Post by tuppyandjess on Jan 3, 2011 0:41:03 GMT -5
A few days ago I collected a 2 week old greyman heifer from a neighbouring farmer. She was orphaned & the elderly farmer got sick of trying to foster her on to another cow. It's been very wet here & the calf was curled up in the mud when I arrived to collect her & I gather that's where she's spent all her time since he found her in the paddock. She was covered in ticks, including paralysis ticks & had already had & got over a bout of scours.
I've been putting her on my friesian /jersey cow 3 times a day & that's going well - but she just isn't getting that sassy healthy calf attitude about her. I had been cleaning her navel once a day with alcohol & it looked a bit raw but nothing too bad. I suspected she had a bit of an elevated temperature. Yesterday she started to walk stiffly. My partner cleaned her navel today ... he must have grabbed it a bit firmer than I do because about a teaspoon of yellow thick muck came out. No offensive smell.
The penny finally dropped & I came inside & googled "joint ill". I'm rather depressed at what I've read. Does anyone here have experience with this? I was hoping to keep this heifer as a breeding cow. She's a bit of a sweetheart & I don't want to get any more attached to her if the prognosis is hopeless. I've since been out & had a really good look at the navel - raw but no further gunk in there & no smell. Doesn't appear to be any more painful than someone poking around my belly button would be. I put iodine on the whole area. Her hock joints do appear swollen .. but I don't have any other brahman calves to compare her to.
Any advice or experience appreciated please.
I've been putting her on my friesian /jersey cow 3 times a day & that's going well - but she just isn't getting that sassy healthy calf attitude about her. I had been cleaning her navel once a day with alcohol & it looked a bit raw but nothing too bad. I suspected she had a bit of an elevated temperature. Yesterday she started to walk stiffly. My partner cleaned her navel today ... he must have grabbed it a bit firmer than I do because about a teaspoon of yellow thick muck came out. No offensive smell.
The penny finally dropped & I came inside & googled "joint ill". I'm rather depressed at what I've read. Does anyone here have experience with this? I was hoping to keep this heifer as a breeding cow. She's a bit of a sweetheart & I don't want to get any more attached to her if the prognosis is hopeless. I've since been out & had a really good look at the navel - raw but no further gunk in there & no smell. Doesn't appear to be any more painful than someone poking around my belly button would be. I put iodine on the whole area. Her hock joints do appear swollen .. but I don't have any other brahman calves to compare her to.
Any advice or experience appreciated please.