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Faunsdale, AL | Vitamin A isn’t going to fix an eye with infection in it anymore than it’s going to prevent measles in people. There are eye problems if cattle have a deficiency but a baby calf with a cloudy eye isn’t very likely to be affected with a vitamin deficiency
It’s common that calves will get some bacteria in their bloodstream after birth. More in muddy, wet conditions, weak calf that doesn’t get up right away or just bad luck to land in a bad spot.
Colostrum is what keeps all the bad effects to a minimum. Early, lots, good quality, calf not chilled and slow and it’ll all work out mostly.
The eyes and the joints are worst places for infection to set up but it may be in liver and umbilical cord remnants in far more than the ones with a bad eye or joint. That’s why there is a recommendation to dip the navel in strong iodine if you can. The assumption is any calf you’ll be able to dip the navel on will be born in confinement situation with all the germs that go along with that, so dip it if you can.
A dose of a good antibiotic as soon as a calf is identified to have a risk factor can head off a lot of trouble. By the time the eye is cloudy or the joint is swollen and painful it’ll take more than a dose to do much good. | |
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Calf with blind eye or spot in eye
