Problems with premature calf

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In November I was given a 15 lb. holstine heifer calf. Yes 15 lb. She was premature but i dont know by how much. She is mow almost 3 months old and weighs about 60 lbs. I have had problems with her having a cough and weezing usally after she drinks her milk. She eats a lot of grain and hay now. For a while she was doing really good, but lately she has been droopy and not as alert and has a rough coat, until two days ago my dad didnt see her and ran her over with his one ton pickup. I thought her legs were broken but they wern't my uncle who is a vet came out and checked her and what no one can believe is how good she looks now she is eating good and she is alert and her scours are gone. Does any one have a possable answer?? Does anyone have any suggestions on what i can give her if she gets sick again?? I had tried everything to get her well oxy-tet, pennicilin, jello, electrolytes, does anyone have any natural suggestions insted of shooting her full of chemicals?? Well thank you for your time, any suggestions are welcome, my calf "Manna" and I thank you.

-- SharRon Hallman (Turnaquete@aol.com), February 07, 2000

Answers

Sounds like love is the answer .You are doing all I can think of.Good luck.

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@slic.com), February 07, 2000.

Thank you Patty. Manna gets lots of love she is my "lap cow" . When I first brought her home she slept in my room in a box much to my dads dismay

-- SharRon (turnquete@aol.com), February 07, 2000.

Hi!! I saw your post and thought of something we use on our newborn goats and sick calves, its a product called Immuno-G, its a natural product that helps the immune system and boosts health. if you are interested you can check out the product at this website and others, http://www.springbriar.com the man's name is wythe, he is very knowledgable and can offer help. he also ships his stuff too. Hope this helps. I swear by the stuff.

Bernice

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), February 07, 2000.


I think you did not want anymore medication; but we had a premie calf too and a shot of vitamin B-12 really did wonders. But our calf was not nearly that small. If this little one makes it you have a friend for life. Enjoy

-- Susan DeFrancisco (mdefran@cei.net), February 07, 2000.

Thanks Bernice, I will look that up, and thanks Susan I'll give her a shot of that. (I havnt given her any shots for a while becuse I gave her one and she had a reaction to it and started flopping around like a fish out of water and I though she was going to die) That was about 2 weeks ago

-- SharRon (Turnaquete@aol.com), February 07, 2000.


The coughing and wheezing sounds like the calf is getting milk in her lungs as she eats, then must expell it by coughing. Did you happen to mention it to your uncle? I have an electrolyte formula that uses fairly common household ingredients. It is not cheap, but might be less expensive than conventional supplies. It is based on canned beef consomme. If you want me to dig out the formula for it, let me know. It might take some searching as I haven't used it for almost 20 years. Oh, calves love it and it is bottle fed.

-- greenbeanman (greenbeanman@ourtownusa.net), February 07, 2000.

Hi SharRon, if your calf scours again try giving her about 1/4 cup of burned flour either on the back of her tongue or in her bottle at each feeding and dilute her milk a bit. This works if her scours are from too much or too rich of milk. If she scours often and has a rough coat I would have her checked for coccidiosis. This can be treated fairly easily. Good luck!

-- Julie (juliecapasso@aol.com), February 07, 2000.

You might try giving her some probios- it comes in a gel form or powder that you can either sprinkle on the grain or mix into milk and bottle feed it.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@transport.com), February 08, 2000.

Dont know anything about cows but a rough coat could be a sign of worms ? I know that they use ivomec to worm? cows as i use it on my rabbits occasionly.Lots of love, fresh air, and fresh food [pick cow treats] should have her staying healthy, good luck to you both.

-- kathy h (saddlebronc@msn.com), February 09, 2000.

Are you having the calf drink from a bottle with a nipple or is she drinking from a bucket on the ground? The natural position of a calf drinking from the cow places the head up above the body/stomach. If she is drinking from a bucket on the ground, this places her head below her stomach and could cause the milk to go into her lungs hence the coughing. Also, bucket fed calves tend to get bloated looking stomachs where as bottle fed calves do not get this bloating.

Just a thought...

-- CC (car-col@usa.net), February 14, 2000.



My calf drinks from a bucket with a nipple on the the side.

-- SharRon (TURNAQUETE@AOL.COM), February 15, 2000.

Knock it in the head!

-- denden (denden@camasnet.com), February 26, 2000.

Hello!! My kids got a bottle fed calf for Christmas. He is doing great, but also coughs and wheezes after his bottle. I was thinking that maybe our hole in the nipple was to big and he was getting to much milk at once causing him to aspirate it. We are getting ready to wean him. He is eating hay like crazy, but we are having a hard time getting him interested in grain. Any suggestions? good luck with your calf!!

-- sam isaacs (gisaacs@warpnet.net), January 10, 2001.

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