New bottle calf-is it travel stress?

[farmerlor]

We really lucked into a tiny Jersey bullock who's being bottle fed. Brought him home yesterday. Last night I went to give him his bottle and he was lethargic, wouldn't take a bottle and had very watery green diarrhea. I syringed some electrolytes into him and alternated with syringes of goat milk. No skin tenting so I know he wasn't dehydrated but I didn't sleep at all last night. This morning he seems better and drank a whole bottle of goat milk, stools look a lot firmer and he's nibbling at some hay BUT his eyes are all gunky and he has a little cough and runny nose. Should I go ahead and dose him with some antibiotic or medicated scour feed or should I just trust the goat milk and electrolytes (I put more in his water bucket) to get him through this?

 

[elevan]

I'm no expert by far but I just dealt with 2 jersey calves that went down (we lost one and saved the other)...your story sounds similar to mine. I've been told that Jerseys are the hardest to keep alive as bottle babies.

What I ended up doing was giving injections of Tylan. Oral Neomycin. SubQ fluids. And tube feeding electrolytes. And pepto.

Here's my post:
http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=10754

 

[farmerlor]

I'm no expert by far but I just dealt with 2 jersey calves that went down (we lost one and saved the other)...your story sounds similar to mine. I've been told that Jerseys are the hardest to keep alive as bottle babies.

What I ended up doing was giving injections of Tylan. Oral Neomycin. SubQ fluids. And tube feeding electrolytes. And pepto.

Here's my post:
http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=10754

Thanks so much for your reply. I'm worried sick about this little guy and even though he's starting to look pretty perky after his huge bottle full of goat milk and a nap I think I'm going to go to the store and get the tube feeder and some Tylan and Neomycin just to be sure. He's drinking his water with electrolytes right now too so I'm hoping, hoping we're over the worst of it.

 

[she-earl]

You mentioned that he drank a "huge bottle" of goats milk. I don't know what amount that translates into but I would not feed him more than 3 - 4 pints at each feeding. I would feed him twice a day as near 12 hours apart as possible. The regularity of feedings is more important than the twelve hours. I would also suggest putting calf starter feed and water in front of him. This will give him something to eat and helphim not be as likely to scour.
Does he have a fever? If he doesn't and is drinking, I would possibly wait on giving him antibiotics. Also, I would not use a tube feeder if he is willing to suckle. A tube feeder can make their throat sore and then the calf may be more hesitant to drink.
I hope this info helps you.

 

[redtailgal]

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[elevan]

I agree that I wouldn't tube him unless he won't suckle a bottle on his own or drink it from a bucket.

BUT - I would get the things that you may want to have on hand before things get worse (if they do). I had a very hard time finding a feeding tube as everyone was out of stock in my area for some reason.

 

[redtailgal]

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[farmerlor]

Oh, you guys are just wonderful, thank you so much!!! I only wanted the tube feeder and antibiotics just in case he took a turn for the worse. As long as he's sucking vigorously I see no reason to use it but I know they can go downhill pretty fast and I didn't have that stuff stashed away in my livestock med kit and needed it anyway.
By huge bottle I mean it's the typical two quart/4 pint calf bottle. He drank it almost dry. He's been fed calf starter thus far so I mixed a little of that in just so he wouldn't have a huge shock to his system with something new. I think I'm going to wait a few days to put out a bucket with some calf starter beside his bucket of water and maybe we can get him bucket trained here pretty soon but I'm in no hurry. Getting him healthy is the first priority.
Any ideas about the gunky eyes? Is it just the chaff from the ride home or another symptom of the stress? Do I need to do anything about it or will it correct itself as he gets better and stronger?
The best part of the whole deal is that Star, the Holstein/Jersey we want him to breed next year has decided he's her baby and she's licking his butt and taking care of him so sweetly. I think she's going to be a good mama when she has her own.

 

[redtailgal]

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[farmerlor]

Update on the little guy: Last night he drank two bottles (one gallon of goat milk), tail wagging and just as bouncy as he could be. I noticed that he still has that little cough but the "cow guy" across the road (the one with the pretty Highland cattle) said it was nothing.
This morning Sunny at just about a bottle, coughing seemed a little more prevalent so I thought I'd keep a good eye on him. Went out about noon to see if he'd drink a little more milk and he was panting, retracting like a kid with pneumonia. So I dosed him with some antibiotics, gave him some more electrolytes and we've got him in a little house out of the awful wind.
So when I talked to the vet he said a dose of antibiotic was good for about three days. Is that true or did I misunderstand? Any and all advice is more than welcome.