The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Cattle => Topic started by: Faye.Lear on January 15, 2026, 06:53:16 am
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Hello everyone, just looking to see if anyone has experienced similar and has any tips or advice.
We have a 9 day old calf, on a blind cow (this is her fourth calf). It sucked when born but on day 2 started to look weak and lethargic. Started electrolytes tube feeding and milk alternate feeds and gave metacam. Also had Clamox for 5 days as vet thought it could be E Coli either due to lack of colostrum or poor quality.
Day 3 the eyes got cloudy and bulgy and weepy. Vet didn’t give any indication as to what it could be.
Day 5 managed to get the calf sucking from a bottle ( stripping mums milk). But will only take 3 litres a day, he can be a bit dory on the bottle.
I’m just a bit lost, the eyes are no better and the calf is no better or worse. Anyone any tips or experience? We have 9 calves now and all others are doing great! Never seen this before in our herd 🤷♀️
If you’ve got this far, thank you in advance!
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Can't help with a diagnosis but I hope the calf comes round.
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Do you know the calf’s bvd status?
The vet could have checked IgG levels which would give a clearer picture of if calf received enough colostrum. If it didn’t then you may be fighting a losing battle sadly.