I am having issues with this batch of calves and haven't hit this kind of situation before so I'm hoping you guys can help me out. We've got 6 10-15 day old calves left out of 11 that we got 9 days ago. Unfortunately the temp dropped below 20F a day or two after we got them, which I wasn't expecting, I thought we'd have them a little older before the real cold hit. They don't have a cough or scours. Two died with zero notice, looked good at last check, dead when we got there for the next. The other 3 stopped nursing the cow and then the bottle and then didn't respond to tube feeding. My assumption based on their appearance is starvation from the standpoint of needing more calories to stay warm than they can get in them rather than lack of calories in. We have them in with 2 good nurse cows, heat lamps and starter feed which some are nibbling and are bottle feeding (or tube feeding if they won't suck a bottle) in the evenings too. I plan to add a morning and mid-day bottle during my days off today and this weekend but then it's back to work and that's not an option. We are using a good milk replacer but I am tempted to add some vegetable oil to add more calories to burn. Any ideas or suggestions?
Cold weather bottle calves
- Thread starter kynobody
- Start date
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Do Not add vegetable oil! You will get scours in the calves and compound the issues you are dealing with. I am sorry you are losing calves like this, I understand how frustrating it can be. I would advise you to take their temps and get back to us with that information, it will help. I strongly suggest you get a vet out there today. At the rate you are losing them you may not have any left by Monday and you don't want to pay for an after hours visit if you can help it. I would guess for certain the issue is pneumonia, and you need prescription drugs to deal with it effectively.
backhoeboogie
Well-known member
Ditto what Angie said. Nuflour and Banamine will save them if it is indeed pneumonia. You can only get those meds with a prescription. If a vet won't come out, he may sell you the meds if you explain it to him, have their temps taken etc.
larryshoat
Well-known member
I'm with angie and backhoe on the vegtable oil. The vast majority of calves of that age that die, die from dehydration. My guess is that these calves scoured and it was so runny that you just didn't see it. I've raised thousands of calves on the bottle, but never on nurse cows, this is something that backhoe has a lot of experience at and I would suggest you pick his brain for pointers. But I would bet you lunch that your calves died from scouring.
Larry
Larry
hillsdown
Well-known member
I agree with you Larry, and I am thinking that the problem may be ecoli working its way through the group . Too late for collimune so the only thing you can do is watch them like a hawk and hydrate the, asap. Watch their tails and even though you do not see a scour, if it is sopping wet, you have a huge problem.
larryshoat
Well-known member
Alice":13nyqay3 said:
I don't think it will make you unpopular at all Alice, if I were to construct a new calf barn I'm not sure I would use a concrete floor. For sure if they're on concrete they need to be beded deep in cold weather. Calf jackets are good too especially for sick weak calves. Hovers can be constucted over the pens to hold in heat. The one thing I do like about concrete is that we can clean and disinfect it between groups, so there are definately pros and cons.
Larry
hillsdown
Well-known member
Larry ours were raised in igloos on concrete as well, but you need alot of bedding, be it straw in the winter or sawdust in the summer. I really liked being able to disinfect after each weening too also that the calves were separated from each other.
I wish to goodness I'd had luck with concrete...'cause I might be crazy enough to try raising holstein bull calves again. Being able to disinfect would make a huge difference. It's just that the few we did try on concrete died quick. Somehow those little creatures could make their way to the concrete floor. Probably didn't use enough bedding, I dunno, but it was like the cold of the concrete leached its way thru and pneumonia set up every time.
'Course we lost them raising them on dirt...and once that dirt got fouled with all the diseases and such, I couldn't dig out enough dirt. I moved hutches constantly until there really wasn't much place to set them, unless I wanted to take them into the back 40, which would have been impractical.
Then, there's the FACT that buying holstein bull calves at auction is a prescription for disaster, at least around here. Dairymen grab those calves the minute they hit the ground and put them on the trailer to go to the sale. Forget about colostrum...
Just my opinion...
Alice
'Course we lost them raising them on dirt...and once that dirt got fouled with all the diseases and such, I couldn't dig out enough dirt. I moved hutches constantly until there really wasn't much place to set them, unless I wanted to take them into the back 40, which would have been impractical.
Then, there's the FACT that buying holstein bull calves at auction is a prescription for disaster, at least around here. Dairymen grab those calves the minute they hit the ground and put them on the trailer to go to the sale. Forget about colostrum...
Just my opinion...
Alice
backhoeboogie
Well-known member
It is kind of hard to lose a 10 day old beef split. Put it in a chute, get straddle of it and force feed it a bottle. They figure it out pretty quick. Once you are sure the thing is healthy, delay its feeding then introduce it to a crated nurse cow in close quarters. Crowd it to the cow if need be. Be patient and let it find the teat. Three days on that cow and it has her scent. Stubborn cows will take it. Once you are sure it is a go, turn them out to pasture and get them out of all close quartered surroundings.
If you are running three to four on the same cow, the calves all need to be close to the same size. If you are running multiple cows, it is best to keep them in different pastures to keep some calves out of the back door of the wrong cow.
If I am running bottled calves, they go on a lot. Their is enough room for them to run and kick it up. Low quality hay is spread. A wheel barrel and pitch fork pick up droppings with an occasional shovel too - once a day. I rig panels into chutes for each one. At feeding times, they go into their own chute with a bottle rack on the end. The only time they are in the chute is at feeding time. I walk out with bottles and fill the racks, circle back around and let them into their chutes. It keeps one from rooting the others off of their bottle. Plus I don't ever do just a few. If I am going to commit to twice a day feedings, I am going to make it worth my while.
A thermometer is your friend. If one gets sick, isolate it to a different pen and keep a watch on the whole bunch. At the first sign of a temperature issue with another, get it out and treat it too.
Stay on top of everything.
Nurse cows are the most economical way to go.
If you are running three to four on the same cow, the calves all need to be close to the same size. If you are running multiple cows, it is best to keep them in different pastures to keep some calves out of the back door of the wrong cow.
If I am running bottled calves, they go on a lot. Their is enough room for them to run and kick it up. Low quality hay is spread. A wheel barrel and pitch fork pick up droppings with an occasional shovel too - once a day. I rig panels into chutes for each one. At feeding times, they go into their own chute with a bottle rack on the end. The only time they are in the chute is at feeding time. I walk out with bottles and fill the racks, circle back around and let them into their chutes. It keeps one from rooting the others off of their bottle. Plus I don't ever do just a few. If I am going to commit to twice a day feedings, I am going to make it worth my while.
A thermometer is your friend. If one gets sick, isolate it to a different pen and keep a watch on the whole bunch. At the first sign of a temperature issue with another, get it out and treat it too.
Stay on top of everything.
Nurse cows are the most economical way to go.
backhoeboogie
Well-known member
kynobody":25anfarr said:
Can you give us an update?
One thing I did not mention (for newborns) is that it seems to help to give them a vigorous rub down with a towel. Sort of like simulating mom cleaning them up. This often gets them stimulated to taking a bottle. It has worked when nothing else would.
