Afterbirth not complete.

[littlecowfl]

Cow calved early this morning. I didn't get to the afterbirth in time to check it (I awoke to the sound of crows-their caws always wake me up if I am waiting for a calf. Of course, they ate it). Another afterbirth chunk came out tonight. It could be the last one or there could be more. My concern is the cow getting an infection from retained placenta pieces. I tried to bring her in for observation, but her calf went the wrong way and she broke and ran. Now, she is taking her calf to the far end of the pasture. The calf is passing very soft poop and has a dirty butt. 24 hours will be in the wee hours tomorrow morning. I should be able to catch her when the sun comes up. I don't keep antibiotics on hand because the dang things expire long before I use them. I can pick some up in the morning at TSC. Any suggestions?

[littlecowfl]

My plan is to bring her and baby in. Watch both and take temperatures. Give antibiotics if I see a temp.

[lakeportfarms]

I wouldn't be too concerned right now about the cow and retained placenta. We've had some cows go for several days sometimes with the string still hanging out. It's too early to get infection. If she starts looking lethargic or off of her feed after a few days then antibiotics would be appropriate then. You may also want to give her a shot of lutalyse to help her to clear whatever is left.

If the calf doesn't have much of the residual string of umbilical cord hanging, then that's usually a sign of retained placenta.

Make sure the calf's butt is cleaned, either by her mom or by you. If you have a lot of flies still hanging around and it's hot out make sure they're not laying eggs in that area, or the calf could get fly strike.

Congratulations on the new calf anyway!

[littlecowfl]

Thanks! Yeah, I really wanted to clean the calf's butt. It was really bothering me that she had a dirty butt. If only momma woud have let us bring her in tonight. We'll need to dehorn her anyway, so when she's separate from momma tomorrow, we'll get her cleaned up. I'll watch momma's temp carefully and probably pick up antibiotics. The imbilical cord was pretty short. I think about a half inch.

[carragheendexters]

Hi Littlecowfl,
Like Lakeportfarms said, don't stress. I'm guessing that it's come away ok and its just the gunk and mucous that you saw come away in the evening. It's usually the ones half hanging out for days that you worry about. If her cervix is still open you can give her a shot of prostaglandin (I think that must be the same as your Lutalyse) and also a shot of oxytocin. That will cause contractions and the placenta to detach from the uterine wall if it is still there.
You only need to worry about her if she starts to look off colour or not eating as well, check her daily for a really yucky putrefying discharge that smells, then worry. Cows can have a retained afterbirth for days without it being a problem, whatever you do, if you see it hanging out don't pull on it. If you pull it away from the uterine wall you can cause scarring which may affect her future fertility.
Cows are different to horses, their tough, also you don't have to lay the placenta out to check that it is all there (unlike horses).
If there is a bit of underlying gunk left behind, the cleansing heat after calving will usually clean her up. Most cows in good condition will have a heat within a month of calving.
regards Louise

[Olga]

I would be more concerned about the calf than the cow. Half an inch umb. cord is pretty short. Keep an eye out for any swelling, odor, discharge or signs of pneumonia in the calf (like the udder being super full all the time due to calf not eating). But, chances are on your side - about 95% of births are unassisted and trouble free - your cow and calf should be fine. BUT if you pick up on anything weird, rush to the vet.

[littlecowfl]

Thanks, Olga! We'll watch her closely. Bonny is the cow and Noreen is the calf. She's a lovely little girl. I'll put a picture up later.

[lakeportfarms]

Olga's right, make sure you get some iodine on the umbilical if it's only 1/2" or so long.

[kansasdexters]

In order for iodine solution to provide effective infection protection, it is injected into the umbilical cord with a syringe. Dipping the umbilical cord into an iodine solution doesn't do what you need it to do. This is advice from my vet. If you are calving on clean pasture, no mud, no manure -- then you don't need to do anything to the umbilical cord -- just let it dry out.

When we have a cow that retains a placenta, we give her an injection of Mu-Se (selenium supplement) and Lutalyse. Normally the placenta will be passed within a few days, and no infection results. It is okay to help the placenta to be expelled after the 5th day (have the vet do this).

Hope that all is going well for you with this calf.


Patti

[littlecowfl]

Mama and baby are just fine. Thanks for all the advice.

[littlecowfl]

I understand, Gene. Too much stress can do harm. I put off dehorning the calf. She'll need to have it surgically done when she's older. Mama cow can't keep her baby's butt clean so I need to help. I also need to make sure the diarrhea stops.

[littlecowfl]

Well, the cow is fine, but baby is getting antibiotics and kaopectate. Her poopy butt has an odor. I hate tube feeding. Vet will come tomorrow if she isn't any better.

[lakeportfarms]

I know you're doing what you can to keep her butt clean, but you might want to measure out a tiny bit of ivermectin pour on and run it down her back, especially at the back side. That and some screw worm spray in the back to repel the flies. Dexters don't have the hair Highlands have, but we have had two instances of fly strike on our Highlands that have calved in the hot summer months. Of course hot for here is mid-80's 
If you are cleaning her everyday, that's probably good enough though.

It's actually going to almost 90 today for a high, but Friday the high will be in the 50's. We had a low last week of 36 degrees one morning, darn near frost out.  I guess it's time for the battle between summer, fall, and winter.  But it's probably hot and humid down there in FL full time, so keep an eye on it.

Patti, I didn't know that about injecting the iodine in the cord, when we've had muddy conditions we'll dip and then liberally rub it all around the area.  Our thought was that it caused the protected the cord until it dried up enough.  This of course was for those that are less attentive to licking off their calves than others otherwise we have never intervened and they've always been fine.  And yes the MuSe or BoSe shot is good advice for both mother and calf, as selenium deficiency can contribute to retained placenta.

[littlecowfl]

Thanks!

Her butt was perfectly clean under all that mess. No hair loss, no irritation. I would describe the poop as thick and sticky, rather than the runny scours that I used to see at the dairy farm where I worked in college.

She's still clean since this morning's feeding, which, of course, is why she's getting tubed now. I don't think she nursed yet today. I rigged up a tube with a syringe to give her the kaopactate. She breathes and she swallows, so it's going into the right place. I'm a bit confused on the dosage. The vet told me to give it every couple of hours. Does about 30-40 mLs sound about right? It's the generic human formula because the dang feed stores don't carry it around here.

[carragheendexters]

Hi Littlecowfl,
I'm just wondering if maybe your calf hasn't got scours but just has a messy butt from the colostrum. Many of our calves have a dirty tailend due to lots of rich colostrum. It is very thick gluey textured poop, yellow in colour. It just sticks in big lumps around the butt, we pull it off and then their tailend is clean. We only have to do it for the first couple of days until the cow changes from colostrum to milk, and then the calves tailends stay clean.
Maybe your cow just has lots of good rich colostrum.
If any of our calves get scours we use a product called Scourban (a liquid) or Neosulcin (tablets) which are meant for livestock, and follow the directions on the side of the bottle. The liquid is so much easier, giving tablets to calves involves nearly getting your fingers chewed off as you try and get the tablet down their throat.
regards Louise