The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Cattle => Topic started by: Helen Wiltshire Horn on April 30, 2018, 07:00:57 pm
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Hi, quick question about my Dexter heifer calf that was born last Thursday. I have no concerns about it, other than the fact that I noticed that it was passing squidgy bloody faeces when I was expecting the yellowy poo of previous calves. It is clearly feeding and I can't catch it so it doesn't seem off colour in any way and I have seen it feeding. All was normal in terms of delivery and the calf seems fine in every other way. Should I be concerned? I don't have a friendly vet I can speak to just to ask informally at this stage.
Helen
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my first thought would be to get vet to see to it. There was a similar case on TFF where the calf died... It may have an underlying condition that will most likely need treating tbh.
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If totally normal otherwise ... I would just watch closely
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if it were bucket/bottle fed I would suspect a gut infection, eg salmonella, and stop milk for a couple of days and give glucose in water instead. Then I would gradually start again with half milk half glucose+water for the next day, providing there was no more blood to be seen. But as you can't catch the calf and it seems ok anyway, then this isn't really an option.
However, if it should start to deteriorate then you will have to catch it somehow and stop it feeding off it's mum until it has recovered. Milk is a perfect feed for bacteria as well as calves so you need to cut it out so the bacteria have nothing to feed on and the calf has a chance to recover.
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Sometimes a cow with a droopy bag can have blood mixed with the colostrum /milk and this comes through the calf . All you can do is watch and see what happens
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Thanks for your thoughts. This continued for a couple of days, bright thick blood mixed with normal yellowy faeces. Calf seems as right as rain and I think that the situation has resolved itself (or else I haven't noticed any more blood).
Helen
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If you google Hemolactia , blood in milk
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If you google Hemolactia , blood in milk
As the blood was bright it must have come straight from the calf, not second hand blood from the milk, which would have appeared brown.
Glad it seems to have resolved itself.
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The milk from the mother can be any shade of red up to a matt red and the calf can produce something like dark congealed blood . Also seen it a few times in sheep , was most noticeable in old dairy cows with big droopy udders