# calf can't stand



## tlbranch

I have an almost 3 day old brangus calf that can't stand. When we lift him he gets stiff and shakes and crosses his back legs like he's not coordinated enough to stand much less walk. His mom sticks pretty close to him but he's not able to nurse. We have been tube and bottle feeding him. I have heard about the possible selenium/vit E defeciency but have not been able to locate a vet close that has it. I live in North Florida. We were close to 24 hrs before we were able to get colostrum to him and we also gave him Resorb and some broad spectrum antibiotics.
I've called a couple of vets and they said we are already doing everything that they know to do. Any other ideas or suggestions? TIA


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## Vickie44

It does sound like you are doing what you can . Why 24 hr delay ?


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## tlbranch

We live in a small town and calf was born @ 630 pm after feed stores were closed and no one we knew had any. I had to wait until the next day to buy some.


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## G. Seddon

Can you get the cow into a chute and hold the calf up to nurse her? I had one this spring very knuckled over, front and back. Had to hold him up to nurse for several days until he was strong enough to stand on his own. He's fine now. 

You need to ask your vet for Bo-Se or Mu-Se. I think that most vets routinely have this in the office and/or on their trucks. Our calves get Bo-Se and Vital E plus A/D when they've dried off. 

Are you expecting additional calves? Prepare for them! Also get some powdered colostrum (Lifeline is a good brand) to keep on hand in case you need it. I get all these things from our vet before calving starts so that I'll have it available.

Check your cows' mineral intake (loose minerals, not a block). This will help but it's not a cure-all.


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## MO_cows

Ditto on the Bo-Se, have heard some really good things about it but, knock wood, have never had a weak calf yet. You really should keep some powdered or frozen colostrum on hand and milk replacer. The calf's ability to absorb the colostrum goes down by the hour, the sooner they get it, the better. 

If he keeps eating and shows will to live, I would keep giving him a chance. Maybe you could put momma in the chute and prop him over a hay bale to nurse??

Good luck, hope you can save the calf.


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## opportunity

We had one this spring she just wouldn't stand/couldn't stand we tubed her for days then went to the vet a few towns over to get some BO-SE and some vitamine E she was nursing later that day and was in perfectly normal shape in two more days it was amazing how fast the calf turned around after we though she was a gonner


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## tlbranch

Just wanted to give an update on the calf. We only have 1 heifer and this was her second calf. We found a vet an hour from where we live and took him in Saturday am. Vet gave him 5 shots. MuSe, steroid, thiamine, Vit AD and 1 other I can't remember. He gave a "guarded" prognosis. He thinks it's something neurological. He has a great appetite and acts like he wants to try to get up but still can't. We don't have a chute for the heifer but thinking about making him a sling to stand in. I feel bad about him laying all day. We try to prop him up as best we can but after a little while he's lying flat again. I'm just holding out hope that something in his little brain will click and he'll stand. Vet said that's possible but also possible it might not. Thanks for the suggestions.


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## haypoint

An injection of Bo-Se to the cow, a couple weeks before the next calf for areas with low Se in the soil.


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## opportunity

Ours was day six when it finally clicked so keep trying.


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## Vickie44

Just keep helping him stand a few times a day. I had one take a week


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## Vickie44

Hows he doing ?


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## momagoat61

Could also so be Spina Bifida, we have had at least two calves born on our family farm in the 50 years of my life that had Spina Bifida when born.. First one was when I was 14 years old and I worked my [email protected]@ trying to get that calf well, named him Sammy, never will forget Sammy Calf, I was at the age where I was determined to make him well, my dad said he's yours and you can work with him and see what happens, didn't know what Spina Bifida was then, well I soon realized the bigger the calf got the bigger his problems got also. Then just last spring we had the second one born that was just like Sammy,the one born 36 years ago.


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## tlbranch

After 11 days of watching the poor little guy we finally decided to have him put down. It was a hard decision but we weren't seeing any improvement and maybe even a little bit of a decline. He appeared to have seizures everytime we stood him up. That liked to have killed us to have to do it but couldn't stand it anymore, even though he had a wonderful appetite. He ate like a little pig. I hope we never have anymore in this condition. All the shots the vet gave him did not help one bit but it was worth trying. Momagoat61, what symptoms did your calves with spina bifida have?


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## Sherry in Iowa

I'm really sorry for your loss. I know how painful that can be. I would look into BVD symptoms..sounds a lot like how they present when they have that.


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## allenslabs

I had a calf that couldn't stand one time and every time he tried he'd seizure. He also had a great appetite but the naval just was wet and the hair had fallen out around it. I gave every shot the vet suggested and nothing helped. He was gaining like crazy and after 3 weeks got to where I couldn't hardly get him up and so there was a lady I knew that had a better knack than I so I told her she could have him if she thought she could get him better. He died on the way to her house. Never did know what was wrong with him but I bought him from a trader who said he'd gotten the wrong cow calf pair. I think he knew what was going on and just didn't want to lose that money.


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## Vickie44

Sorry it didnt work out for you ~ Vickie


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## G. Seddon

So sorry, you did everything possible, and it's hard to lose them no matter what!


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## momagoat61

Both calves were born with little to no control of their rear legs which included any control from the middle of their spine back. Both calves had full control over their front end, head , neck, front legs, but no control over the rear end what so ever. Both calves over time would learn to stand if held or placed in a sling. Both could move their rear legs but couldn&#8217;t control the movement. The calf born last year could not bend it&#8217;s real legs at what I call the elbow&#8217;s on the rear legs very much and learned to hop to get around . Both did get to where they could stand but their back ends would sway from side to side. The calf born last year was raised on a bottle and got to around 200 pounds before we sold it to a man that was fully wear of the calves condition and was planning to process the calf himself. No medicine was given to the calf, either calf had any mental disorders and was not under developed in any other way. Both calves were delivered by the cows without any assistances, in fact I watched the calf be born last year which was delivered in the normal presentation out in the pasture but I soon seen after the birth that there was a problem with the calf&#8217;s rear legs. Both calves as they grew their spine grew twisted due to their stance when laying down and standing. Both were bull calves and both learned to eat grain along with being bottle raised. My Sammy Calf 38 years ago got to maybe 300 pounds before he got down in a low place and could not upright himself and bloated..


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## tlbranch

Ok, thanks for the responses. It broke my heart and I just hate the not knowing. He could move his tail and move all of his legs and you could tell he wanted to stand so bad but just couldn't (He couldn't even sit up without help). He just stiffened up and shook when we stood him up. That would last a minute or so until it stopped. He could stand on his own in a sling but not without it for more than a few seconds. Other than that he was perfect. Ate well, no diarrhea or anything else abnormal. I'll probably never know but just hope it's not hereditary so that this will ever happen again with same cow and bull breeding back.


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## Dreamfarm

So sorry to hear, hope you never have to go through that again


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## wvdexters

I am so sorry for what happened. You did everything you could. I think we were all pulling for the little guy.


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## allenslabs

WIsh I knew what it was too cause you just described the calf I had. 

As my mom always quoted from my old black beauty cartoon movie.... "Do your best and leave the rest, will all come right one day or night." You did all you could do now just sleep well knowing that.


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## Nikkie

Hello ! I just joined. I’m no farmer but I adore all animals.

I’m helping a baby boy calf who was born 3 days ago . He was standing fine and now , he can’t stand up . We brought him in the kitchen and I bottle feed him . He hasn’t drank from his mom since birth but he drank Colostrum 5 hours after he was born. Is my baby boy will stand up and walk again ?

thank you


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## Ronney

This is always going to be a hard one and I've been there and done that. Finally you learn to recognise when it's not going to work no matter what you do or what you give them but I'm afraid that knowledge comes with time and experience. 

tlbranch, I read your first post and thought neurological. The instinct to stand and drink is there but the brain can't co-ordinate it all and the only reason the calf is surviving at all is because of your input. On the rare occasion I get a calf like this now it gets a bullet because I finally worked out that under those circumstances you are using a huge amount of time, energy and emotion to achieve nothing. And the larger the calf gets through your ministrations, the harder the problem becomes physically too. 

Good on you for trying and contacting your vet because that is part of the learning. Nobody said that farming was easy.

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## genebo

Everyone who raises cattle needs to have a good large animal vet on call. They are hard to find, and some are already overloaded. Invite your vet to visit your farm and tell you what he will need to treat your cattle.

Do as he says. Be ready for when you need to be. Ask him what you should have on hand for emergencies and get it.

Our cattle are a blessing to us and we owe them the best care we can provide.


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## altair

I'm so sorry. We had one yak calf who her mother tried to abandon. It was for a good reason as something was wrong with her and she ended up passing after about 2 months. Sometimes good intentions are worse in the long wrong. At the very least consider problem animals as never-breeders. And support a mother's nutrition to the best extent before conception and after, whether it be chickens, goats, cow, llama, etc.


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## G. Seddon

This is a little confusing. The original post is from 2012. Then the more recent one, similar in content, is tacked onto the 2012 post.

I guess experience and a good veterinarian are indispensable. Nikkie, I hope you have a vet on board to help you with this. Farming can be heart-breaking.


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## Alaska

We had one last July. It took over a week of force feeding in very small portions. Some shots from our vet. And sponge baths to keep him cool in 105 deg temps. Was getting close to calling it quits when he finally started nursing. Can't remember what he was named at birth, but the first day he actually got up and ran the wife and I were so excited we both started yelling run Forest run. Forest is a nice little steer now being weaned.


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