Cow won't gain weight

[D Land]

I have a 5 year old cow that I rasied -she was rejected by the mother and we bottle fed her. She calved at about 3 years and produced a good calf which I kept. She has produced two more good/healthy calves that I have also have. The most recent calf is 3 months old at this point.

About a year ago this cow lost a considerable amount of weight. She has been wormed regularly. She grazes fine, has plenty of hay and ground corn. She is active, alert, calved with no difficulty, and cares for her calf well. I have sought advice from a couple of very experienced cattle men who have seen her and they say there are no visual signs of any health problems. She is a tall, large framed cow. The weight loss is most noticable in her rear quarters. Any ideas? Thanks.

 

[dun]

A hard doer that maybe puts too much into her calves and quite can;t recover during her dry periods

 

[B&M Farms]

A hard doer that maybe puts too much into her calves and quite can;t recover during her dry periods

I agree with dun that this could be a possibility. I have had a few that milked really well and raised great calves. They just got pulled down to far and couldn't regain enough condition between weaning and the next calf.

 

[angus9259]

I agree with Dunn as the most likely culprit.

That said, what's her stool like? Have you actually had it cultured? Perhaps the wormer isn't catching something?

1. Coccidia?
2. Johnes?

Is she your only cow? Are the others all OK?

 

[cmay]

hardware?

 

[D Land]

I have a vet coming today to check her. I'll post again after his visit.

In regard to other cows, I have 15 cows and 8 calves at present. All other cows healthy and look good. All the others who have had calves this season have rebounded well.

 

[D Land]

Vet checked her today. He suspects either liver problem or Johne's , or maybe both.
He took manure and blood samples for testing. The easy solution is to sell her. But this cow was bottle fed from day one by my wife who is really attached to her. Should have bllod results in about a week to see if there is a liver problem. The testing for Johne's takes a long time according to the vet and even then is not overly reliable. I'll post when I know more.

 

[D Land]

Got results of blood tests. No liver problems. Very low protein level which is indicitive of Johnes according to vet. With a week to consider the options, she is at the sale barn today.

 

[angus9259]

wise move

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I hate to add salt to the wound - but - her calves "most likely" also have it. Johnes is a nasty disease - very hard to detect. Impossible to detect early in life. Can't test them til after they are 2 years of age. Generally, it shows itself after their fist calf (stress).
It is easily passed thru the colostrum & of course any manure she has passed and might have been exposed to her teats. All cattle in your herd are being exposed. It lives in the soil for quite a long time. Mature cattle virtually never can get it, but all newborns in the herd are easily affected.
Johnes cow passes manure, another cow lays in it (even out on grass) and she gets it on her teats exposing her own calf.

 

[angus9259]

According to specialist at MSU - 20% of pregnancies to Johne's affected animals will become affected IN UTERO - before ever hitting the ground. Taking colostrum increases odds of contraction. Feces coated teats even more. The odds of a calf born in pasture becoming clinical when it's Dam was not is relatively minor since the rate of effect is driven by the quantity of Johnes bacteria consumed (ie - they can consume small amounts and not become clinical themselves). So if a calf takes a swig off a Johnes feces coated teat of a non-clinical dam it's unlikely to become clinical itself. If the animal is housed indoors or in muddy conditions, the rate of transmission obviously increases.

It's a bugger......

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Thanks for clarifying my info. I had not heard the info concerning other newborns - low rate of infection. That's encouraging.

 

[miraculous]

hard decision to sell the cow that you consider somehow special especially in your cows case.