Calving season is always fun

[Dave]

Had two calves with issues yesterday. One near dead from scours. The other was 24 hours old and from all appearances hadn't sucked. We got them both and hauled them to the barn. The scour calf got a bottle of electrolytes tubed down him, a gallon of distilled water with 20 cc of baking soda IV'ed into him, an other shot of electrolytes tubed in the evening. More electrolytes this morning and back out to Mom. He is doing great.

The other calf was failing fast. And died maybe 36 hours after being born. We decided that he got his guts stepped on by a cow in the feed row. We had brought that cow in yesterday. There was one set of twins out there in the pasture. So after church we caught one of the twins. Skinned the dead calf and the twin got a new coat. About an hour ago the calf was sucking on that cow. I am calling it a victory. All is well that ends well, but it ain't always easy.

 

[MurraysMutts]

Good bit of work keeping them making ya dollars.
Glad the outcome was good as could be had.

 

[bird dog]

What does the distilled water do that regular water won't? Is it because it is going in a IV? Good save on one thats circling the drain like that.

 

[GoWyo]

One of my smallest, skinniest 3-year old cows had twins this morning and only wanted the first one. Hauled the smaller one to the barn and got a couple bags of colostrum in him over the course of the day. Had a heifer lose her newborn calf 6 days ago, so ran her in the chute and got about a cup of milk out of her this evening. Going to milk her in the morning and see what we get. Hopefully get her restarted and can graft the calf on her.

 

[Dave]

What does the distilled water do that regular water won't? Is it because it is going in a IV? Good save on one thats circling the drain like that.

Yes the distilled water is going in the IV. That is what both B and I were taught. That IV on a dehydrated scoury calf makes a world of difference.

 

[GoWyo]

Yes the distilled water is going in the IV. That is what both B and I were taught. That IV on a dehydrated scoury calf makes a world of difference.

My vet said can also go subcutaneous with distilled water and a calf's body will absorb it fairly quickly.

 

[Dave]

My vet said can also go subcutaneous with distilled water and a calf's body will absorb it fairly quickly.

Yes one of the methods B and I were discussing while the IV was slowly dripping into the calf.

 

[bird dog]

So GoWho or Dave, how much would you put in if you did it sub Q? Also would you put it in at the neck like regular vac's?

 

[farmerjan]

One of my smallest, skinniest 3-year old cows had twins this morning and only wanted the first one. Hauled the smaller one to the barn and got a couple bags of colostrum in him over the course of the day. Had a heifer lose her newborn calf 6 days ago, so ran her in the chute and got about a cup of milk out of her this evening. Going to milk her in the morning and see what we get. Hopefully get her restarted and can graft the calf on her.

Use some oxytocin to help with the milk "restart".... we have used it many times to get sows to come into milk and with cattle for letdown which helps to just jump start production.. If you can get it in the milk vein then 1/4 to 1/2 cc but if you give it in the muscle, then 2-3 cc and give them a few minutes for it to get absorbed into the body. It works fairly fast.
If the calf keeps at her, and a couple shots then she ought to come back into her milk... the constant nursing of the calf will do more than anything else if she will accept it..
GOOD LUCK... hope it works.

 

[GoWyo]

Use some oxytocin to help with the milk "restart".... we have used it many times to get sows to come into milk and with cattle for letdown which helps to just jump start production.. If you can get it in the milk vein then 1/4 to 1/2 cc but if you give it in the muscle, then 2-3 cc and give them a few minutes for it to get absorbed into the body. It works fairly fast.
If the calf keeps at her, and a couple shots then she ought to come back into her milk... the constant nursing of the calf will do more than anything else if she will accept it..
GOOD LUCK... hope it works.

I got over a pint from her this morning. Will keep after her and get calf on her in next session or so. Don't have any oxytocin and vet is 45 miles away, so will just keep after her every 2-3 hours.

 

[coachg]

Good luck , hope it works ! What we do for our animals most folks don't have a clue.

 

[moses388]

So GoWho or Dave, how much would you put in if you did it sub Q? Also would you put it in at the neck like regular vac's?

per the video:
<200cc per injection site
may inject along the neck and ribcage

 

[bird dog]

Thanks moses. It doesn't really address how much though, just 200cc per site.

 

[GoWyo]

Quote from an article is below. My recollection is 80# calf could need a gallon of they are down far enough oral rehydration won't work.

His advice for administering a good electrolyte solution until it is no longer scouring. "Based on the calf's weight, we consider three things. First is what the calf needs for normal maintenance [how much it would normally drink in a day]. Second is the degree of deficit from dehydration. Third, how much is he continuing to lose via diarrhea. Sometimes people are surprised by the volume needed. If the calf is 5% or more dehydrated, you can estimate the amount of fluid needed by estimating how much the calf weighs. A gallon of water weighs 8 pounds," Barrington said.