Weakly calves

[boumaticboy]

Bit of advice please. Heifers calving down ok but calves are slow to breathe and get going. Need to be there at calving.lost three calves. Put the first two losses to bad luck but starting to question that. Heifers ave been bolused with cosicure a month ago. Gonna take bloods on Monday. Any help or thoughts greatly appreciated

 

[dinderleat]

Iodine? get some bloods done

 

[boumaticboy]

Iodine? get some bloods done

That’s what I was thinking. Vets coming Monday. On last years 3rd cit bales. Prob low in energy

 

[dinderleat]

Dry only need 100mj

 

[lazy farmer]

No need for vet. Iodine down their backs in the morning problem solved within 2 days.

 

[boumaticboy]

No need for vet. Iodine down their backs in the morning problem solved within 2 days.

selenium?

 

[Celt83]

selenium?

I was going to say selenium.

One place I worked we would have to run to the calf as soon as it hit the ground to give it an injection the diffiency was so bad.

Get bloods done ASAP!

 

[Thick Farmer]

VitESel.

 

[livestock 1]

VitESel.

Can you get it now?

 

[sidjon]

Sounds like lodine, bolus are a bloody waste of money, we're injecting iodine as keep having very poor results from bolusing heifers.

 

[matthew]

Iodine? get some bloods done

I was going to say selenium.

One place I worked we would have to run to the calf as soon as it hit the ground to give it an injection the diffiency was so bad.

Get bloods done ASAP!

Bloods on the heifers will only tell you their iodine status now. The deficiency which affected her calf will have occurred many weeks / months before. A liver section biopsy is the only sure way - but not feasible in a live animal.
PM a thyroid from the dead calf to be sure. And get iodine on the heifer's backs and in the drinking water. Aqueous iodine too - not spirit based.

(we ran into this trouble last year after manufacturers changed the base of their iodine. Now use concentraed iodine from a medical source, (Atom Scientific) diluted to 10:1 - the old Lugols iodine mix. and also Brinnicombe's Easy calver Aquatrace in water trough. That also covers Vit E and selenium. High molydenum here, which locks up iodine and other vitals. )

 

[boumaticboy]

Thanks everyone

 

[boumaticboy]

Sounds like lodine, bolus are a bloody waste of money, we're injecting iodine as keep having very poor results from bolusing heifers.

How often do you have to inject them? How long does a shot last. Vet said iodine on back only lasts week to ten days max

 

[Davy]

Vitimin E?

 

[dinderleat]

Bloods on the heifers will only tell you their iodine status now. The deficiency which affected her calf will have occurred many weeks / months before. A liver section biopsy is the only sure way - but not feasible in a live animal.
PM a thyroid from the dead calf to be sure. And get iodine on the heifer's backs and in the drinking water. Aqueous iodine too - not spirit based.

(we ran into this trouble last year after manufacturers changed the base of their iodine. Now use concentraed iodine from a medical source, (Atom Scientific) diluted to 10:1 - the old Lugols iodine mix. and also Brinnicombe's Easy calver Aquatrace in water trough. That also covers Vit E and selenium. High molydenum here, which locks up iodine and other vitals. )

Agree any vet worth their money will do bloods and full pm on calf. We put some crystal granules in the water which stopped it for us.

 

[sidjon]

How often do you have to inject them? How long does a shot last. Vet said iodine on back only lasts week to ten days max

One injection lasts 6 months, we do it on the reading day normally.

 

[buffalo_soldier]

As said bloods is the quickest was for an idea.
If they are only getting one a month before calving, there may be a gap with historic supplementation.
There are better bolus' out there.
Biopsy can be done on live animals.

 

[sandywil90]

Bit of advice please. Heifers calving down ok but calves are slow to breathe and get going. Need to be there at calving.lost three calves. Put the first two losses to bad luck but starting to question that. Heifers ave been bolused with cosicure a month ago. Gonna take bloods on Monday. Any help or thoughts greatly appreciated

Sounds like ‘sleepy calf

Bit of advice please. Heifers calving down ok but calves are slow to breathe and get going. Need to be there at calving.lost three calves. Put the first two losses to bad luck but starting to question that. Heifers ave been bolused with cosicure a month ago. Gonna take bloods on Monday. Any help or thoughts greatly appreciated

sounds like it could be sleepy calf syndrome?

id just run bloods on them heifers again to make sure the levels are sufficient! Maybe do some bloods on the calves too and least them your targeting the right issues and keeps your cost down.

next time your looking to bolus, have a look at our ‘Mayo Healthcare’ FB page on our trace element boluses.
We also do a topical iodine which you can administer to calves aswell really.
We also do selenium and iodine tablets specifically for calves.
Apologies if it sounds like the ‘hard sell’ , it’s just that Mayo have got some cracking products- I’ve only just discovered since this year! Fellow calf enthusiast here so

 

[som farmer]

i'd get the vet, to do bloods, but i would get the iodine on, as soon as, and before vet ! Its cheap, easy to do, and the symptoms sound like iodine, if you wait for vet, then results, several day's will have passed, before results, you are not going to 'harm' the hfrs, if its not iodine, if it is, you are ahead of the game.

 

[Joeblue]

1 ML of lugols per cow in water trough per cow per day is a good start.