Vicki the Vet

[Anonymous]

Hi,

We are at a loss, we are raising Holstein bull calves ( That we get from a dairy farmer) and we are loosing some with these symtoms:

Scours first, then a a cough and congestion, usually mild or no fever , they appear alright one minute , eating and drinking and then a couple hours later, they are dead... We have observed some and it looks like they cannot breath..( They do appear slightly depressed)

We have had the vet out here every day, and we have tested some for Colostrum levels and they are consistantly failing, he is saying there is nothing we can do if they do not have it...

Aside from that we are treating them with Nuflor, etc. Banimine , oxygen treatments and I.V. , etc. They get 24 hour care here .. someone is always with them..

What does this sound like? We had an autopsy done , but the results are not back in..

Thanking you in advance.. kat

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[Anonymous]

> Hi,

> We are at a loss, we are raising
> Holstein bull calves ( That we get
> from a dairy farmer) and we are
> loosing some with these symtoms:

> Scours first, then a a cough and
> congestion, usually mild or no
> fever , they appear alright one
> minute , eating and drinking and
> then a couple hours later, they
> are dead... We have observed some
> and it looks like they cannot
> breath..( They do appear slightly
> depressed)

> We have had the vet out here every
> day, and we have tested some for
> Colostrum levels and they are
> consistantly failing, he is saying
> there is nothing we can do if they
> do not have it...

> Aside from that we are treating
> them with Nuflor, etc. Banimine ,
> oxygen treatments and I.V. , etc.
> They get 24 hour care here ..
> someone is always with them..

> What does this sound like? We had
> an autopsy done , but the results
> are not back in..

> Thanking you in advance.. kat Failure of passive transfer can be treated but it's pricey--plasma transfusion will treat it. If they are lacking colostrum, scours then pneumonia will strike. The calves could also be BVD positive at birth, which will make them very unhealthy.

My recommendations... 1)don't get any new calves until you have this diagnosed 2) ensure that all calves receive colostrum within 24 hours. Provide the farmer with powdered colostrum supplement if necessary. Source from only one farm. Disinfect between calves.

It sounds like BRSV or another virus attacking the calves--diagnosis will result from labwork.

If you have any other questions, just ask. I may not answer quickly, but I'll try to be timely!

Good Luck! V

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry to hear about your losses. Some 2 cents advice: Don't buy any more cattle from that farm! Check your pens, corrals, etc., for sanitation. Quarantine any new arrivals in separate pens in off chance a contagion might be air/soil/water borne. Hope lab reports shed some light on this disaster.

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[Anonymous]

Hi Guys,

Well the vet was out here again, and another 2 calves passed... so he did the colostrum tests on both earlier and they both failed!!

We are not going to get any more from them. They just don't seem to get it... they give the babies powdered Colostrum beacause they will not leave them with their mothers (the 1st day or 2nd) , and we found out that she microwaves the colostrum. Our vet said that is a mistake , you can't do that, it kills the protein , nor does she wash the bottles with soap, she claims that is bad for them and only uses hot water.

My heart can take no more of this... by the way, we have a lot of other babies and they are fine. We just hope to loose no more and then we will cut and lime this area and will not put any more calves there.

It just makes me sad that we had to go through all this because they do not have their colostrum.

I am still waiting on the lab results..

Thanks for the advice...

> Hi,

> We are at a loss, we are raising
> Holstein bull calves ( That we get
> from a dairy farmer) and we are
> loosing some with these symtoms:

> Scours first, then a a cough and
> congestion, usually mild or no
> fever , they appear alright one
> minute , eating and drinking and
> then a couple hours later, they
> are dead... We have observed some
> and it looks like they cannot
> breath..( They do appear slightly
> depressed)

> We have had the vet out here every
> day, and we have tested some for
> Colostrum levels and they are
> consistantly failing, he is saying
> there is nothing we can do if they
> do not have it...

> Aside from that we are treating
> them with Nuflor, etc. Banimine ,
> oxygen treatments and I.V. , etc.
> They get 24 hour care here ..
> someone is always with them..

> What does this sound like? We had
> an autopsy done , but the results
> are not back in..

> Thanking you in advance.. kat



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