newborn calf

[lancemart]

When my calf is born, should I vaccinate immediately against scours? What do you guys do with newborns?

 

[Bama]

Most of the time I just let momma do her job. If its a bull I normally band em in the first week or so. Some folks wait until 1 month some wait until weaning age. I like the mothernature course. I let momma do everthing she will as far as milk or suppliments go. I don't creep unless I have to. I do vaccinate but not at a real early age.

 

[Caustic Burno]

When my calf is born, should I vaccinate immediately against scours? What do you guys do with newborns?

Nothing is what I do. Geez take a BC powder. Cow and calf will be fine if you will leave them alone for ten minutes.

 

[donnaIL]

We iodine the navel asap... they sell the iodine in spray bottles, but we have also put it in a cup or like object depending on the situation. we let mom handle it then and she usually doesnt like the iodine donna

 

[msscamp]

We scourguard the mama's prior to calving, but only because we calve in March and the weather is unpredictable (temperature's still pretty chilly, and snow/rain not uncommon). I wouldn't think you would have to worry about at this time of year.

 

[Bez]

Lancemart:

As I have written before - calves have been born on this earth for as long as we have been eating wild cows, wearing skins and hunting meat with sticks and stones.

When the calves hit the ground they lay there for a few minutes while Mom gets rested up for the big "lick off".

Some folks do all sots of things to their animals: penicillin shot, iodine the navel, selenium shot, vitamin shot, and a whole bunch more. I often wonder how the old timers did it before we started inventing drugs, vitamins and other money saving devices such as sacks of high protein feed.

I am sure that will be your next set of questions. :lol:

In the end the calf will get up and suck on Moms tits. Mom will keep licking the calf and make "cow love" sounds.

You can tag this animal immediately, you can shoot it with whatever drugs annd vitamins you want and you can take the chance Mom will roll you in the dirt if you get too close too soon.

There is very little you can do to hurt this young animal and there is very little it needs on an immediate basis - other than a big cow to love it and feed it.

There are those who will tell you to spend all sorts of money on all sorts of wonder drugs and such - just do nothing and let it get up and suck.

Stand back and enjoy.

Your questions are actually what we call around here "grinners".

Relax - all will unfold as it should.

Bez

 

[greenwillowherefords]

Lancemart:

As I have written before - calves have been born on this earth for as long as we have been eating wild cows, wearing skins and hunting meat with sticks and stones.

When the calves hit the ground they lay there for a few minutes while Mom gets rested up for the big "lick off".

Some folks do all sots of things to their animals: penicillin shot, iodine the navel, selenium shot, vitamin shot, and a whole bunch more. I often wonder how the old timers did it before we started inventing drugs, vitamins and other money saving devices such as sacks of high protein feed.

I am sure that will be your next set of questions. :lol:

In the end the calf will get up and suck on Moms tits. Mom will keep licking the calf and make "cow love" sounds.

You can tag this animal immediately, you can shoot it with whatever drugs annd vitamins you want and you can take the chance Mom will roll you in the dirt if you get too close too soon.

There is very little you can do to hurt this young animal and there is very little it needs on an immediate basis - other than a big cow to love it and feed it.

There are those who will tell you to spend all sorts of money on all sorts of wonder drugs and such - just do nothing and let it get up and suck.

Stand back and enjoy.

Your questions are actually what we call around here "grinners".

Relax - all will unfold as it should.

Bez

Save the needles for the two month age, at which time you need to blackleg and multi-way vaccinate it. At this time, as usual, Bez is right.

 

[jgn]

If it's a first calf heifer I'd say leave it alone till it's a couple of days old before you attempt to do anything to it if there is anything you want to do. The cow will have enough things to try and figure out on her own without having to worry about why your trying to hurt or steal her calf. My best advice for the first couple of days would be to just observe to make sure she is letting the calf nurse. Sometimes it takes them a little while to figure out that little eating machine is supposed to be latching on to them.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

If you don't have a history of calf scours on your farm, you shouldn't have a problem - especially this time of year.
If you had a known problem, the COW should be vaccinated 2 & 4 weeks prior to calving, so that her colostrom has the antibodies for the calf to suck.
In severe situations, where calves being born are getting E-Coli, than there is a vaccine that can be administered orally.

Unlike the "do nothing" approach. We iodine the naval as soon as possible after the calf sucks. We are in an extremely selenium deficient area & give a Bose (selenium) shot at the same time. We never vaccinate with anything until after they are 3 months of age (most vaccines recommend this minimum age.)
Now, if you are calving outdoors on nice clean pastures, your risk of naval ill are pretty small, and if your area is not selenium deficient, you don't need a Bose shot - maybe you will luck out with the "do nothing" route. It's just not for me, in our situation.

 

[Rustler9]

Look at it, make sure that it's nursing. Watch it, enjoy it, maybe take a picture. Vaccinate at weaning, at least that's what I do and it seems to work.

 

[certherfbeef]

And lancemart,
After all the fuss and the "grinner" questions that we have answered in the last month and a half...we DO expect a picture. I'll even post it for ya!

 

[flaboy]

When my calf is born, should I vaccinate immediately against scours? What do you guys do with newborns?

Here's how I handle it. Cow has calf, a day or two later I happen to notice it. I write it down in my book which one had it. Sometime later I figure out the sex of the calf and put that in the book. 4-6 months later I round it up and take it to market. Can't make money on them if I put a lot of time/effort/drugs in them.

 

[certherfbeef]

When my calf is born, should I vaccinate immediately against scours? What do you guys do with newborns?

We are deficient in selinium around here. So baby gets BoSe and if it is a real wet year, I dip the calf's navel with iodine.

University vet told me once that due to stress involved with calving...it does no good to give shots till at least 2 hours after the birth to either calf or cow. But I was standing in the dairy barn too, not near the rodeo to catch a couple hour old calf in a dairy barn.

 

[flaboy]

Dang people think these things are dogs or cats or humans or something with all this treatment. When we raised cattle and horses we never even treated our colts this good and they turned out pretty dang nice critters.

 

[eric]

I try and tag mine within the first 24 hrs or so, or else I can never catch them for a few days after that. Mama seems to catch on pretty quick! Shots? Vacs? What are those?

 

[flaboy]

I try and tag mine within the first 24 hrs or so, or else I can never catch them for a few days after that. Mama seems to catch on pretty quick! Shots? Vacs? What are those?

Finally, a man I can understand. :cboy:

 

[lancemart]

And lancemart,
After all the fuss and the "grinner" questions that we have answered in the last month and a half...we DO expect a picture. I'll even post it for ya!

I don't mean to be a pain in the you know what, but I know nothing and asking all these absurd questions I learned an awful lot. I get answers as if I wore a dunce cap, and when it comes to raising cattle in Rhode Island, and not being able to get good answers here, I do where the cap well. I learned an awful lot, and when I repeat things that I learned on this sitepeople listen as if I was there Vet. We do not know too much here. There are people that own cattle, but so few really take care of them. My theory is if I own it I want to give it the best care. I also believe in mother nature taking care of things, but sometimes conditions are not at there optimum and we have to step in. I want to know everything so I don't make any dire mistakes.

And, by the way, to answer the simple question, I will send pictures. I spoke to my daughter, who raises goats, and makes goat cheese, that she cannot keep up with, and she will take the pictures for me.
Her cow is coming over this week to keep my bull Pasquale happy.
Well I hope this gives you some background of why I ask so many questions, I think I can take the dunce cap off now.
Thanks for all your answers
Lancemart
Lance was my dog who is not around anymore, the greatest dog I ever had A fawn Great Dane. Would not leave my side.

 

[Bama]

Let see if you have plenty of water that you know won't go dry and plenty of grass the best thing to do would be to go on a 2 month vacation. In short she will be fine, the calf will be fine. We do expect pictures. Heck I even feel like olivia is one of mine now. Actually I know more about her than I do some of mine.

 

[Rod]

The moma will do all that is needed. Just make sure calf nurses in the first 24 hours. If not then give colostrim. If still not nursing then its off to bottle feeding.

 

[Beefy]

I agree, if we didnt already have Caustic Burro i'd nominate Olivia to be the CattleToday Mascot.