I spoke too soon

[AmandaQ]

We used the two shots instead of one and that went so much better!

 

[TexasJerseyMilker]

Nuflor cured my old pet cow crippled with foot rot (when a crack or wound on the sole of the hoof gets infected and gets into the bone and joint) The vet said she likes it because Nuflor gets into the bone.

 

[AmandaQ]

My calf had X-rays today and things are looking good for her. She has some signs of arthritis from the sepsis but so far everything is going as planned. She gets her last massive antibiotic on Monday. Vet estimates she is 350 lbs, that doesn't seem possible at 10 weeks and 2 days but what do I know! At the end of June she will get a steroid shot in her fetlock so she will go under anesthesia one more time and then hopefully we will be done. She has a light case of scours right now, could be from starting to eat grass or the massive amounts of antibiotics I have been giving her for the last six weeks, or she could have caught the cooties. She was treated for that today also. Do y'all have any scours pointers? She has started to eat grain but not a lot of it yet.

 

[TCRanch]

Might want to give her ProBios for her gut since she's had so many antibiotics. Fresh grass scours are not unusual, and I wouldn't worry unless it gets bad or she looks dehydrated. Electrolytes for dehydration, otherwise, treatment depends on the type of scours.

 

[Travlr]

I don't know what that means but I would guess I did something wrong.

If the job gets done there is no wrong.

 

[Travlr]

Vet estimates she is 350 lbs, that doesn't seem possible at 10 weeks and 2 days but what do I know! She has started to eat grain but not a lot of it yet.

Why are you feeding grain? If your animals are pets, and they are both fat and the calf is growthy, then what do you think grain will do? Let her momma feed her and don't force the calf to be bigger and more active (grain does that too) than it needs to be. You don't need a 600+ pound calf being frisky with you because it can get dangerous in a hurry and with no bad intent on the part of the calf. Food is not love. You are doing it for you... not the animal. They will not love you more, and they will be more dangerous.

Go to the blackboard and write, "Food is not love" a hundred times. Every time you use grain double the amount of times you write it.

 

[Fay Holiday]

Yes, stop the grain and give her dry grass hay. Giving injections in two doses instead of one is a good idea for high volume injections.

Is this a show calf, pet, replacement heifer, or being raised for beef?

 

[TexasJerseyMilker]

She looks like she's definitely a pet. I can only afford to keep one old pet cow.

I know she's not a dairy calf. But dairy bottle calves are fed a calf starter of about 22% protien. Starting at 3 days of life, giving a small amount of fresh to nibble every time after they drink the bottle and are still act hungry. Eventually when they are taking 2 lbs a day for three days in a row they can be weaned off milk. Also, weaned beef calves are fed a 14% stocker grower grain.

 

[Travlr]

Beef calves are weaned at 7 months or more if they have a mother that's capable of feeding them. There's no reason to wean a calf if it has a free meal coming from a cow.

 

[Ky hills]

For scours, it depends on the type of scours, how it's treated. My most often treatment is to give Sustain 3 calf blouses.
Sometimes a vet has recommended an off label course of Baytrill orally in conjunction with the Sustain 3.
If it's just a case of too much milk, and not a pathogen caused or related scours a vet years ago recommended just using Walmart brand equivalent of Pepto Bismal.
The main thing is if along with scour treatment to keep a young calf from getting dehydrated. As they don't have much body condition to loose and it can be dangerous if they get dehydrated. Older calves it isn't as much of an issue or it doesn't become an issue as quickly.

 

[AmandaQ]

Why are you feeding grain? If your animals are pets, and they are both fat and the calf is growthy, then what do you think grain will do? Let her momma feed her and don't force the calf to be bigger and more active (grain does that too) than it needs to be. You don't need a 600+ pound calf being frisky with you because it can get dangerous in a hurry and with no bad intent on the part of the calf. Food is not love. You are doing it for you... not the animal. They will not love you more, and they will be more dangerous.

Go to the blackboard and write, "Food is not love" a hundred times. Every time you use grain double the amount of times you write it.

I was using it for my lactating mama and to give to the calf. I thought both of them needed grain. If they don't, then that is great! My 7 week old calf is estimated to weigh 350 lbs! And my mama cow is looking good. Today was the last day of the antibiotics. Grain was good for enticing them where I needed them to go so I could shoot the calf. This really is the best news for me and my pocketbook!

 

[AmandaQ]

Might want to give her ProBios for her gut since she's had so many antibiotics. Fresh grass scours are not unusual, and I wouldn't worry unless it gets bad or she looks dehydrated. Electrolytes for dehydration, otherwise, treatment depends on the type of scours.
View attachment 57976

Thank you, this graphic is helpful. I'm giving her a blue probiotic called Advita, or something similar to that name. The poop is looking almost back to normal.

 

[AmandaQ]

Yes, stop the grain and give her dry grass hay. Giving injections in two doses instead of one is a good idea for high volume injections.

Is this a show calf, pet, replacement heifer, or being raised for beef?

She's a pet! I thought I needed to feed grain to a calf no matter what. She likes hay. Do I need to give the hay in addition to her eating grass in the pasture?

 

[Travlr]

She's a pet! I thought I needed to feed grain to a calf no matter what. She likes hay. Do I need to give the hay in addition to her eating grass in the pasture?

Think about this... beef cattle have been raised on ranches with thousands of head and they don't see a human except to be worked (castrated, dehorned, and vaccinated) until they are weaned at seven months more or less. There are people that like to grain their calves to get them bigger, faster, but the biggest ranches I know of don't do it. It looks like your cow is doing an excellent job putting weight on your calf... so let her do it. And if you have grass, you don't need hay until snow is on the ground. Use a little (a little means a couple of cottage cheese containers) grain when you need to pen them up, but otherwise let them forage.

 

[AmandaQ]

Think about this... beef cattle have been raised on ranches with thousands of head and they don't see a human except to be worked (castrated, dehorned, and vaccinated) until they are weaned at seven months more or less. There are people that like to grain their calves to get them bigger, faster, but the biggest ranches I know of don't do it. It looks like your cow is doing an excellent job putting weight on your calf... so let her do it. And if you have grass, you don't need hay until snow is on the ground. Use a little (a little means a couple of cottage cheese containers) grain when you need to pen them up, but otherwise let them forage.

This is great news!

 

[Fay Holiday]

She's a pet! I thought I needed to feed grain to a calf no matter what. She likes hay. Do I need to give the hay in addition to her eating grass in the pasture?

You shouldn't if you have enough pasture. Offering salt and mineral is a good idea.

 

[simme]

And if you have grass, you don't need hay until snow is on the ground.

That may need clarification. Down south in the winter, there can be dormant bermuda grass that has little nutritional value by itself. An inexperienced person may decide that the dormant bermuda meets the "have grass" criteria. Madison, Georgia will not see any snow most years - so no hay needed?. But cows there will probably need hay starting in December until the greenup in March. Might be better to say that hay is not needed if there is grass with adequate nutrition.

 

[Travlr]

That may need clarification. Down south in the winter, there can be dormant bermuda grass that has little nutritional value by itself. An inexperienced person may decide that the dormant bermuda meets the "have grass" criteria. Madison Georgia will not see any snow most years - so no hay needed?. But cows there will probably need hay starting in December until the greenup in March. Might be better to say that hay is not needed if there is grass with adequate nutrition.

@AmandaQ ^^^ Read this for clarity.