getting small underweight calf back where she needs to be

[dragonmorgan]

I got some great advice on here when I asked about our bottle baby so I figured Id see if anyone might have any for a new calf we are getting. She another calf from our friend that was bottlefed (by my sister-in-law) Shes in the catch pen with some of our herd calves right now but me and DH noticed that shes very poor looking. Supposedly shes a year old but I think shes more like 9-10 months. Anyway she seems pretty small for that age and we noticed the other day when we went to feed the catch pen calves that she is kinda bony. Her winter coat is so thick and fuzzy that we didnt notice it until we went to pet her and could feel her ribs and backbone stickin out. She doesnt have diarrhea and seems to be eating the feed pretty good and she doesnt seem sick. We spent the past couple days expanding the pen out back of our house so that we can bring her home for some TLC and Im wondering what all we need to do to get her back up to weight. We plan to worm her and give her a b12 shot and she will be eating the starter feed our bottle calf is eating and hay. Is there anything else we need to do or give her? Its hard to tell by lookin at her that shes thin. Shes a hereford mix just like our bottle calf.

 

[WildRoseBeef]

She is quite scrawny, it looks like she needs a bit of grain or a blood/fecal test to see if she has coccidiosis or worse. Being thin with diarrhea isn't a good thing, but it could be that she just needs some groceries to get back on track again.

 

[redtailgal]

Since she doesnt have diarrhea, I'd go ahead with worming her and give her plenty of good hay and pasture. I'd probably add a little calf manna to her grain ( I like a 25% calf manna 75% calf starter ratio). She does look wormy to me, so It may be worth your while to have a fecal done to make sure you are using the best wormer for the job. If the vet is too expensive, call your ag extension office.......sometimes they have someone that can do a fecal (or they do here anyway)

Start her out easy on the grain, though. Give her only a cup or so at first easing up a little at a time so she doesnt get the squirts.

I'd want her taking a couple pounds of grain a day until the pastures put on good, then I'd ease her back down a little. It takes time for them to gain weight, so be patient.

Do you know what else she has in her besides hereford? She is thin, but I'm wondering if part of her scrawniness isnt conformation.

 

[dragonmorgan]

Thanks. Im not sure what the bull was. Ill have to do some asking around. All i no for sure is that the mom was a hereford. Ill call our co-ops around here and see if any do any kind of fecal testing. Hopefully its nothing common wormer wont take care of. Im hopin that her growth/development isnt stunted because of bad nutrition. Shes such a sweet calf.

 

[redtailgal]

I wouldnt think she'd be stunted, she's thin, but I've seen worse.

Worm her and feed her up, and I think she'll be ok. (course, I'm not a vet)

 

[Stubbornhillfarm]

She looks as though she has long legs. Maybe the bull was in the milk line?

 

[WildRoseBeef]

She looks as though she has long legs. Maybe the bull was in the milk line?

Doubt it. It's the lack of depth and frame that's making her look leggy. Heifer just needs more groceries to fill out a bit more. Don't think I'd keep her as a replacement heifer, though, she's one that may be better for the freezer than producing calves. JMHO.

 

[redtailgal]

i dunno Wildrose.......I thought I saw a little dairy in there too. Maybe I am wrong.

I'd love to know what her parentage looks like. She is thin, but she not full hereford either. A little bit of dairy in that bloodline will change conformation quite a bit.

We keep a couple with some diary way back. They are excellent producers, the richer milk seems to grow out some nice beef. If she has a good disposition, I would be curious to grow her out and see what I get. Might could get some nice commercial beef.

lol, Wildrose. It's a good thing we dont co-own a farm. We are complete opposites on a lot of things.

 

[WildRoseBeef]

Lol

I think the pic itself can warp the image of what kind of calf we're talking about here. Maybe the OP should get a nice side-view of her before any real decisions can be made. Just from the front makes her look poorer than she probably is. The angle the pic was taken of doesn't help matters either. So dragon, if you could get a nice pic of her just like what you did with those two cows you posted on another thread, maybe then we can take another stab at her.

 

[redtailgal]

Well, the op just wanted advice on how to get some weight on her, and we've hijacked the thread into a breed/conformation debate.

sorry OP, hope your not upset!