I bought a day old calf last monday and she has had scours for a few days and it got better last night, went to feed her this morning and she looked weak and shakey, also had a little bit of white stuff coming out of her nose. tonight she still drank but could hardly stand, I had to help her get up. gave her a shot of pen and called the vet waiting for him to call back. any ideas of whats wrong with her?
sick calf now two of the calves died
- Thread starter D_skro
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D_skro":awouymwy said:
Pneumonia follows scours a lot...
Have you also been giving the calf milk as well as the electrolytes? Not mixed together, but like about 2 hours after the electrolytes. Electrolytes have no nourishment, and the calf needs nourishment, also. Could by why it's so weak. I dunno...sale barn baby calves are tricky at best.
Also, have dad pick up some probios and give it a squirt of probios each time the calf gets the antibiotic.
Alice
cornstalk
Well-known member
I'd take his temp right away. Then hit em with Draxxin if a fever is evident. Spendy, but going to be your best bet as it sounds like you may have let em go a little to long already.
The calf died saturday morning, the vet gave us nuflor but it was too late. we were giving her electrolites and milk replacer, frday morning she still seemed fine,she got up in the morning and was kicking around, but after she ate she seemed like somthing was wrong with her and she just went a layed in the corner. she was with three other calves and the two three month old calves seem sick one with white stuff comming out her nose so i gave all of them a shot of nuflor tonight. What is probios, and I have never taken a calves temp. before what is a normal temp?
D_skro":1dnys32g said:
Probios is a microbial...helps with digestion and adds good bacteria to the gut. Nuflor is especially hard on a calf's gut...destroys the good bacteria as well as the bad. A microbial corrects that. I give a squirt of microbial after any kind of anitibiotic is given to a calf. It also helps pick up appetite.
Did you get the calf at an auction? If you did, then you had a bunch of strikes against you right off the get go...exposure to disease, lack of colostrum, stress, etc.
I'm sorry you lost the calf. When pneumonia sets in, especially with a bottle baby, it's a hard row to hoe. I'm surprised a vet even bothered to deal with you over this. That vet is a keeper, let me tell you.
Alice
I bought the calf at the auction. forgot to say when i checked her saturday morning she was still alive and drank about a cup of milk, her legs were covered up with hay and after she drank i uncovered her and all her legs were locked up,i got all of them to loosen up, but her back leg were i gaver her the injection, do you think her legs locked up from the nuflor? do you have to get the Probios form teh vet?
D_skro":2vkunz8k said:
There is a possibility that you hit a nerve when you gave her the injection, but that's not what caused her death. and the nuflor wouldn't have caused the leg to get stiff...it would have been the needle hitting a nerve IF that's what happened. The bottom line is that you were working with a calf that had 3 strikes against it already. Don't blame yourself, ok? It takes a lot of experience and a lot of resolve, and guts, to get a day old sale barn baby to live...and those with experience lose them, also. People grab up babies and take them to the sale whether those calves have had colostrum or not, and colostrum makes all the difference in the world. Yes, a calf can survive without colostrum, but it's hard.
Probios does not require a script...you can get it at a feed store and even Tractor Supply.
Alice
Also it is recommended that shots be given in the neck area. Too much chance that one can hit a nerve in the rear leg area. As Alice said I doubt that is what cause the leg stiffness.
Sorry for your loss, have lost a couple myself.
Sorry for your loss, have lost a couple myself.
D_skro":1etpqk4k said:
Bad as I hate to say this, yes, there can be permanent damage done. How do I know this?
I'm a really lousy shot giver, but, there's like a V between the neck and the shoulder...if you go online, google it, you should be able to find the spot in a diagram...that's all I dare say.
Alice
Alice,
I am right with you on the shot thing. I hate them! I am more afraid of hurting them worse then what they are dealing with at the moment. I can do dogs and cats fine sub Q but I fight myself trying to give shots in the muscle and end up with having to try more then once or having the needle come off the syringe and squirt all over! I can handle everything else just fine but I hate shots! I think because I am terrified of getting shots myself...they hurt! If I have to do them, I do but I don't like it.
D_skroe,
I am sorry about your calf. It is hard to lose one.
I am right with you on the shot thing. I hate them! I am more afraid of hurting them worse then what they are dealing with at the moment. I can do dogs and cats fine sub Q but I fight myself trying to give shots in the muscle and end up with having to try more then once or having the needle come off the syringe and squirt all over! I can handle everything else just fine but I hate shots! I think because I am terrified of getting shots myself...they hurt! If I have to do them, I do but I don't like it.
D_skroe,
I am sorry about your calf. It is hard to lose one.
Why not use the tent method in giving shots instead of just jabbing them? Seems there would be less chance of hitting a nerve if thats what you're fearing. Also, I thought I read in Beef or Drovers that intramuscular shots can be given sub-q with same effects, and not have to worry about hitting nerve or muscle. By the way, normal temp. is 101.5 +/- a little.
preston39
Well-known member
Alice":1l55bb1w said:
The two older calves were up and kicking today, they seem really good. Yestrday the were just laying around and didnot want to get up or eat, seems the naxcel is working GREAT!
