Homesteader News

 Tanya Kelley is a freelance writer from Ashmore, Illinois.  She and her husband own the Coles County poor farm property, Ashmore Estates (www.ashmoreestates.net).  Tanya and her family live on the property and raise the majority of their own produce, meat and dairy to support their own family.  Tanya has has a wide variety of livestock animals all of her life, starting with her first pony at age six.  Right now her farm has 3 spoiled horses, a Jersey steer, a hog, chickens, Shetland sheep, Nubian goats, an Australian shepherd and lots of barn cats.  She also enjoys homeschooling her 11. year old son William, canning, spinning wool, quilting and many other homestead activities.  When not working on the farm or writing, Tanya and her husband operate an October entertainment haunted house and year round paranormal events in the old poor farm building.  It's an unusual occupation, but beats working at a 9 to 5 job and lets her be home with her family and all the animals!

You Win Some, You Lose Some

Remember the November article buying animals at the auction? Like I said then, auctions are unpredictable and don't always turn out the way you plan, no matter how well you plan. I should remember my own advice more often.

During the far-too-recent January Arctic freeze, I was SUPPOSED to be a casual observer on a goat shopping expedition with my friend, Myra. I didn't even bring any cash with me – because I wasn't there to buy. Well, I wasn't there to buy until I saw a truckload of calves coming off the truck. It was 6 degrees and there weren't many buyers. I figured the competition would be scarce and prices would be low. Besides, the seller was right there and I could ask him questions.

There were two Jersey bull calves, our family's preferred choice for steers. Jerseys make great meat and a Jersey is just the right size for one year's worth of beef for our family. They also tend to be very affordable. The down side is that they are usually quite young when they are sold – sometime only a week or less old.

These two calves looked to be older than a week – their umbilical cords had already fallen off. Even better, I thought. The seller assured me the calves had had colostrum. The calves looked healthy and playful. I decided to bid.

I didn't win the bid on the first, larger calf. I did win the bid for the second. Minutes after the bidding closed, Myra and I stood in the pen looking checking out the calf. He was the typical Jersey pumpkin pie orange so I named him Pumpkin.

Calves are fragile and, even though Pumpkin had had colostrum, I wanted the auction vet to give him a quick once-over. She suggested giving Pumpkin a pneumonia vaccine and poly serum. We put the calf in the back of Myra's mini van and headed for home.

The first two days, everything was going along great, despite the brutal temperatures mother nature dished out. Then, on the morning of the third day, I walked into the barn and was greeted with the sickening smell of calf diarrhea. Scours. Pumpkin stood, his back hunched and shivering. A puddle of yellow diarrhea dribbled across the straw behind Pumpkin. I called Dr. Stone.

I was about to learn more about scours than I ever wanted to know. Scours can develop from viral causes such as Coronavirus and Rotavirus. There are also bacterial causes such as E. coli (Escherichia coli), salmonella and enterotoxemia (Clostridium perfringens). E. coli, the most common cause of scours in calves, is found in manure of even healthy animals so it's easy for a calf to get exposed to it. Salmonella bacteria can be transmitted by other cattle, birds, cats, rodents, the water supply or even humans. Enterotoxemia is usually associated with changing weather, feed changes, overcrowding or any condition that might cause a calf to be stressed so it doesn't nurse for it's usual amount. At the next feeding, the overly hungry calf will then overeat, creating an environment in the gut that is a clostridial incubator.

Did it really matter what caused Pumpkin's scours? Yes, and no. Determining the cause wouldn't likely change the treatment. The only value I saw in determining the cause was in knowing what steps I should take for future prevention.

Pumpkin needed a four-fold treatment. First, an antibiotic. Dr. Stone gave Baytril, a fast acting, long lasting drug. The Baytril would knock out the bad bugs, whatever they were. Next, to combat the downhill spiral that usually kills most scouring calves, Pumpkin needed treatment for the effects of the diarrhea. To treat dehydration, the lost of electrolytes and acidosis (too much acid in the gut), Dr. Stone prescribed Lactated Ringer's, often abbreviated as LR, twice a day, inserted subcutaneously (under the skin).

Don't let the name “Lactated Ringer's” throw you off. The first time I heard it, the image of a plastic circle with milk in it came to mind. The name is odd, but really, it looks just like a standard hospital IV bag. It was developed by Sydney Ringer and contains lactate.

By the time we began treatment, poor little Pumkin looked pretty rough. Diarrhea was all over the stall and Pumpkin was getting weaker, shivering and not getting up. I cleaned the stall. My husband suggested putting a heat lamp on him. Over the last few months, three barns near us had burned down from heat lamps. I squashed the heat lamp idea. I put a quilted, flannel people jacket over Pumpkin. Then, I used a very stiff and heavy horse blanket to make a tent over that. It would hold in the heat without weighing too much.

In thirty minutes, Pumpkin seemed more comfortable and toasty warm in his nest. I felt better too. I put the lactated Ringer's bag in a pitcher of hot water to warm it up. No sense in warming the calf, only to freeze him out again with a giant, cold injection. I started the fluid and waited. At first, the solution went in fast. Then, no matter how hard I squeezed, nothing moved. It took me a few minutes to realize the IV line had frozen. Duh. It was ONLY 6 degrees outside – of course if froze! I thawed the line and the solution flowed again.

By the time I came back for the night feed, Pumpkin seemed perky but he drank his bottle without getting up. I felt positive and congratulated myself on catching the problem early. I gave another dose of lactated ringers, just in case.

The next morning, Pumpkin was mooing for his breakfast when I walked into the barn. A good sign! He wanted to get up but wasn't strong enough to push the horse blanket off. It was -1 outside with 25 mile an hour winds and our barn isn't exactly draft free. I figured it was a good thing he couldn't get up – he would stay warmer where he was.

Pumpkin downed his bottle. The diarrhea seemed to be clearing up and he didn't seem dehydrated. He did sound a little wheezy though. Time for another trip to the vets. I came home with Draxxin (antibiotic), Nuflor (another antibiotic), both used to treat pnuemonia, just in case.

By the time I got home, Pumpkin was on his feet with the horse blanket pushed to one side of the stall. A thick puddle of almost-not-diarrhea was glopped into the middle of it. Apparently Pumpkin didn't think much of the horse blanket. He wasn't bouncing around but he did butt me, trying to speed up the breakfast delivery.

I was certain he was out of the woods. I called the vet to report the progress. It was cold outside but He seemed no worse for it. I waited until he laid down for the night and covered him with the tent again.

The next morning, I warmed his bottle and headed for the barn. I was greeted with several moos. He was up and he ate enthusiastically. And then, right after he finished eating, the diarrhea came again. Not good. I called the vet. She was running out of ideas. “Maybe worms? Let's give him some vitamins? It's not looking promising for him, though.”

I headed for the clinic. By the time I came home, armed with wormer, injectable vitamins and more antibiotic, Pumpkin was down again. I could see that he was giving up. Still, I dosed him with everything and gave another dose of lactated Ringer's. The weather warmed up again, all the way to 10 degrees. Still not warm enough though. I covered Pumpkin with his plaid flannel shirt and the scraped-clean horse blanket.

By feeding time that night, Pumpkin was warm but hungry. He ate well and that gave me a little hope. But an hour later, during my barn check, it was clear that Pumpkin was too far gone. Within minutes, he was dead.

Whether bought at an auction or bought from a private sale, there aren't any guarantees with young calves. With Pumpkin, I'm pretty certain I came home from the auction with a healthy calf. I think the combination of the cold, the wind and change in feed and environment were conditions that stressed Pumpkin to the point that he scoured. Those same conditions hindered his recovery.

Once again, I am reminded that raising livestock is not without risk – financial, sometimes physical and emotional. Despite all that, I far prefer this life to the alternative. And, when the weather warms up a bit, I'll be back at the auction shopping for another calf.

Surround water tank with old pallets screwed or nailed together.

Stuff straw into pallets and around tank for insulation and cover top and sides with two layers of clear plastic. Flap door is open in daytime for animals to drink.

 Close flap at night to hold in heat. Tank will hold in heat collected and should not freeze solid but you may still have to break ice sheet on top or let the sun melt it off.

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