Post by Deleted on Sept 16, 2010 8:16:08 GMT -5
Hi there! I'm a long time lurker who just got her first pair of calves....two red Holstein boys, born on the same day with the same father. My husband plans to train them as an oxen team.
I worked on a dairy farm years ago taking care of the calves....and really don't remember it being that difficult. The calves were born, they took them out and stuck them in a calf hut, I fed them a bottle for a week or two (it could have been longer...i was 17, it was a long time ago lol) and then they were given grain. So....I was pretty unprepared for the not wanting to eat and scours that happened when I got them home. The bigger one...Mop...scoured pretty badly at first...but we got him over the hump, while his brother, Moe, was doing fine. Then all of a sudden Moe started going downhill...refusing to eat, grinding his teeth....I started him on antibiotics (LA-200) and ended up tubing him (which had been my biggest fear...but...we both lived!). I noticed his front right knee joint was swollen and hot...did some research...thought that maybe it was joint ill, called the vet, he said to just keep doing what i was doing and if the antibiotics i was using didn't work he'd give me something stronger. I ended up switching to dura pen and once I did that he really turned around....eating...up and playing...and no longer grinding his teeth or limping. He did, however form an abscess on that knee joint..which I didn't think anything about..it made sense to me that if there was an infection it would have to drain out....I cleaned it...and squirted some antibiotic mastitis cream into it and as of yesterday it was looking pretty good. This morning though, I went out there..and another abscess has popped and is draining just a bit above the other one. Is that OK??? He's acting fine still....eating...begging to eat...out picking on grass....is there anything else I should be doing for him?
Sorry if this is in the wrong place...I wasn't sure where to put it....
Thanks and it's nice to "meet" all of you
Stacy (in VT)
Mom to 4 children
4 cats
2 dogs
12 sheep
2 calves
rabbits, chickens and ducks
I worked on a dairy farm years ago taking care of the calves....and really don't remember it being that difficult. The calves were born, they took them out and stuck them in a calf hut, I fed them a bottle for a week or two (it could have been longer...i was 17, it was a long time ago lol) and then they were given grain. So....I was pretty unprepared for the not wanting to eat and scours that happened when I got them home. The bigger one...Mop...scoured pretty badly at first...but we got him over the hump, while his brother, Moe, was doing fine. Then all of a sudden Moe started going downhill...refusing to eat, grinding his teeth....I started him on antibiotics (LA-200) and ended up tubing him (which had been my biggest fear...but...we both lived!). I noticed his front right knee joint was swollen and hot...did some research...thought that maybe it was joint ill, called the vet, he said to just keep doing what i was doing and if the antibiotics i was using didn't work he'd give me something stronger. I ended up switching to dura pen and once I did that he really turned around....eating...up and playing...and no longer grinding his teeth or limping. He did, however form an abscess on that knee joint..which I didn't think anything about..it made sense to me that if there was an infection it would have to drain out....I cleaned it...and squirted some antibiotic mastitis cream into it and as of yesterday it was looking pretty good. This morning though, I went out there..and another abscess has popped and is draining just a bit above the other one. Is that OK??? He's acting fine still....eating...begging to eat...out picking on grass....is there anything else I should be doing for him?
Sorry if this is in the wrong place...I wasn't sure where to put it....
Thanks and it's nice to "meet" all of you
Stacy (in VT)
Mom to 4 children
4 cats
2 dogs
12 sheep
2 calves
rabbits, chickens and ducks