Just wondering if anyone else has had trouble with newborn calves not getting up after birth. The mother cleans them up good but they just dont have the energy to get up. I have had 4 calves do this over the last 3 years and its not the same mother.I tried the bose shots and collostrum mix and nothing seemed to work.I allways keep a trace mineral block plus a trace mineral with selenium block out.
newborn calf wont get up
- Thread starter rws
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Running Arrow Bill
Well-known member
Several questions:
What breed of cow? Breed of sire?
Weight of newborn calf?
Has the same sire produced all the calves that didn't want to get up?
Did cow have adequate nutrition the last trimester?
Our Longhorn calves are usually up, nursing, and moving around within one hour.
What breed of cow? Breed of sire?
Weight of newborn calf?
Has the same sire produced all the calves that didn't want to get up?
Did cow have adequate nutrition the last trimester?
Our Longhorn calves are usually up, nursing, and moving around within one hour.
cattle_gal
Well-known member
First thing that comes to mind is White Muscle Disease. Selimium Def.
This is how our disaster started with Selinium def. First it was a couple then a few more then 30 the following years until the vet pinned it down when he opened up a few of the calves. Our area is famous for having no selinium in the ground. It won't even register on the tests.
Then we gave each calf at birth BOSE (selinium and Vit). Then we started on a extensive mineral program based on our hay and forage tests.
Those trace mineral blocks are worthless. There isn't enough anything in there except salt. Get on a lose mineral program that has the minerals you need. Depending on company - about $600 a ton. Get your hay and or soil tested to see the amount of minerals in your hay and forage. You maybe crying about the cost of the mineral, but think about the amount of calves you save and the healthier the cows and calves will be. Plus many mineral programs also have a bonus with out even trying. They help the gut work thus the cows will utilize grasses they normaly don't want to eat. Gets them away from the stream and water spots. And with some herd they breed up quickier than when not on a mineral program. But make sure you shop around and even talk with various nutritionist about mineral from the companies and the amount you need. Each company will have there take on how much is enough. If you need to get ahold of your university and talk about it. they may be unbias about it.
And if you can find Chelated for a comparable price of non chelated go for it.
For now get ahold of your vet if you lose one calf get it to him right away (don't let it freze or start to spoil)while it is fresh and let him open him up and prehaps also before it's to late get a blood sample for him to test.
This is how our disaster started with Selinium def. First it was a couple then a few more then 30 the following years until the vet pinned it down when he opened up a few of the calves. Our area is famous for having no selinium in the ground. It won't even register on the tests.
Then we gave each calf at birth BOSE (selinium and Vit). Then we started on a extensive mineral program based on our hay and forage tests.
Those trace mineral blocks are worthless. There isn't enough anything in there except salt. Get on a lose mineral program that has the minerals you need. Depending on company - about $600 a ton. Get your hay and or soil tested to see the amount of minerals in your hay and forage. You maybe crying about the cost of the mineral, but think about the amount of calves you save and the healthier the cows and calves will be. Plus many mineral programs also have a bonus with out even trying. They help the gut work thus the cows will utilize grasses they normaly don't want to eat. Gets them away from the stream and water spots. And with some herd they breed up quickier than when not on a mineral program. But make sure you shop around and even talk with various nutritionist about mineral from the companies and the amount you need. Each company will have there take on how much is enough. If you need to get ahold of your university and talk about it. they may be unbias about it.
And if you can find Chelated for a comparable price of non chelated go for it.
For now get ahold of your vet if you lose one calf get it to him right away (don't let it freze or start to spoil)while it is fresh and let him open him up and prehaps also before it's to late get a blood sample for him to test.
frenchie
Well-known member
Good advice 
TheBullLady
Well-known member
Are the calves big? How long before the calves are born? Are they easy calving or hard? Nothing is as unambitious as a huge calf that took forever to be born. (Except maybe a Brahman born in the winter) It's hard on the calves and they don't have the energy as a smaller one that came out quickly.
What kind of bull are you using?
What kind of bull are you using?
I have had that problem the first few years of calving. We would do everything - they just did not want to get up. We would hold them up to feed & they would lay right back down. Those calves were straight polled hereford. Now I breed my Hereford to Angus & it is a totally different scene. These calves are so full of energy & life! But I also have improved my mineral program so I guess it could be either or both? Good luck!
greenwillowherefords
Well-known member
Kelly":33hzx610 said:
Ask Txag, Camp, or myself, it is the mineral that made the difference. Thank God this has not been a problem for me. I have cows calving on their own, just go out and find a new calf nursing! No Bolsen-type calving barns here!
SPRINGER FARMS MURRAY GRE
Well-known member
What kind of bull do you have? My neighbor had a bull he was really proud of, personally,I thought he was the ugliest thing I had ever seen. he was a brangus (probably a cross,though I am not sure),I have seen some good looking brangus bulls,but this was not one of them. He was tall,had a lot of leg, and his calves were the same. The calves had such long spindly legs that they could not stand to nurse. The first few calves like this he had to put them and their mamas in the corral,the cows in the head chute, and he had to go out twice a day to pick the calves up and hold them so they could nurse. A few calves like that and the bull he was so proud of grew wheels. :cboy:
I would lean towards nutrition which includes minerals as part of the problem. Drawn out labor can also cause problems, doesn't have to be a particularly large calf. Just a little wrong presentation, or the cow being weakened from inadequate nutrition.
Starting to notice a theme here?
That said, we have used bulls in the past that the calves would take 10 or so minutes to be up and looking for groceries. One bull we used, the calves were on their feet and looking for groceries before the cow had even gotten back on her feet.
dun
Starting to notice a theme here?
That said, we have used bulls in the past that the calves would take 10 or so minutes to be up and looking for groceries. One bull we used, the calves were on their feet and looking for groceries before the cow had even gotten back on her feet.
dun
thanks for the advice. My cows are angus and angus herford cross. The first calves that done this was from a red angus bull. The later, and one im using now is black angus bull. The calves were probably around 90lb or less. The vet thought maybe mineral deficiancy. I started feeding purina 36%protein blocks. From reading this forum maybe i should trade my mineral blocks for trace mineral in a powder along with the protein blocks.I have 15 cows and a bull and right now they will eat a protein block every 3 days but the mineral blocks seem to last 2 months.
thanks again love this forum
thanks again love this forum
Go with a loose mineral that is formulated for your area. Possibly a little more selenium if possible. Chelated minerals are much easier for the animals to utilize and are worth the extra money. Put out a salt block, your choice as to flavor. Some folks like the yellow, some other colors. We just put out the straight old white blocks.
With mineral bloacks it's hard for them to eat enough to get all the minerals they may need, with the loose stuff without anything else mixed in they'll be getting the minerals without a limiter of salt or extra protein that they may not need.
dun
With mineral bloacks it's hard for them to eat enough to get all the minerals they may need, with the loose stuff without anything else mixed in they'll be getting the minerals without a limiter of salt or extra protein that they may not need.
dun
rws":365zneky said:
We hang a bareel from a tree with ahole in the side for the cows to stick there heads in. It's pretty much a self policing deal. This time of year we use just regular minerals. In the spring we go with the same stuff but with high magnesium, then after the frist flush of growth we feed the same basic mineral but with a larvacide.
dun
Jake
Well-known member
we use old combine tires or floater tires to put mineral and salt in... seem to work really well
CKC1586
Well-known member
Would dun happen to have a picture of one of those barrels?
