dropping weight

Help Support CattleToday:

C

cgraves

Active member
Joined
Sep 13, 2006
Messages
27
Reaction score
0
Got a cow with about a five month old calf on her and I noticed that she has very runny bowels and looks like she has really lost some weight in the last few days. I feed just about everyday and she gets every bit of her share and also keep hay out. We had a few very warm days here in north Alabama followed by some heavy frosty mornings and just wondering if she could have grass tetanus (spelling?). She's still eating good and still being her same old aggravating self. I put out minerals a few weeks ago after using blocks for awhile. Could she just now be eating that and it's messed her sytem up? All cows have access to it freely. I did notice another cow with loose bowels but she doesn't seem to be lossing weight. It reminds me alot of how they do in early spring.

Any help would be appreciated.
 
johnes disease is alway's the first thing that pops in my mind. when i hear weight loss, diarrhea, and a nursing calf at side. were you talking about protien blocks or minerials. the weight loss dont concern me as much as the diarrhea
 
with the temps jumping up an down alot sounds like she has what i call winter disentry.she has the scours real bad.an you have feed an hay for her.so call your vet an tell him you got a cow scouring an need a shot or something to stop the scours.
 
I use to use strictly blocks but after all the help I receive off of this site I changed to loose mineral. She seems to be some better last night but did not see her poop. I'll try to get some shots in her.
 
Sounds like it could be Johnnes to me also. Do a search for it, there is a lot of good information about the disease. They are especially prone to showing the signs after any stress.. like calving or weaning a calf. Generally a cow between 3-5 years of age.

Good luck!
 
I'm not saying I'm an expert and I only have had one cow do what you are talking about. I don't normally supplement except in the winter to help out with low quality hay.

The one cow I had was tested for Johnnes Disease - it was negative. After the second calf, her BCS was a 3. Poor shape. She raised good calves, so I thought I'd pen her for 30 days with extra rations when I weaned the calf. You cannot feed them enough to gain weight while raising a calf. After 30 days of a corn based ration, she picked up to a BCS 4. So, I kept her there another 2 weeks before I put her with the herd. She still had the runs, but it doesn't seem to affect her in any way, except that she loses a bunch of weight raising a calf. While I admire cows that put everything they got into the calf, I can't afford to supplement them when the wean out. In the spring when cull prices are higher, she'll go down the road. To cull her now in the winter will cost me more money than feeding her through the spring.

I also have a herd full of cows that raise quality calves that never need supplementing and push out a calf every 12 months.
 
Our cows have very loose bowels when they first start eating the new rye grass.(better stand back away from them) Could be the calf pulling her down. Some do better than others.
 
Gate Opener":15w3yker said:
Our cows have very loose bowels when they first start eating the new rye grass.(better stand back away from them) Could be the calf pulling her down. Some do better than others.
Click to expand...
thats why the weight loss to a degree wouldnt be too big a deal. but weight loss with diarrehea needs look'n into. hardware is another possibility
 
Johnes disease is a very tricky & nasty disease. Testing once may show a neg when she really does have it. Testing for it is far from perfect.
Weight loss with a good appetite is a critical sign of Johnes, along with the scours. If she was "sick", her appetite might not be good.
 
Alot of differences of opinion when it comes to loose cow plop, just how loose is loose...still form a patty or clear and watery...change in diet, better quality feed, more protein, over eating and a list of other factors can cause loose stool; as long as it still forms some sort of a patty I usually do not worry. A five month calf is a pretty heavy drain on a cow especially if her ration hasn't changed and she is a good milker. Assuming that she has had her fall worming and is getting her share of some good groceries then Johnes is a possibility.
And that's my two bits worth.
DMc
 
you gals and guys are great. I appreciate your thoughts and concern. My small herd has all been born on my place except for one cow. Even though this cow is aggravating at times, I try to take good care of them. I raise my own beef and am somewhat concerned about the disease in the meat my family consumes. Is this a real danger in jumping into the food chain? From what I can understand, is if Johnes disease is what she has, she won't last much longer. Should I just count my loses and get rid of her or the whole lot?
 
There are many things that could be going on with your cow. I wouldn't jump ship until I found out what it is. I had asked about your acorn crop, because a good load of acorns will cause loose stools and weight loss, and where I am at its the time of year for them to be on the ground.. Some cows like them more than others. It may have nothing to do with your problem, but every problem with a cow doesn't have to be a doomsday disease. So find out.
 
cgraves":1k7mojib said:
you gals and guys are great. I appreciate your thoughts and concern. My small herd has all been born on my place except for one cow. Even though this cow is aggravating at times, I try to take good care of them. I raise my own beef and am somewhat concerned about the disease in the meat my family consumes. Is this a real danger in jumping into the food chain? From what I can understand, is if Johnes disease is what she has, she won't last much longer. Should I just count my loses and get rid of her or the whole lot?
Click to expand...
first off no need in panicing yet.because if you panic it could cause you to make some bad misstakes.if you think she has jphns then take her to your vet an have her tested.if she is positive cull her.i know this for fact.if dairy cattle test postivean calve their calves arnt allowed to suck them at all.the calf istaken away from the cow an fed clostrum from a neg testing cow.but no i wouldnt sale the whole herd out of panic.
 
where I have them now they have limited access to acorns. The piles she leaves are still basically intact with a whole lot of splatter. I will get a vet to test her. I'm concerned now about what happens to the meat from the cows who have this disease. I borrowed a young bull from a friend and he then had him slaughtered. I know the bull was exposed (for obvious reasons). I invest a lot of time and effort in my herd trying to make things a lot better and easier for me to handle them. But I don't want to put other people's health at risk if this is something people can catch thru the meat.
 
Johnes is spread thru manure & colostrum (mainly) and generally only newborns thru a few months of age are susseptable (sp?) to being infected. It can "live" on the ground for many years. If infected, it never rises it's ugly head until (usually) a first calving heifer. Stress makes it show up - than when the stress is relieved (calf weaned) - they may show NO SIGNS.
Heavy milking cows can lose a lot of weight with a 5 month old calf. But the combination of scours & wt loss is concerning. BUT, as said, loose stool & diarhea are two different things. "Generally" Johnes scours are watery stool - profusely. Testing would be in order - talk to your vet.
To the best of my knowledge, the meat is unaffected. Johnes attackes the lining of the stomach, causing it to be unable to process the food they eat. Once they have it, there is no cure and they "shed" on and off the rest of their lives .
Someone has a great web site describing Johnes.
You can "search" on this board & find lots of info.
 

Similar threads

L
Putting weight back on thin cows
2 3
Replies
52
Views
3K
redcowsrule33
R
G
Weight gain on nursing calves
Replies
7
Views
738
Silver
Silver
Colethesteer
Steer not gaining weight good
Replies
11
Views
3K
greggy
G
W
Yearlings losing weight
2
Replies
28
Views
7K
wbenchfarms
W
T
Weight
Replies
2
Views
2K
Son of Butch
S

Latest posts

Top