2 Cows Into Grain Bin : (

[mommaof10]

This morning our 4 year old brangus corriente x cow and her 17 month old steer were found in our grain bin. My 7 year old son decided he needed the wire and closure that secured the bin shut "for an idea he had."

Anyway, it looks like they ate an almost full 50# bag of rolled oats. I'm going on the assumption that would be about 25# each.

We have given baking soda. The steer took more baking soda than the cow. We gave probiotics to the cow, but the steer wouldn't take any. And we just fed them each 1/2 apple with 6 ccs of liquid bentonite in a carved hole.

These are free-ranging cows and while friendly, they are not tame or halter broke. So giving shots will not be easy unless they are down. As of right now, giving something orally would be easier as we can hide it in a treat and they will take that......at least until their tummies start to complain.....

I have a little bit of c&d antitoxin and found a vet who has a 3 yr old expired bottle of more c&d antitoxin that he will give us since he can't use it. No one else, vet or feed store, around here has any c&d antitoxin.

I have the dosage for goats but not for cows and don't want to presume them to be the same.

Can I give the c&d antitoxin orally to a cow like I can to a goat?
If so, how much?
If not, how much in the form of subq do I give and how often?

Also, if I need to give mineral oil, and can get it down them, how much should I aim to give them?

Thanks so much,
Mommaof10
PlymouthRockRanch.com
Recording the Faithfulness and Provision of God for Future Generations

[Jenn]

Here's the first link i could find...
familycow.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cow&thread=18574&page=1
-Jenn

[mommaof10]

Thank you, Jenn, for that link. I don't know what I do wrong, but I can't seem to get the searches on this website to work for me. I've tried searching in individual categories and on the site as a whole. I searched bloat but the link you posted did not come up. I also searched c&d antitoxin, but it wouldn't accept c&d because it was only 3 letters long. And, I searched mineral oil, but it won't accept oil, because, it too, is only 3 letters long : (

We are continuing to try to get baking soda down them. I am praying that does the trick. I am a little concerned about the steer because just last week the two of them broke our hot wire fence and visited a neighbor's deer feeder and scarfed the corn. He had the scours for several days. I'm hoping this doesn't throw his balance way off now.

I am heading to town this afternoon and will pick up some more probiotics, the c&d antitoxin and some mineral oil to have on hand tonight just in case they get sick.

Anybody know if I can give the cows c&d antitoxin orally like I can a goat? That would sure make it easier to give to them if they're not down.

Mommaof10
PlymouthRockRanch.com
Recording the Faithfulness and Provision of God for Future Generations

[Jenn]

I did a search for "acidosis". I don't know about the antitoxin, I've never used it.
-Jenn

[Shelby]

being they ate rolled oats is a lot better then if they would have gotten into a hot feed such as corn.

Had my cow do that a few years ago and vet gave her some antacid for cattle (big pink pills) the baking soda will have the same effect.

don't offer any feed other than strict grass hay, and watch them, they will develop scours but it should clear in a few days and if their getting grass hay that will help.

[mommaof10]

Shelby,

Thanks so much for the encouragement. We've had waaaay too many crisis' here lately. I sure don't want another. We did just feed the cow some apple peelings laced with baking soda. I hope it's enough to make a difference.

I am thankful it was the oats and not the corn!

First our Alpine doe had tangled twins that we tried but couldn't untangle. This ended us up at the vets office and thankfully two live doelings.

Then I got sick with Fifth Disease, though it was so bad the dr thought it was Rheumatic Fever. I'm still recovering from that. It's still making it's way through our family.

Then the same Alpine doe with tangled twins, who came into only half-milk, came down with milk fever. That was several days of doctoring and learning and learning some more. Thankfully, she seems to be on the mend.

And, now these two cows. I'm ready to be done with the emergencies, that's for sure!

Thanks again for your encouraging words.

Mommaof10
PlymouthRockRanch.com
Recording the Faithfulness and Provision of God for Future Generations

[Shawn]

hang in there, hope things are going better for you.

[missevelyn]

Will pray for the health of all your family, I'd never known that there was a parvo virus for humans.

Regina

[mommaof10]

Yes, Fifth Disease is a parvo virus, but they say it is unrelated to the canine version.

It is commonly diagnosed in small children with the very red cheeked rash, called "slapped cheek." But the symptoms change and get worse with age. And, it seems to hit adult women more often than adult men, for some reason.

My three smallest children, 5, 7 & 10 all had the red cheeks and then body rash. My 12 & 14 yr olds had a body rash. My 20 year old a body rash and some aches and pains. My 25 year old swollen hands, aching joints and a rash that started on her feet. And, me, the old lady, very swollen and achy hands that I couldn't close, every joint and muscle in my body hurt so badly that I couldn't get out of bed by myself, and I had a rash that started on my feet.

4 weeks later, everybody else is well but I am still waking up with aches in my joints. This can last 2 weeks, 2 months, 2 years or ?? I have a friend that had this before I knew her. She was pregnant (dangerous to babies in utero) and she still, several years later, has joint issues that she thinks started with the Fifth Disease.

I'd never heard of this virus before but I sure know about it now!

I recorded our initial journey of this on our blog so that others, like me, who didn't know about Fifth Disease, might be able to recognize it should their family or loved one come down with these symptoms.

Mommaof10
PlymouthRockRanch.com
Recording the Faithfulness and Provision of God for Future Generations

[mommaof10]

The morning after their grain binge, the cows are scouring but not bloated. I am going to give them a dose of c&d antitoxin this morning in case there is an entero buildup going on inside of them.

I was told by a vet tech friend last night that this can be given orally, so I will hide it in an apple and they'll never know the difference.

I will continue to watch them over the next few days for any off signs.

We found a storage business that is selling off some old storage vaults for $10/ea on CraigsList. My husband is purchasing 6 of them today to make a feed storage area that will give us another barrier between the animals and the feed.

The feed has been stored in construction style heavy duty bins but the animals, who are free-ranging, have broken all of the locks and we've been wiring all of them closed. That worked until my 7 year old "had an idea" and removed the wire off of one of them.

So, these storage vaults will give us a better way of storing feed until we can get a barn built, some day, but I'm not even going to pretend that having a 2nd line of defense makes the feed safe from animal intrusion. It will help, but we will still need to be on our guard and make sure both lines of defense are correctly secured. At least that's the lesson that we've revisited here in the last 24 hours!

Mommaof10
PlymouthRockRanch.com
Recording the Faithfulness and Provision of God for Future Generations

[milkmaid]

Baking soda and probiotics... run a search on google for acidosis.

[haleiwabrooke]

So sorry to hear about all the stressful things y'all have been going through! It looks like you've been officially initiated into KFC!! ;D ;D

I also had an episode with our heifer Belle getting into the feed area! First it was 1/2 a bag of minerals, then 1/2 bag of rolled oats !

She had diarrhea for about 5 days, but recovered without any major side effects!!

Hope your two are feeling better soon!!

[Joann]

I could not read this until today. I have Wildblue sattelite and get no connectivity when it rains, three days in this case.

I am so glad your animals appear to be doing pretty well. I certainly agree that feed should be protected by at least two lines of defense. Cows are often lost due to excess feed, as of course you know. Sometimes I think families should have emergency reviews on certain thing around the farm sort of like fire drills, just so everyone remains alert to hazaards.

Joann