Post by rosalind on Mar 22, 2014 20:51:07 GMT -5
Last spring my dad's heifers (purchased as yearlings from a local herd, they are his only two cows) both had retained placentas after calving and if I remember correctly, a lot of people on this forum suggested selenium deficiency. Over the past year, he's been giving them free choice salt and high quality alfalfa x grass hay, and pasture in the summer months. They look super healthy, except they and their calves got lots of warts last summer. The yearling calves are both healthy and were full-term.
So, Friday the one cow Sissy calved three weeks premature. Placenta is retained so far, has not come out. Calf is small, yet feisty. Not much desire to nurse, so thankfully I had some colostrum frozen from my Jersey cow and we got that in her, she's had a few small feedings. Doesn't want to suck yet, so we have to help her.
The cow did not make up much yet, a smidge of swelling but not a lot of milk (part of the problem may be that the calf has not been nursing/stimulating!?) Now, the cow has a fever of 105.5!! She is hunched up in discomfort, she is droopy and looks sad (says my husband who evaluated her). Her eyes are stressed looking.
So, my husband gave her a weight dose of Excenel (the antibiotic we had on hand). Gave 10cc of Prevail (Banamine) as that's all we had left in the bottle....
Any suggestions or thoughts on where to go from here? My dad talked to his livestock vet today, at that point we didn't know the cow had a fever. Vet could not think of a virus, disease, etc. that had enough signs to point to. The cows were Bangs vaccinated as heifers. They did inter-mingle with a local herd (where they got bred the first time around, maybe picked up something from that herd!? Their original herd had no such problems). This past year, my husband A.I.'d them both to a registered bull. The cow in question bred on a natural heat, the other cow (Shelby) had to have hormone shots to stimulate heat. Shelby's not due to calve til June.
So, Friday the one cow Sissy calved three weeks premature. Placenta is retained so far, has not come out. Calf is small, yet feisty. Not much desire to nurse, so thankfully I had some colostrum frozen from my Jersey cow and we got that in her, she's had a few small feedings. Doesn't want to suck yet, so we have to help her.
The cow did not make up much yet, a smidge of swelling but not a lot of milk (part of the problem may be that the calf has not been nursing/stimulating!?) Now, the cow has a fever of 105.5!! She is hunched up in discomfort, she is droopy and looks sad (says my husband who evaluated her). Her eyes are stressed looking.
So, my husband gave her a weight dose of Excenel (the antibiotic we had on hand). Gave 10cc of Prevail (Banamine) as that's all we had left in the bottle....
Any suggestions or thoughts on where to go from here? My dad talked to his livestock vet today, at that point we didn't know the cow had a fever. Vet could not think of a virus, disease, etc. that had enough signs to point to. The cows were Bangs vaccinated as heifers. They did inter-mingle with a local herd (where they got bred the first time around, maybe picked up something from that herd!? Their original herd had no such problems). This past year, my husband A.I.'d them both to a registered bull. The cow in question bred on a natural heat, the other cow (Shelby) had to have hormone shots to stimulate heat. Shelby's not due to calve til June.