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SW Iowa, Clarinda | Hiefer was bred to a low birth weight, high rate of gain, bull. Turned all my cows into 240 acres of stalk ground and misc ditches/grass waterways. I only had 1 cow and 3 heifer yet to have calf.
Anyhow, I didn't get to check them Thursday night because I worked my day job from 7am till 8pm. Friday after work (5pm) checked cows and couldn't find one heifer. Looked the rest of the night with the four wheeler with no luck. The next morning in the daylight, found cow tracks in the bottom of the creek (its a deep creek). Finally found heifer across creek on neighbor's ground around 10 am Saturday morning with calf 3/4 out and dead of course. I pulled calf out and she was still alive but in bad shape & bloated. I think she had prolly been down for at least 12 hours struggling. I gave the hiefer 10 cc of cortazone Saturday at noon and got her rolled back onto her belly with her feet underneath her. Brought water and corn but not much luck. Checked her several times and tried to keep her feet under her, but she wallows around and eventally gets feet sprawled out and can't sit up.
So today, I put her on our tilt bed trailer and brought her up to the farm and gave her 40 cc of LU 400 antibiotic. Still not much luck getting her back legs to work properly because they are basically paralized/numb. Although she is eating hay/corn and drinking a small bit of water.
Tonight I took a bulk fill empty soybean bag and split it in half. Rolled her over on it and tried to pick her up a little with the forklift hooked into the soy-bag eyelits. Kind of like slinging her body to get her legs underneath her. It didn't work very as well as I'd hoped.
If anybody has any advice to get this cow up again, I'd really like to hear it. I don't think she has a very good chance at living at this rate.
Ben | |
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Fall calving heifer had problems
