down cow tips

[bigbull338]

every now an then we get hitt with down cow qs from new people an what i thought was seasoned cattlemen.well heres what you do,if you have a fel you use that to lift the cow.if not then get a high gin pole an lift her with it.but a fel is the best thing to use.then buy a set of hipplifters.if you dont know what they are then ask your vet or local feedstore.a down cow will not get up most times with out help.an most times she goes down due to age injury sickness or other issues.they have tobe lifted 2 or 3 times a day.ive delt with them for 40yrs.the truth is 90% of all down cows may never get back up even lifting them.

 

[cowmilker]

I know what hiplifters are but what is an fel? and what is a high gin pole?

 

[slick4591]

Front end loader = fel

Gin pole

 

[backhoeboogie]

every now an then we get hitt with down cow qs from new people an what i thought was seasoned cattlemen.well heres what you do,if you have a fel you use that to lift the cow.if not then get a high gin pole an lift her with it.but a fel is the best thing to use.then buy a set of hipplifters.if you dont know what they are then ask your vet or local feedstore.a down cow will not get up most times with out help.an most times she goes down due to age injury sickness or other issues.they have tobe lifted 2 or 3 times a day.ive delt with them for 40yrs.the truth is 90% of all down cows may never get back up even lifting them.

I have to respectfully disagree with your 90% number. That's outrageously large.

I lost one of my heifers that was bred way too young by a neighbor's bull. She didn't have the will just as Caustic describes.

There's another one that a neighbor's hired hand couldn't get up. The owner is a vet who lives off from here about 100 miles. He called me to see if she could be saved and I tried like hades to do it and failed.

In 5 years or so that's two out of many - about 17. Lets call it 10 and the numbers are way under 90%.

There's the one that was down for a week before I got to play with it. The owner had spent over $600 in vet bills and was going to give her to me since I had a backhoe. Practically winched her in the trailer to get her home. She could crawl. I wound up paying for her and have taken three calves out of her now and she's fine. I spent less than $50 on CMPK and other meds. I did lift that one twice, just as you describe but generally the CMPK does it. I buy that stuff my the case.

Edit: Other things come to mind. Rolling them over after the CMPK application etc. You're on the money too with the lifting rig. A strap can do more damage than good. It takes the right harness if you are going to lift.

 

[regolith]

bb, most down cows I see are milk fever and even when you don't think it's milk fever it often is.
So I'd get the calcium into them first, then use the hip lifters. Hip lifters give them their best chance to recover... cows aren't meant to be 'down' and the muscle cramping causes enough damage to keep them down if they're not lifted.

 

[Lawson Farms]

I have a question about hip lifters. We have a set that always worked well on our Holstein dairy cows/heifers. However since selling the dairy herd, the few times we've needed them on our angus, we've not had good luck with them working. Its like the dairy cows were just thinner, therefore the hip bones stuck out more. What type of hip lifters do you guys use?

BL

 

[bigbull338]

your right the hipplifters are harder to get on the beef cows because of their hippbones an how fat they are.so that just means you really have to snugg them on super tight.if a cow falls out of the hipplifters then they wasnt on tight enough.the normal death loss is 50% or a tad higher.but as ive stated it can be 90% if people dont know what they are doing.but every1 has to learn at 1 time or another.if you have cows paralizing during calving the death rate is 90%.but most beef cattlemen dont see those high #s

 

[TexasBred]

bb, most down cows I see are milk fever and even when you don't think it's milk fever it often is.
So I'd get the calcium into them first, then use the hip lifters. Hip lifters give them their best chance to recover... cows aren't meant to be 'down' and the muscle cramping causes enough damage to keep them down if they're not lifted.

Most cattle that go down with mastitis can be treated with an IV solution (CMPK or Norcalciphos) followed by an IV of dextrose solution. Will normally be up in minutes IF you treat them in time....time is of the essence. My experience has been that one down over 24 hours has a very slim chance of getting back up no matter how many times you treat her, lift her or do whatever else you think might work.

edit to change Mastitis to Milk Fever. :dunce:

 

[backhoeboogie]

Lots of folks still use mineral blocks. Most of those are 97% salt if you read the contents. 50 lb mineral block has 1.5 pounds of things besides salt. That is a huge problem in cows going down.

If they are down related to birthing and hip joints, different thing.

 

[TexasBred]

Lots of folks still use mineral blocks. Most of those are 97% salt if you read the contents. 50 lb mineral block has 1.5 pounds of things besides salt. That is a huge problem in cows going down.

If they are down related to birthing and hip joints, different thing.

Yep. Here's a good example:

Sodium Chloride 98.236 %
Ferrous Carbonate 0.526 %
Zinc Oxide 0.486 %
Manganous Oxide 0.334%
Reddish Brown Iron Oxide 0.252 %
Copper Sulfate 0.120%
Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide 0.000%
Mineral Oil 0.020 %
Calcium Iodate 0.0112 %
Cobalt Carbonate 0.0108 %
Artificial Flavor 0.005%

Now this is 98% salt so how much do you reckon they're going to consume. The could get more of the trace minerals from one flick of the tongue in a good granular mineral.

 

[cowmilker]

Not endorsing or promoting, but I remember seeing this at World Dairy Expo last fall. Might be an alternative for down due to hind quarter injury. http://www.upsidaisycowlifter.com/

 

[TexasBred]

Not endorsing or promoting, but I remember seeing this at World Dairy Expo last fall. Might be an alternative for down due to hind quarter injury. http://www.upsidaisycowlifter.com/

Probably works better than the old "hip huggers" as you are lifting both ends and creating some semblance of standing up.