Help with second skinny cow...here we go again!

[Fairlight]

Hi folks,
we lost one calf due to bacterial pneumonia and we have a second cow just not gaining weight. Jimmy ( steer) is now 15 weeks old and is a freisan. He is so adorable and we love him dearly. He is very affectionate and very quiet with the children.

All the other cows are getting nice and big but he is a bucket of bones. I feel like I am somehow abusing our Jimmy because he looks so malnurished. You can see his ribs through his coat and his hind quarters are just dreadful. All the other calves we got from the cattle sales whent hey were 2 weeks old were like this but he just won't put on weight.

Subsequently he can barely walk and in the mornings all the others run and play when I let them out but not Jimmy. He lies in one spot and will not get up. He will lie there till lunch time and then stagger around. He has no strength at all

I have tried feeding him lucerne and pellets and giving him ( when he will take it) glucose in his water and my own salt mixture I got out of a cow book.

The vet is out of the question. Last time we took pumpkin they charged us $200. It is embarressing to say but we just can't afford another trip to the vet. So far our 5/6 calves have cost us over $1000 - just to feed them, antibiotics and trip to the vet. My husband has said no more. We just can't do it.

Please can anyone give me some advice on what to do.

Fairlight

 

[jhm47]

First of all, what is Lucerne? I have never heard of it. Second, where are you located? Do you have a source for corn or oats? If so, get him on those ASAP, along with some protein pellets. Are you giving him good quality hay? Does he have access to clean water at all times? Has he been treated with a broad spectrum parasiticide? Ivomec, Dectomax are excellent. They treat for both external and internal parasites, except tapeworm and flukes.

Another possibility is that he may have a navel infection. These are quite hard to treat when they are advanced, and you will need antibiotics. Nuflor, Draxxin are excellent, but not cheap.

Good luck!

 

[WildRoseBeef]

What does his poop look like? Does he eat any hay or grass? Is he breathing normally? What about his temperature?

I hate to say it but he sounds like he's already on Death's doorstep and it may be too late to save him. But do your best to get him back, and good luck from me as well!

 

[Fairlight]

Hi folks,
lucerne is an English name ( i presume) for the type of grass fed here in feed lots etc where pature is not readily available or little growth in winter. Like alphafa I think.

I went and purchsed this am two 20kg bags of feed lot high energy pellets and mixing that with some whisked raw eggs and molasses and some lucerne ( alphafa / hay).

I have separated him from the other calves. Even though he was eating I think the stronger gutsier cows were getting the majority of the pellets etc. He couldn't stand this morning to eat. He lay there licking at the bath tub. We DRAGGED him over and dumped him right next to it...... He licked and started to eat very vey slowly poor darling. I came back 1 hour later and he is standing! Still very very weak of course and eating very slowly. I will move him into the house yard so I can keep a better eye on him.......( please don't eat my herbs and flowers!!!)

He and the rest of the calves were drenched with Ivomec about 10 days ago. They had cattle tick pretty bad, the whole area is pretty bad with it...farmers always complaining about ticks.

I make no illusions that he is really looking deathly but hey I have to try.

We live in Australia in South East corner of Queensland. We are blessed to have plenty of green grass atm for them and the others are getting so big.

It is just a little frustrating as I am reading as much as I can about raising cattle. Somedays I think I have no business doing this but my husband and I want a better life for our kids, away from the cities and live in the country. It is hard because we love farming but there really isn't many courses to study to become a farmer here. It is kinda passed on to the next generation. So we are learning the hard way I suppose. A bit of trial and error and making the reading into practice.

Hey I can keep chooks alive and happy. That is a start!

Fairlight

 

[jhm47]

I'm not so sure that the raw eggs are a good idea. A small amount of molasses is fine, to make the feed more palatable. Too much molasses might cause him to get the runs. The pellets are a great idea, and make sure he has access to fresh water.

Cattle are herbivores, and the eggs would not be a natural part of an herbivore's diet. I can't imagine my cattle eating eggs under any circumstances. It's doubtful that the eggs would harm him, but I would think that he wouldn't like the taste very well. The fat in the yolks would add energy, if he can digest it.

Keep up the good work!

 

[chook pen jen]

Hi I am also an Australian and you cant get antibiotics here unless you go to the vet, and they charge like mad here. I hope it all works out, but this little fellow has never done well and you have tried, so if it dosent work out,dont beat yourself up over it.Good luck

 

[Fairlight]

Thanks everyone for your advice. I had an old friend ( now passed on) who swore by giving eggs to little orphaned calves...extra protein she said and hers didn't die from it so I thought the extra protein might help.

had to wheel barrow the cow into the house yard this avo. Gosh he is big but so so skinny. No energy at all. He is eating the grain etc and he has fresh water. We scrub out the troughs three times a week or basically every second day incase of nasties in the still water.

We shall see.

You are right about the vets here. It is about $140 call out fee before the cost of antibiotics, blook wroth, pathology etc and then anything else. Just can't be done. Don't understand it as the others are all big and fatso now.

Thank you everyone again and I will update in a few days and let folks know what is going on.

Fairlight

 

[Imissmygirls]

Jhm, I'm surprised you aren't old enuf to remember the old dairy farmers giving raw eggs to weak calves. Pop did it regularly. Not sure it helped any, but doubt if it killed any. Open mouth holding up, crack egg into it, it slides down the hatch.

Sounds like this critter has something else going on with his digestive track and he isn't absorbing. How about yogurt culture or soured milk? Get those belly bugs working again. At this point you haven't much to lose.
Also, if the ticks are that bad, could he just be VERY anemic from blood loss? Do you have Lyme Disease in OZ? It's in the eastern USA and can cause degenerative disease symptoms in mammals. Caused by deer tick bites.

 

[Fairlight]

Hi, I don't know about lymes disease here. I am sure it probably is but I haven't heard about it.
Jimmy has gone into a coma like state overnight and hasn't woken up this morning. I am dragging the calf around to get him out of his poo. His eyes are completely rolled back in his head and is totally unresponsive.

It would be much kinder to put him out of his misery but we have too many houses nearby to let a round go and it is also illegal to do so here. Shame. When we found suffering animals on the old place we were on we dealt with it immediately and caringly. This is just plain awlful.

About three weeks ago all the cows who were pretty lean anyway started to put weight on when I gave them a regular mix of lucerne and grain and molasses. All started to put on the weight except for Jimmy. We tried to separate him to feed etc and he had been grazing but never came good like the others.

Honestly this is the pits. In my previously life ...before kids......I worked as a palative care nurse so a spell of 1.5 years and this is just as hard! Poor little mite.

So I think he is beyond the cultures now....

Will let folks know of his condition...just breaking me up atm.

 

[Imissmygirls]

If ticks are that bad in your area, they may all be anemic from blood loss. I would ivomec them religiously on schedule. They may all need time to recover from any weakness and put weight on.