# Two month hereford calf declining health.



## FoggyBottomDAVLINCAL (Jul 4, 2012)

We have a 2 month old Hereford calf that has been declining in health the last few weeks.  Five other calves sired from the same two year bull are doing great.  The calfs mother gave birth to a healthy calf last year.  Still growing but very skinny and becoming weaker. She lies around most of the time  calf will not eat much, but will drink water and sweetened water but does not care for the good milk supplement.  She will eat very little calf starter grain.  She did have diarrhea. The vet has been here four times in the last week and a half and treated for everything from diarrhea, an elevated temperature, worms, and all other ailments.  The vet has twice given IVs of vitamins and glucose water. Additionally when the calf is up she chews on the barn and other pieces of wood.  Does anyone have any ideas?


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## WildRoseBeef (Jul 4, 2012)

Nutrient deficiency.  Wood eating means that the calf's lacking in phosphorus. So it sounds like she's suffering from phosphorus deficiency, and maybe another nutrient deficiency.  Get her blood tested to see what else is lacking.


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## greybeard (Jul 4, 2012)

WildRoseBeef said:
			
		

> Nutrient deficiency.  Wood eating means that the calf's lacking in phosphorus. So it sounds like she's suffering from phosphorus deficiency, and maybe another nutrient deficiency.


Not maybe. Probably. 
Vitamin A, D and more than likely---a serious calcium deficiency as well. 
Ask your vet about Rickets. 
The bigger ? is why, considering the rest of the calf herd seems to be doing ok.




> Get her blood tested to see what else is lacking.


x2, and I wouldn't waste much time getting it done--from your description, that calf is in bad shape--and recovery is going to be fairly slow if it is a ricket type illness.


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## WildRoseBeef (Jul 5, 2012)

The one thing I'd also really like to know is if these calves are getting mineral supplementation and what type.  Greybeard, you say you're surprised that none of the other calves are showing and nutrient/mineral deficiency symptoms, but I have a hunch that they may appear to be healthy but may be--no, wait, probably-- deficient in some nutrients (vitamins and minerals) themselves, they're just not showing the obvious symptoms yet.  But I'm absolutely certain the calf is Phosphorus deficient, there's no question especially with the wood chewing and that.  And I also wonder if the cow is even producing enough milk for this calf??   Herefords are known to have mommas that produce not very much milk, and if her momma isn't producing much milk, something may be wrong with the cow as well.

So many possibilities and unknowns here...also, what vitamins did she get IV for??

And another thought: the calf could also have a form of White Muscle Disease, or Selenium deficiency....


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## greybeard (Jul 5, 2012)

I didn't say I was surprised the rest of the calf herd is ok, I said he needs to find out why this particular calf is affected and none of the rest seem to be.  IOW--what is different about this one?

Defenciencies can be misleading. We always immediately assume the vits or trace minerals aren't available to the animal (or plant)  but sometimes, there's more going on than that.  The deficiency can be an effect or symptom instead of a cause.  It may well be a matter of the calf not being able to metabolize what it is getting, even tho it has plenty available to it. 

There may also--as you said, be something afoot with the momma cow. Normally, a mother in any mammallian  species, will produce via milk what the calf needs--even at the expense of what her own body needs, but sometimes, that doesn't hold true, and the momma cow's needs "take precedence".  In that regard, since it was stated that the cow gave birth to a healthy calf last year, (and we assume nursed it to weaning age) either there is nothing wrong with the momma cow, or something has happened since last year's healthy calf. 

There's just not enough info stated or known to specifically nail this down. 
Check the calf's joints---swollen--tender?


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## redtailgal (Jul 5, 2012)

Check her mouth for deformities.

Chewing on wood....could be characteristic of pain.

Glucose water......why?  was there blood work indicating that she has a glucose problem?  In my lifetime, I have euth'd two calves due to a diabetes type illness.  Both were Hereford.

Did she ever scour badly when she was young.  If she ever had coccidia scours, she could possibly have a very scarred colon that prevents her from absorbing certain nutrients properly.


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## greybeard (Jul 5, 2012)

FoggyBottomDAVLINCAL said:
			
		

> We have a 2 month old Hereford calf that has been declining in health the last few weeks.  Five other calves sired from the same two year bull are doing great.  The calfs mother gave birth to a healthy calf last year.  Still growing but very skinny and becoming weaker. She lies around most of the time  calf will not eat much, but will drink water and sweetened water but does not care for the good milk supplement.  She will eat very little calf starter grain.  She did have diarrhea. The vet has been here four times in the last week and a half and treated for everything from diarrhea, an elevated temperature, worms, and all other ailments.  The vet has twice given IVs of vitamins and glucose water. Additionally when the calf is up she chews on the barn and other pieces of wood.  Does anyone have any ideas?


I just noticed this is your first post at BYH. Welcome aboard. 

Depending on how serious you think this malady is, you might ask one of the moderators to move it to the EMERGENCY sub-section of herds in general section--the very first section at the top of the index page.


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## FoggyBottomDAVLINCAL (Jul 6, 2012)

Thank you all very much for your concern, assistance, and expertise.  Unfortunately, the calf died yesterday afternoon.  Her diarrhea cleared up; her stool was back to normal; she had eaten grain yesterday morning and drank water however she continued to grow weaker.  Sometime during the day she finished her water and ate more grain.  We discovered she had passed away around 4:00 p.m.  She never appeared to be in any pain.  The other five calves are doing just great; growing fast.  Thanks again.


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## elevan (Jul 6, 2012)




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## WildRoseBeef (Jul 7, 2012)

Sorry for your loss!


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