Farm Blog

We lost a calf yesterday.  It was very quick.  The calf was down the day before yesterday, and one of our neighbor/customers stopped by and talked with Sharon who must have pointed out the calf.  Sharon called me up from the back of the farm and when I came up the neighbor said that he thought it was pneumonia based on how the calf was standing with his legs way back.  He also pointed out that the calf was hanging out around a mud puddle to cool down from his fever.  That's the difference between lots of experience with sick cattle and not.  We knew something was wrong, we just didn't quite know what.  I tried to treat him with antibiotics but calf went down so fast.  I did quite a bit of research on cattle respiratory infection and posted on-line for additional info, but it was more for the next time I have the issue rather than this particular case.  Cattle resp. infections seem to be prevalent in calves that are in feedlots or confinement type operations such as dairies, but it's also a known problem on open pasture as well.  There are many recommendations for prevention through confinement management and use of vaccines but since we don't really confine our cattle or pre-treat our calves I guess it really comes down to watching for problems more diligently and treating them at the first sign of being sick.  So if you've ever wondered why non-treated, "all natural" farm products are more expensive?  Here's an example.  Loss is higher and management is higher.  How much easier would it have been to have treated the calves when they were born with an 8-way vaccine that covers many issues...