Looks like I have a bottle calf

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randiliana

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I was kinda hoping I would get off lucky this year, but I think I have a bottle baby now.

We have had this 3 year old in the corral for most of the calving season. I believe she is a chronic Pneumonia. Probably had it as a calf/weanling, and then seemed to get better, but something stressed her this winter and she came down again. We gave her a dose of Nuflor, which seemed to straighten her out, but within 2 weeks she was coughing again. Whether she actually has pneumonia again, or just lung damage, I am not really sure. She does not act sick, has no fever, but she is coughing.

So we have been watching her, and feeding her a bit of grain, hoping she would come around. She calved this morning. 55 lb heifer calf, and not only that, but it is very scrawny. Healthy and lively, but all skin and bones. On top of it, the cow is not interested in the calf. She was a great mama last year. I have seen this before, with cows that are sick, or in poor condition. They abandon the calf. I don't think it is worth fighting with her to make her take the calf, all the signs point to her not being able to do much of a job with the calf this year. If it gets really hot this summer, there is a good chance that will do her in. I believe she will go to town for the next cow sale at the end of April.
 
If I can't go through a year without one I don't know why you should. :P

I love my "bottle baby" this year she is a very content calf always happy go lucky.
She is already halter broke and the only thing that irks me about her is that she is a pig. She gets 8 litres of milk a day plus she eats about 3-5lbs of high ration calf starter and pigs out on second cut hay. The dam she is out of weened a 7 1/2 month old steer at 785lbs so it is in her genetic makeup to eat a lot. :lol:

Good luck with your new little heifer I have never been able to cure chronic pneumonia cows and they always seem to hit rock bottom after they calve.
 
good luck with the bottle baby.
Please don;t shoot the messenger, but if it was my cow i would get her tested for BVD, as well as any calves she had, and her mother.
Just a thought

RR
 
Hahaha, that's a good one hillsdown :lol: . We are debating, a friend of ours is looking for 2 calves right now, had 2 younger cows lose calves. So we may let him have her. On the other hand, we do have about 40 head left to calve, and it would be handy to keep her around, just in case. I don't mind doing the bottle calf thing either. As for the chronic Pneumonia's, we have come across a few over the years. Sometimes takes them a couple years to show it, but once they do, I don't think there is much you can do for them. Either the cold winter or a hot summer will get them. Calving just makes it worse. I think she will end up a BSE cow, we can't sell her, and she can't raise a calf. I guess that BSE test is better than nothing.....

Funky 4-her, that is true, and was more or less what we were hoping for.

Rockridge, I am not too worried about it being BVD. We bought her, and I trust the source. Also, we are on a pretty good vaccination program, where BVD is concerned. I have seen PI cows/calves, and she just isn't showing any other signs of it. I am pretty sure it is just a simple (well obviously not simple) pneumonia.
 

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