six month old calf

[Lenny]

Hi ya-all. New here but have been reading your-alls post for about 6 months. Fascinating stuff. Have learned a lot just listening. A little backround. Last spring I bought two heifer calves from a very nice 82 year old lady who swears by Hereford. Then she gave me a great deal on a heifer that was part jersey. I guess she was just trying to clean up her herd. I am new to cattle but she explained it was the mother was bred with a jersey to make the first calf easier. Sounds good to me. I bought it anyway. Now I have two Herefords and a hereford/jersey cross. A neighbor let me borrow an angus bull in sept. after he was finished with him. Said the cross would make nice calves. This I suppose is true as well. The deal got even better as one day in october I noticed a young calf staggering around the field. Turns out the hereford/jersey cross was bred when I got her. Calf was very healthy and six months went by with calf doing well. Friday I came home and the calf couldn't get up. Appeared to be hurt and not sick. Head was up and looked good but couldn't stand up. Today though is laying on side but still sucks water from bottle but not looking good. Called the vet and she said it sounds like the calf was beat up and may have some internal trauma. I will probably shoot this calf when I get home from church. Last few days has been very tough as we and the kids were attached to the first calf. (I know. Ano-no to the traditional farmer/rancher). If we are going to continue this venture we need to toughen up. I guess my question is, how could a six month old healthy calf get beat up in small heard like that. And I guess my real question is, was it that damn bull and should the bull have been seperated after I was satisfied that the heifers were bred. I kept him through the winter in return for borrowing him. Owner supplied the hay. Another sweet deal until now at least. Any one with some advise. Thanks

 

[Caustic Burno]

I have seen old bulls beat the crap out of young bulls.
Bulls will be bulls just like boys that little one has to run up there and stick his nose up there.

 

[Frankie]

It could be the bull; they will sometimes knock calves around when they're breeding the cow. It could be something else. Blackleg comes to mind. How's your herd health program? Did the cows have vaccinations?

 

[Alice]

Did the vet not come out and take a look? :x

I'm getting real put out with vets!

Alice

 

[KMacGinley]

It could be the bull; they will sometimes knock calves around when they're breeding the cow. It could be something else. Blackleg comes to mind. How's your herd health program? Did the cows have vaccinations?

If it was blackleg, he'd probably already have died.

I wouldn't keep the bull around any longer than you have to.

 

[Anonymous]

Depends on the bull... we run all of ours with calves and never have any problems. Once the bull calves get to about nine months we get them out of there to avoid any trouble. Mind you, Shorthorns aren't known for being aggressive!
Having said that, it does sound like the fella's been picked on. I'd be telling the vet I want him out to have a look. Or take the calf in. If herd health is up to scratch who knows what it might be. Have you watched what he's been passing? He couldn't have eaten something he shouldn't? Could be any number of things, hard to say without actually seeing him. You really just need to use your own intuition. Personally I'd have the vet out if I didn't know what it was, rather than leave it.

 

[randiliana]

Is it a heifer or bull calf? You don't say in your post. Several things pop into my mind. If it is a heifer there is a chance that it came into heat and the bull injured it when he tried to breed it. I could have gotten run over, although at this age that is unlikely, or if it is a bull calf it could have been beaten up by the bull, which seems unlikely, but is certainly possible.

 

[Susie David]

Sorry about your lesson learned....need to pay closer attention to your animals. I would suspect the bull...the red rocket knows nothing lese once the launch sequence has been iniatiated.
Heifer calf....got squished.
Bull calf.......got in the way.
Dmc

 

[ctlbaron]

It's not blackleg. As stated before it would have been dead in no more than 2 days. Usually don't last more than a day from the time they go down. Get them all vaccinated if you haven't already.

 

[Lenny]

OK Folks. Thanks for the many replies. Learned alot. I'll answer some of your questions. Sorry I didn't say. Probably would have helped if I told you it was a Heifer Calf. Calf did not have shots but rest did. So may be illness that I was not aware of. and no Vet did not come out. Diognosed over the phone based on what I told her. She never even mentioned "Black Leg" Why, I don't know. Calf was six months and a few days so from what I've read from your post she may have come in heat and Bull tried to breed. Do bulls need to be removed from heard except for the one or two months they need to be in with the heifers and then what do you do with the younger heifers that are six months old but not weaned. Sorry to sound so ignorant but I must be. Calf is gone now but this information will be good for the future. I hope I have a future. Expecting a couple new calves in june or july. I really did do my homework before starting out but there is no better teacher than experience I guess.

 

[Hammer]

If that heifer calf came into heat that young ( which could happen ) and the bull tried to breed her, yah that could cause her some injury.

You have to keep the bull from heifer calves, starting at a few months old up until 14.5 months or so which is about as young as you want to breed them. Breeding them at 14.5 months will put them calving with their first calf around two years old.

Some folks manager their herds different, they leave the bulls in all the time, they get calves year round. Some folks have bulls that will not breed the heifers until the right time ( must be a pretty smart bull ), others have to pull a lot of calves from ( too young ) 15 month old heifers, I imagine they lose some heifers and some calves.

 

[randiliana]

You don't need to remove the bull from the herd, but any heifer calves that are 6 + months old (600#-650#) may come into heat and get bred, which is not a great thing, as they are really not big enough to produce a calf. If you decide to keep the bull with the herd, it would lbe a good idea to wean any heifer calves that are 6 months old or older just to be safe, and to keep them away until they are around 14 months old. We pull our bulls after 60 days, they go in when the calves are 2-3 months old and pulled out when the calves are 4-5 months old.

 

[AngusLimoX]

I think you have to get off the bull thing. I don't think he had anything to do with it.

Hardware? Depending on where it ( the metal ) goes through symptoms could be different?

You keep saying beaten up, but not saying exactly what you are seeing?

 

[KMacGinley]

I think the bull thing is a more likely cause than hardware, they grunt and get skinny from the wire or whatever working towards the heart. They don't suddenly go down. It is a 6 month old heifer, I would say she came in and he crushed her.

 

[Lenny]

Well bottom line is I had to put the calf down, One of the hardest things I've had to do. The calf continued to get worse. First day I came home she was laying in the normal position but could not get up. Tried and we tried to help but basicly just puled with front legs moving a few feet each time. I fed water and milk replacer from a bottle. Felt for broken bones but did not feel any and calf did not appear to be in pain but people have told me that its hard to tell when a cow is in pain. Next evening calf was laying flat on side. Still would suck from bottle but would not eat hay or grain. I hoisted her up but could not stand on her own. Manure looked normal and she was still OK in that area. Did hear some noise in the stomac area and when I pushed on her belly it felt kinda sloppy kinda like a deer that had been gut shot. Third day and far to long I put her down. Trust me. I wish there was another way. Pasture is pretty clean with the exception of some baler twine that we missed over the winter. Neighboring fields has a lot of cherry but to my knowledge there were no limbs down. I gave her penicilin. Not sure what else I can tell you. Thats about as much information that I have. I should be having two possibly three calves. Bull was put in on September 15th. Not sure when heifers came in heat after that. But I guess June would be about right for the two Herefords and then August for the Hereford/Jersey cross that had to be bred back after calving on the 12th of October. Does that sound about right. Whatever happened I will allow the bull to stay with the bred heifers until the end of this month and the owner of the bull wants him back in July. Said I could borrow him again in september. We shall see. Thanks for your post guys. I see lots of Bulls running with heards year round. Maybe they pull out their young heifers. I don't know. But I want to get it right. I'm not in it for the money by any means and reading your alls post its a good thing. I enjoy sitting on my back porch watching them and like knowing where my meat comes from. Have been to the sale to many times and saw local meat market buying up everything. Even cattle that couldn't stand up on its own. Also liked the idea of having a calf. Kids loved it. Guess I should remember that there are things that can go wrong as well as all those ggod things that we enjoy. Have to be prepared for both. Soorry for the long wind and thanks again.