Respiratory Issues....

[TCRanch]

TC-Thank you for your kind words.
Another miserable week-end weather event here. This time, all calves are under a roof. We split them into 3 groups to accomplish this but they are really enjoying being warm & dry. Their human caretakers-not so much-as we're hauling feed to them but 'ya gotta do what 'ya gotta do.

Muck boots are your friend! Did you get pummeled last night? We ended up with just rain & 60 mph gusts, still blowing & more rain predicted. It's a muddy, nasty mess! But at least it isn't as cold - I haven't had to break ice for 5 days :banana:

So glad you were able to get your calves inside! Mine have some shelter in the woods & we put out more straw for bedding. Some snotty noses but otherwise acting perfectly fine; begging for cubes, none are lagging/coughing/watery eyes/heavy breathing/droopy ear(s). I think turning them out on the brome field helped as much as anything.

 

[Chocolate Cow2]

We had 2" of rain along with wind but not your 60mph stuff. 3" of rain a little farther north. Winds currently at 30-40mph with a snow, rain, sleet mix. Calves are amazingly good at understanding what we're doing for them. Two shelters open into pens with feed bunks and waterers. We filled feed bunks and let them out to eat. They ate, drank water and went right back under the roofs.
I've never pulled calves off the cows and gone right to town with them. I believe, as their owner and caregiver, I have a responsibility to make sure they're in the best health possible before selling. I owe it to the calves and to their buyers. But I gotta tell you-this time around has tested my beliefs. ;-) We're in a winter weather advisory until 6am.

Quite a few guys still have cows out on summer range with their calves at side. Lots of sorghum milo standing in fields and quite a few soybean fields still uncut. Guess a few droopy calves is a good problem as opposed to all the acres of unharvested fall crops I see.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Different area - but the same scenario. MUD, MUD - under a foot of snow. Went from -14F to 45F in 24 hours. Been doing this all year. We now can see bare areas out in the pastures. Cattle are always put on "sacrifice" lots in winter. Most groups have gravel pads for feeders, but one does not. Getting to where I'm nervous about burying the tractor!!!! Have 11 replacement heifers - weaned since early Sept. Out with no protection - doing well. Have 10 fall born calves - with a 3-sided shed for shelter. During the "warm" spell, they decided to stay at the feeders with mom. They are a muddy mess - errr. So far, all healthy. Hope I'm not jinxing myself.

 

[Texas Gal]

My sick steer died this weekend. After talking to friends and neighbors, it appears we got off lucky with just the one getting sick. Seems like everyone around here has had problems with respiratory illnesses due to the weather this fall.

On a brighter note, as we were getting ready for church on Sunday morning, I noticed a cow in labor around 9:15. By 9:45, she had the calf and it was standing up. A new baby calf always make me happy.

 

[gcreekrch]

My sick steer died this weekend. After talking to friends and neighbors, it appears we got off lucky with just the one getting sick. Seems like everyone around here has had problems with respiratory illnesses due to the weather this fall.

On a brighter note, as we were getting ready for church on Sunday morning, I noticed a cow in labor around 9:15. By 9:45, she had the calf and it was standing up. A new baby calf always make me happy.

Give it both Intra nasal vaccines...….. :cboy:

 

[NEFarmwife]

So Fire Sweep & Chocolate Cow2 both used Inforce 3 & still ended up with pneumonia. CC2 I'm very sorry for the loss of your two calves! Which begs the question: is it worth it in the first place? Or similar to the flu vaccine, which may or may not target the particular strain & half the people that get flu shots still get smacked with the flu.

My vet said he's never dealt with or heard of as many ranchers treating pneumonia & losing calves this year. And once again, the 10 day forecast is predicting huge variations in the weather from upper 50's, then rain/t-storms, drop in temp, snow & lows in the teens. :bang:

We used the Inforce last year as well. We had a VERY hard winter, cold as heck... Up and down swings. We kept all newborn calves in our calving barn for atleast 12 hours after calving to make sure they paired up and sucked. Then sent them to the pens (which all had a high sorghum cover for bedding that we never chopped and calf sheds bedded down) and had the WORST pneumonia year we've had in a long while. 3-5 were being treated constantly. When they fell ill, my husband treated them with a combo he concocted. I hope this year is better.