# Cow Down, Due to Calve Yesterday!?



## monongahela gal (Jun 19, 2016)

I have a 7 year old jersey/holstein milk cow that has been down for 4 days, she was artificially inseminated with some calving ease angus semen. She was due to calve yesterday with her 5th calf. She had no problems with her other calves. She's still eating and drinking and trying to get up occasionally. She's in a 16 X 25 foot pen in the barn on concrete with hay for bedding.

She's having trouble getting traction on the floor but when she first went down she was up on the manure pack and had good traction but not enough strength in her back legs. Since then she has wormed her way down onto bare floor.

This morning she had gotten her legs out straight behind her, so we rolled her around and got her in a more natural position lying on her chest with her legs under her. She has been stringing clear with a very small amount of blood for the past two days.

She's on hay. It's not super high quality but not to poor either. We have also been giving her a couple of cups of grain each day. She has salt and minerals. Her ears and nose are cold but we don't have any way of knowing her temperature. Her milk has not come in yet.

Do you think that she will be able to have the calf fine while being down?
Can you think of any reasons that she would be down?
Is there anything else that I should be doing?

Thanks in advance for any ideas.


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## frustratedearthmother (Jun 19, 2016)

I'm not a cattle person, but I can't believe that a 'couple of cups' of grain is enough for a cow in late gestation.  That's just a guess on my part.  Wish I knew more, but I'll tag some folks who might be able to help you.

@WildRoseBeef @Bossroo 

Hope she comes around!


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## OneFineAcre (Jun 19, 2016)

Call a vet ?
Your cows been down for 4 days might be a good idea
You don't have any way of knowing her temp?
You don't have a Walgrrens or CVS or any drug store with  degital thermometer?


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## jhm47 (Jun 19, 2016)

Call a vet immediately.


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## frustratedearthmother (Jun 19, 2016)

X3 about the vet!

I would wonder about late pregnancy ketosis.  I'm copying a link for you:

http://www.thecattlesite.com/disease info/194/acetonaemia-ketosis/


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## monongahela gal (Jun 19, 2016)

She didn't have any grain during the last 3 pregnancies and she was fine. I only give her about a quart of grain each milking when she is milking. It has never been a problem before. 

We are planning on calling a vet on Monday (tomorrow) if she shows no improvement.

I don't think she has ketosis, because don't cows lose their appetite when they get ketosis? 
There is no acetone smell.  The link won't work for me, but thanks anyway.


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## frustratedearthmother (Jun 19, 2016)

Again, I'm a goat person, not a cow person, but...

She's older now - she might need more. 

I hope the vet can give you an answer and give her some treatment that helps her out.


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## alsea1 (Jun 19, 2016)

My guess is your cow is in serious trouble.  In order to give birth and do what she needs to do she needs to be able to get up on her feet. If she were my cow I would not wait at all on that vet call. They appreciate being called in before its too late to be of much help.


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## WildRoseBeef (Jun 19, 2016)

If she's got some nerve damage affecting her ability to urinate or poop while she's down (has she tried to defecate/urinate while down or no?), she may have trouble calving out. No mention was made of her body condition either, like how much fat cover she actually has. How long have you had her? And would you mind getting a picture of her for us to see? 

I concur with the vet call, but from the sounds of it, you should've called the vet yesterday or the day before, not delaying it until tomorrow. 

Ketosis usually doesn't show up this early; in most dairy cattle it shows up 2 weeks after she's calved. It's rare to have it show up this early, and the symptoms (see the link posted above and this one from Merck: http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/m..._in_cattle/overview_of_ketosis_in_cattle.html) mentioned so far don't match what would be a textbook case in the links shown.

The reason she's down could be because she either has a pinched nerve, or she is indeed very weak in energy and doesn't have enough dietary energy to keep up with her metabolic energy needs. A couple of cups of grain and some not-so-great hay is not nearly enough for her nutritional needs. What minerals is she getting (calcium, iron, selenium [if it and/or iron are deficient in the soil in your area], copper, phosphorus, iodine, cobalt, etc.)? What kind of hay are you feeding her (grass, grass-legume mix, legume)? Have you had the hay tested at all?

You will need to up her grain intake to at least double what she's getting now. Figure about 2% of her body weight in grain per day. BUT, it's really important to not suddenly bump up the grain so quickly; do so over a period of 2 weeks, until she's on full grain. Also, get some better quality hay, preferably that which is good quality (considered "dairy quality") with legumes to meet her calcium and protein requirements. Like with the grain, bump up better quality hay slowly; do so by making the switch gradual. This is all to allow her rumen to adjust accordingly.

Dairy cattle need higher quality feed than beef cattle do, so what would be perfectly fine for a beef animal like an Angus cow, is not so for a Jersey, Holstein, nor Jersey-Holstein dairy animal. This is probably why she's gone down like she has; a veterinarian will confirm this. 

Hopefully she's not going to be in such serious shape that she'll need to be put down, and you can make the nutritional changes that will help her out and up.


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## monongahela gal (Jun 20, 2016)

The mineral mix we're using is the one Granddad's been using for a long time. It has all of the minerals you mentioned and a few others. We've not had the hay tested but we did just get some better hay that we'll start feeding her.

In answer to @WildRoseBeef We've had her for 4 years. She is urinating and pooping while she's down. And she doesn't have a lot of fat cover.


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## frustratedearthmother (Jun 20, 2016)

Hope the vet can help her.    Please let us know how it turns out!


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## Bossroo (Jun 20, 2016)

The calf could be dead in utero and she may be trying to expell it with no luck and the fetus could be putting pressure on her hind quarter nerves while in the birth canal.  If this is the case a Vet. needs to try to pull this calf whole  and /or cut it up and pull the pieces.  Another possibility is that this cow slipped and fell down onto the concrete floor and sustained an injury.  Also,  I would think that this cow is getting insufficient nutrients from the feed she is getting and not enogh of it.  Call a Veterinarian ASAP.


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## cjc (Jun 20, 2016)

OH NO! What is the update on your cow?

Rule of thumb with a cow is no more than 48 hours. For me its 24 hours. If a cow is down for longer than 24 hours there is a serious issue in my opinion. When cows show signs of illness they are usually sicker than you think.


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## monongahela gal (Jun 20, 2016)

Thanks for all the ideas.

She went into labor today soon after I called the vet. She was't straining hardly at all, the vet came after the contractions had pushed the front feet out. She helped me pull the calf (my first time) which was a healthy bull. After looking the cow over she said it didn't look like milk fever but she gave her some calcium and CMPK anyway. The vet said we should give her more grain and keep turning her over.  Her milk hadn't come in yet so i went into town and got some Land'o'lakes  powdered colostrum and some milk replacer for the calf, he drank a bottle of the colostrum stuff is up and around. We penned the calf away from the cow incase she tries to get up again and falls on him.


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## TAH (Jun 20, 2016)

monongahela gal said:


> Thanks for all the ideas.
> 
> She went into labor today soon after I called the vet. She was't straining hardly at all, the vet came after the contractions had pushed the front feet out. She helped me pull the calf (my first time) which was a healthy bull. After looking the cow over she said it didn't look like milk fever but she gave her some calcium and CMPK anyway. The vet said we should give her more grain and keep turning her over.  Her milk hadn't come in yet so i went into town and got some Land'o'lakes  powdered colostrum and some milk replacer for the calf, he drank a bottle of the colostrum stuff is up and around. We penned the calf away from the cow incase she tries to get up again and falls on him.


Congrats on the calf. Hope mama improves.


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## WildRoseBeef (Jun 20, 2016)

Glad she calved out good and has a healthy calf. I also hope she improves. No broken bones or nerve injury then? That's good. 

The gradual increase in grain in her ration should help her get her in better shape and strength to get up again. I also stress the better hay as well, and getting it tested.  The grain is only good for energy content, but not so much with protein. If she's not getting the protein or even calcium for milk, then you will certainly have to find something, like cotton-seed meal, soybean meal, or another source that is high in protein (preferably 14% for her especially) to also help get her in shape and help with a little milk. 

Just out of curiousity, but do you have the label or know the amounts of minerals she's getting, especially calcium and phosphorus?


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## frustratedearthmother (Jun 20, 2016)

So glad you got the calf!  Hope your cow pulls through!


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## monongahela gal (Jun 21, 2016)

I was able to get some good second cut hay. The grain we're giving her is 14% protein. The calcium level in the mineral she's getting is 12.25-14.50%. Phosphorus is minimum of 4%.

The mineral mix also has:
Magnesium
Potassium
Iodine
Copper
Cobalt
Selenium
Zinc
Manganese
Vitamin A
Vitamin D
Vitamin E


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## TAH (Jun 23, 2016)

How is she?


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## monongahela gal (Jun 24, 2016)

She is not even trying to get up. I think we will probably have to put her down. 

The calf is doing well though!


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## alsea1 (Jun 24, 2016)

bummer


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## cjc (Jun 27, 2016)

How is your cow doing? Did you have to put her down?


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## Apaulsen2890 (Jun 27, 2016)

Oh no  Will you at least get her butchered so she's not a total loss?


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## monongahela gal (Jun 28, 2016)

Yes we did have to shoot her. No we did not butcher her, we thought maybe the meat would be bad.

The calf is still doing well!


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## Apaulsen2890 (Jun 28, 2016)

I'm sorry to hear that  al least the calf is doing well!


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## TAH (Jun 29, 2016)

I am sorry. I am very glad you have the calf from her.


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## Hens and Roos (Jun 29, 2016)

sorry to hear


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## WildRoseBeef (Jun 29, 2016)

She's in a better place, not suffering anymore, and that's a good thing. But, I am sorry to hear that she didn't make it.


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## Latestarter (Jun 29, 2016)

Sorry about your loss. Hopefully the calf will thrive.


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## cjc (Jun 30, 2016)

Sorry to hear that! I wouldn't have kept the meat either. I know lots of people do that and when we have ones die on the farm they have questioned our sanity when we tell people we buried them but, they were sick. I have a weird way of thinking on this but I don't think its good for me to put an animal into my body that was ill or that was abused.

I have been thinking about that a lot lately actually. The way I see it is that livestock made a trade with mankind. In the wild they have a pretty low chance of making it to adulthood. In exchange for us giving them shelter, safety, food and health in the end they give us their lives. As a farmer its our responsibility to stay true to that word. In my opinion, that is exactly what you did.


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