cow wont eat

[farmlady]

How do you get a cow to eat, who wont eat??

 

[dun]

First you find out the reason she won;t eat. Unpalatable feed, sick, injured, already full, etc.

dun

 

[farmlady]

sick, but cant find nothing wrong. she got stung by something couple weeks ago, could she be shy about eating?

 

[dun]

Is she drinking water? Is she eating anything at all? Her rumen may not be working properly. In the past we used to steal a cud from another cow and force it into one that was off it's feed. Now there are all sorts of things to get the rumen funtioning again, I just don;t know what they're called.

dun

 

[farmlady]

does the rumen make her feel hunger?? been off feed for about 8 days. little bits about a cup a day. drinks water. Probiotics are what the rumen stuff is called. giving her propylene glycol for energy. electrolytes in water.

 

[dac1]

is she losing weight?

 

[farmlady]

yes, she's losing weight. checkout the "down cow" it's been two weeks. she ate good last sunday, was bright and things looked up but went back to nothing.

 

[farmlady]

if she isnt better by saturday, gonna euthanize her. hate to she's a good cow, but up until today she looked pretty perky. just not eating. three vets dont have a clue.

 

[dun]

I would assume the vets have ruled out dispolaced abomasum

dun

 

[Roadapple]

Hardware?

 

[born2run]

Is this the cow that's down, or am I missing something? DA would've been the first thing that came to my mind also.

 

[GMN]

Agood vet should easily be able to diagnose a displaced abomasum, does she seem to prefer hay over grain?

GMN

 

[Gary J Gale]

I agree with the Hardware problem. Could she have swallowed something? If not you might try the Probiotics. I have used the bolus's in calves to get their bellies feeling better. For the cow I'd get a tube of the gel. Just squirt the correct dosage down her throat. Its a shot? Suprised a bit by your Veterinarians "No Idea?" Good Luck! Hopefully she sanps out of it!

 

[dun]

Her rumen may not be working properly. In the past we used to steal a cud from another cow and force it into one that was off it's feed. Now there are all sorts of things to get the rumen funtioning again, I just don;t know what they're called.

dun

you might try the Probiotics

That's the stuff I referred to.

dun

 

[Gary J Gale]

I dont know what other brands are out there? We always used the "Probios" either in the gel or bolus form. Been especially helpfull with the show calves, the high (increasing)amounts of grain mix fed in relation to small (decreasing) amounts of hay sometimes led to the calves going off feed....sometimes we pushed em a bit too hard....the Probios was a miracle cure for us in getting them eating again. Have not used it a whole bunch, but worked very well when we did.