Wild grazing animal newborns I received for care as a wildlife rehabber had bloody diarrhea when received soon after birth. All of them also had an underbite because of underdeveloped premaxillary bone, white areas on the lungs and an enlarged right ventricle of the heart. The fawns or elk calves that did not survive usually had not suckled, so did not get any milk after they were born, possibly because their underbite interfered with ability to produce normal suction. Did your calf have an underbite? I assumed that what caused the other health issues on the wild newborns was also responsible for the leaky blood vessels in the intestines causing their bloody stool. I necroposied the newborns if I wasn't able to save them, so saw the issues with the lung, heart and intestines. As I posted in another calf issue on CattleToday, those birth defects are consistent with deficiency in certain minerals, especially manganese, calcium and other minerals needed for normal development and with thyroid hormone disruption during development. Mineral deficiencies seem to result in thyroid hormone disruption and thus in the distinctive newborn health issues. I have attached a photo of a beef calf that was brought to me by a neighbor to necropsy. Note the severe underbite. It also had lung damage and the enlarged right heart ventricle. It did not live long after it was born. It had inflammation of the intestines.Lost a three day old calf today. First poop was very bloody. Is that birth defect or what?
Long as milk is flowing, u SHOULD be good. I keep mine penned together til I'm certain things are working right and they are bonded well.Long couple days in the spring crush. I should have kept a sample of the poop. Neighbor checked calf out and thought it look like it got stepped on but wasn't sure.
I did get a Holstein bull calf and working on getting it grafted. The milk looks good all four tits giving something, not sure what to look at though.
If you are getting milk and it looks good then it's probably fine on that front. If the teats were hard and what was coming out was bloody or real off color or coming out the consistency of cottage cheese then that would be mastitis.Long couple days in the spring crush. I should have kept a sample of the poop. Neighbor checked calf out and thought it look like it got stepped on but wasn't sure.
I did get a Holstein bull calf and working on getting it grafted. The milk looks good all four tits giving something, not sure what to look at though.
I assume you mean to check the cow's milk for any pathogen that may have contributed to the 1st calf's death???Check the cow's milk before you graft......
As in bloody milk only. Since her milk was good that has been ruled out. I didn't read if they found bruising when the calf was skinned so don't know if being stepped on was possible. The other is viral scours.I assume you mean to check the cow's milk for any pathogen that may have contributed to the 1st calf's death???