continuously exposed. Also the cattle not wanting to eat the straw would suggest it was sprayed or treated with something the cattle do not like. If the field was sprayed with Roundup/glyphosate just prior to harvest, it would definitely be on the straw. And the glyphosate is on all of the grain harvested and so is in anything made from the grain, including flour, cereal, other human foods, pet food, food for lab animals that are used to test chemicals (ironically), and of course grain for livestock. When animals eat straw, hay or any other foliage with glyphosate on it, it kills the good bacteria in their gut which make up a ruminant's primary immune system. And being a patented mineral chelator, it disrupts the ability of an animal's cells to uptake needed minerals. Glyphosate has also been shown by many studies to cause cancer. Not sure who could have possibly thought it would be a good idea to allow the use of glyphosate in a way that guarantees that it will in much of our food, especially cereal made for children and the food of our livestock and pets.

 

[moses388]

I was hooked reading through it I'd love to know the outcome from Hillsdown n co.

Hillsdown Gelbvieh held a herd dispersal sale in October 2021. Wanda Marsman passed away in January 2022 from cancer. {click here}