Weened Bottle Calf Down--WHY?

talara d · May 26, 2008

I have a 12 week old bottle calf that has been weaned for 5 weeks. He was doing great out in the pasture --gaining weight and nice coat. Saw him Wednesday--normal. Did not notice him on Thursday-Friday found him down, weak, covered with flies and he had been scouring. I've had calves for 3 years and this is my first experience with scours off the bottle. He was so bony when we found him Friday. He is now is a lot with hay, water and feed available. I've given him 2 bottles of Resorb each day, LA shot and scour pill. He'll get up when he sees me with the bottle. Strength is back and the bony look is gone but that was awfully quick. Can it be bloat? Any idea what caused him to go down? How can I tell if it is bloat?

larryshoat · May 26, 2008

It's not bloat . Sounds like Salmonella or Coccidiosis to me . Keep up with the resorb for a few days until he is fully recovered . A calf this age still needs to be on calf starter, about 16% with deccox in it, all he can eat .

Larry

hillsdown · May 26, 2008

larryshoat":1a77dkvr said:
It's not bloat . Sounds like Salmonella or Coccidiosis to me . Keep up with the resorb for a few days until he is fully recovered . A calf this age still needs to be on calf starter, about 16% with deccox in it, all he can eat .

Larry

:nod: what Larry said and ,,,,at least that (about 16% with deccox in it) all he can eat, and it was weaned quite young (very young),,this could even be pneumonia as it the perfect season for young babies. At three months old the digestive system has just started getting the " groove " going so any little thing and they will go down hill very quickly without the reliable "mommas" milk..

msscamp · May 29, 2008

talara d":1juawuhg said:
How can I tell if it is bloat?

Bloat generally shows up as a prominant distention of the left side of the abdomen. Generally speaking, bloated animals cannot chew their cud, and they tend to stand around and look miserable. They could have a stance where their back legs are placed farther back than normal in an attempt to alleviate the pain, and they might also lay down, but get back up again pretty quickly. They may also kick at their stomach, and/or cry out in pain - depending on how bad the bloat is. You might want to google bloat + cattle, so you are familiar with the symptoms of each kind of bloat. Treatment tends to vary a bit from type to type.

talara d · May 29, 2008

Thanks for all the input--calves do have feed with the deccox in it in their feeder. Don't know for certain what his problem was --doctored as told with Nuflor, Resorb and scour pills but lost him yesterday. :cry2: