Losing calves

[Dan Skogen]

I have lost 3 calves so far this spring...they appear healthy take to the mother, about the third day appear to be abandoned, getting weak, day four or five dead. 15 head healthy and doing fine.
Is it mom/mom's milk or baby? Or do I need the vet

 

[Bama]

I would say your at least 1 calf past calling the vet. Its hard to determine what is wrong with someones calves from reading 50 words on the internet. A vet can look at your calves and give you an idea what to treat the others with. You also need to send one of the dead ones off to see why it died. Before losing any more.

 

[Workinonit Farm]

Possibly a colostrum issue? Not enough? Poor quality? Bacterial infection? Viral infection? As suggested by Bama, if you have another dead, I'd send it out for testing. If there is a next one, when it appears to be weakening, that would be a good time to get your vet involved before losing another one. Good luck.

Katherine

 

[Caustic Burno]

I have lost 3 calves so far this spring...they appear healthy take to the mother, about the third day appear to be abandoned, getting weak, day four or five dead. 15 head healthy and doing fine.
Is it mom/mom's milk or baby? Or do I need the vet

Wow cowboy you lost 1500 bucks already vet call 200 bucks.
Wanting on more to die priceless.

 

[Farminlund]

I'll go along with Bama & Burno, except I think Bruno is living in the past - my calculations say today's values are closer to 2000 rather than 1500!

So the mom's aren't interested in their young anymore? Seems odd. Are they scouring? More info & observations required - vet the next time. Hopefully that won't be the case, but you need to know what happed to prevent it in the future.

 

[Wewild]

I'll go along with Bama & Burno, except I think Bruno is living in the past - my calculations say today's values are closer to 2000 rather than 1500!

So the mom's aren't interested in their young anymore? Seems odd. Are they scouring? More info & observations required - vet the next time. Hopefully that won't be the case, but you need to know what happed to prevent it in the future.

I'm purty sure I've never seen 3 mom's abandon their young like you have described. I ... would seek help from someone with more experience than me before I counted 4 dead .... in your situation ..... maybe a vet???

Got anymore left to calve???

 

[riverdance]

How come you dont interceed before the forth day if you noticed them abandoned and weak on day 3...maybe a more active intervention should be done in the future just till you can isolate the issue if possible. When our heifers drop their calves we go up as soon as possible to see the sex of the calf...one good rule I found works well, unfortunately too late for one of my calves is...if they arent up and running within a couple of hours, you should watch them carefully. With 4 of our calves if we didnt get to them within the first day to check their sex....it was good luck to us..couldnt catch them...however with the last one we were able to walk up to it for 2 days straight, it hardly moved from the same spot...I immediatly took it to the vet, we bottle fed it for a week at which time it was determined he was blind in both eyes and had brain damage, (thus the inability to walk well and carry his head) and was put down. Yeah it cost money for those who think I should have just let it die, but then I wouldnt have learned a darn thing would ? And one more thing I learned is when something is wrong they go down hill really FAST. The best for you in the future and I hope you dont have anymore losses.

 

[jgn]

How close is the nearest vet? I had a couple of calves come down with severe pneumonia a couple years ago and was going to take them to my vet. Instead I loaded up and took all of them to the vet just to be safe. I got him to give them their shots and check them out, he said all of them had pneumonia at some level so they got the treatment for this as well. It cost me a little over $250.00 but I'm sure it saved me money in the long run as all that were sick healed and didn't lose any of the calves. Maybe you should try this if feasible, could be something going through the herd that they should all be treated for.

 

[Dad at the Ranch]

Did you notice what color the stool was on the dead calves abd if they were scouring? Yellow or white with with a lot of membrane? By the way what breed?

 

[Medic24]

Ok, maybe my input is just too simple, but if you see a calf that is having problems, such as being 'off' or abandoned, why would you not take the calf in and bottle feed it and treat it with at least a good broad spectrum antibiotic? One more thing........ some frozen colustrum is worth it's weight in gold when you really need it. Keep in mind that it not only has passive aintbodies etc. but is very rich and packs a wealth of energy for the weak- new born calves.

At the very least have on hand some packaged powdered colustrum. If in doubt feed it out! :cboy:

Good luck with the remaing calves.

 

[Rookie]

15 head healthy and doing fine.
Is it mom/mom's milk or baby? Or do I need the vet

I am amazed that some folks will allow more than one animal to die before the thought of seeking professional help comes into play. There could be blackleg in the ground where you live. How old were the calves that died? Did they seem to have pockets of air under their skin?

george

 

[preston39]

I'll go along with Bama & Burno, except I think Bruno is living in the past - my calculations say today's values are closer to 2000 rather than 1500!

So the mom's aren't interested in their young anymore? Seems odd. Are they scouring? More info & observations required - vet the next time. Hopefully that won't be the case, but you need to know what happed to prevent it in the future.

===========
Gotta agree with mr caustic.......all relative...to when your value is received...what age...weight...he was probably giving you a median number. Perhaps saving you from the agony of a larger number!!! :roll:

Either one...someone should get to the bottom of ONE death...as you would increase your chances not to loose any more? If not...best to do some research.....insurance against number two,three or ????. At this point ...do you know that you have a chance not to loose any more?

Agree with other posters without twenty questions...hard to opine. But I would want them answered.

 

[Chuck]

All these folks stopped by to try to help old Dan out. Or at least insult him a little bit. I guess he forgot to bookmark us so he could find his way back.

 

[Medic24]

Odd that......................my wife does all the chastizing for me I will ever need, she is the voice of common sense, the voice of reason, the voice of an intellegent person.........just ask her....she'll tell you.

Thus if we were to loose more then one calf without a known cause within a short period of time, it is easier to call the vet then to listen to her remind (NAG) me about it forever. :cboy: