Tiny Little Calf

[randiliana]

So, we are custom calving some heifers. Mostly things have gone quite well with them. A few assists, but nothing too major. Yesterday we had this calf born. Didn't weigh it but I am guessing about 20 lbs. It was not premature and seemed pretty normally formed. Never got to its feet and we put it down. Heifer is a Red Brf (Angus x) and bulls were Black Angus. You can tell how tiny it is with its mama's head in the photo. Is this Fawn Calf?

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Well dang-it Randi, now I'm all sad.

 

[Taurus]

I still don't get why it was put down if it don't get up when her legs are normal-looking?

 

[Anonymous]

Just out of curiosity how long did you give it to get to its feet?

 

[bigbull338]

ive seen tiny calves like that make it.i too am wondering why it couldnt/didnt get up.

 

[randiliana]

It had all day. Not much point in giving it a go. Don't think it had a suck reflex either.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm not judging at all. You do what you feel is best for your set up. But Im also curious if you gave it any selenium etc.
How about some details please so I can keep learning

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

Randi, we had an itsy-bitsy heifer calf like that last year. Fawn-size, full-term! She was born about 8:00 p.m.; I finally went to bed at 11:00 p.m. and she hadn't gotten up yet, but her young mother had lick-rolled clear from one side of the pen to the other! New mama was too agitated to get in there and assist. Next morning, she was up and nursing. Today, she's just about caught up to normal size.

 

[randiliana]

OK, first off with any calf that is that much smaller (our avg weights are usually 80 lbs or so out of heifers and it was about 20 lbs) you really have to wonder why. Genetics, disease? Could be BVD, could be some sort of genetic mutation (that's why I wonder about fawn calf). Then, it is a time management issue. IMO, there was going to be a lot of time spent messing around with that calf, I don't even think it could have reached the heifers udder to suck. Chances were pretty high that the calf was going to die anyways. And I KNOW that even if it had lived, it was never going to grow to be anywhere close to what its herdmates would be. In this case it was $$ that really played into the decision. It is a case of been there, done that.

I almost always will try to get a calf going. I can count on 1 hand the # of calves we've ever put down without working with them. We spent a week working with one earlier this spring. Was a case of hiplock where the heifer almost had the calf on her own. We are pretty lucky that it made it at all. Took 4 days for us to get it on its feet. And a couple more before we got it going on the heifer.

 

[Anonymous]

I just wonder this:
If the calf lives reguardless of size, it's still money in hand at weaning/ sale time.
Assuming its not a huge cost investment their is still money to be made, although maybe not as much. The gestation has already been paid for reguardless of how big or small the calf is.
The only time it's a loss at birth is if the calf dies or the cow dies or either require a lot of time or care. so, I guess my question is why not try to some extent beyond one day?
I may be dense. I may be missing something. But I just don't get it.

 

[highgrit]

If I had the amount of cows she has to work and keep up with I would not waste my time. Add horses and 1 pretty young girl and who knows what else they have going on. I would spend my time on something that was going to be worth while. We need to remember it's only a runt calf.

 

[randiliana]

That's pretty much it highgrit. If the calf had shown a sign of being able to make a go of it we probably would have tried. As it is we will adopt a calf onto the heifer on a share deal. Chances are that will be more profit than messing around with a calf that was likely to die anyways, or ending up with a 200 lb calf in the fall.... It is experience, saying that that little calf just wasn't going to make it. Just because it had straight legs doesn't mean that it was otherwise healthy. There was no reason for it to be that weak, it was an easy birth and a nice day. And the heifer was very good about mothering it. Would be different if it has some obvious and fixable reason for not getting going. And, Selenium wasn't the problem with it either. For one the cattle all had free choice mineral and I've dealt with enough Se deficient calves to know when that is the problem. There was more wrong with that calf than just size.

 

[randiliana]

And, it wasn't just my decision, although I agree with it. My husband also had a part in it and so did the owner of the heifer. Sometimes you just have to cut your losses.

 

[Galloways1]

If I had the amount of cows she has to work and keep up with I would not waste my time. Add horses and 1 pretty young girl and who knows what else they have going on. I would spend my time on something that was going to be worth while. We need to remember it's only a runt calf.

I agree with highgrit on this one. In my experience the calves that don't make much effort to live, aren't worth the hassel.

Randi you did what i would have done.

 

[Taurus]

I'd say just take the calf away and give it someone who wanted to raise the calf. Btw I had a runt newborn calf that never get up for 24 hours till I took him away from his mother and raised the calf myself. This runt calf just had his second birthday this spring and of course we butchered him. He weights 1342lbs (live weight) at 18 months old...of course he wasn't corn-fed.

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

Randi, in my comment about our itsy-bitsy -- that was the only calf we had to deal with in the summer. Not like what you're doing! No bad thoughts at this end.

 

[mwj]

Compare the nose on the cow to the size of the calf :shock: I doubt that many of us have had a calf this small!

 

[Alan]

Years ago we had a heifer calf I weighed, I remember carrying it with one arm tucked between the legs, like a small dog. She weighed 26lbs, she nursed without a problem and weaned small. Gave her to some friends who raised her to just past two years old, she hung at around 800 lbs (I think without looking it up), but she tasted great, BTW Hereford. I'm under the impression fawn calves show other signs, deformities (?).

Alan

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

Compare the nose on the cow to the size of the calf :shock: I doubt that many of us have had a calf this small!

We did -- last year. "Tinkerbell."

 

[randiliana]

Hey, Kathie, definitely no hard feelings. I was just curious if anyone knew why. I looked Fawn Calf up, and by the description that isn't what we had.