Blackleg??

[DEF]

Can a calf 3 weeks old die from blackleg??

 

[CAB]

Yes.

 

[DEF]

I didn't think blackleg effected calves that young and my cows get a blackleg shoot every year I thought it might have got stepped on or something??

 

[chambero]

Why did you think it might br blackleg?

 

[DEF]

The calf was fine yesterday and gone today, didn't show any signs of anything.

 

[savaged]

Clostridium disease is very likely. 

Every year I hear of  four to eight week old calves seeming perfectly healthy one day and drop over dead the next.  The common factor is failure to vaccinate.

A single dose of Alpha 7 is just way to economical, and cattle values way too high to roll the dice on blackleg.

 

[Sassy2899]

We have had calves die from black leg.  Really the only way you can tell is by cutting the skin over the brisket, between the front legs.  If the muscle is red,pink and looks healthy then no it wasn't black leg.  If the muscle looks purple/black and when you touch the brisket feels and sounds like bubble rap then yes the calf died of black leg.  Just because you give the cow a shot does not mean the calf will be vaccinated to the disease.  you have to give the individual a shot if you want it to be vaccinated against what ever disease.  Black leg, as I was told, is mostly seen in fat cattle cases.  It is very rarely seen in cattle two years and older.  It can bee seen in cattle less than a year old, as stated by an earlier post.  If you do have black leg, you can't get rid of it.  Black leg is in the soil.  So if the calf gets a cut, scrape, whatever, then lays on the ground in the dirt and gets dirt in the open surface then it could be infected with black leg. 

 

[hamburgman]

Blackleg is from Clostridium Chauvoei, generally it comes from injuries and rumen acidosis incidents or perforations.  The clostridium grows in muscles (leg muscles much of the time hence the name) because the oxygen level is favorable there.  Muscle becomes necrotic, swollen and black.  If you calf didn't have those signs and they are not acute usually it was not blackleg.  You are probably dealing with a clostridium perfringens that grows in the instestinal tract.  Biggest problem with cases like those are toxins produced by the clostridium which is why an antitoxin shot is given on a lot of farms.

 

[CAB]

What Hamburgerman says is the best answer here. The 2 are very closely related but a 3 week old calf probably died from complications caused by Clostridial perfringes & not actually Blackleg. As far as an antitoxin goes, yes you do need to use it to try to save a calf that is suffering the symptoms, but you also need to use the toxoid form of a vaccine to get immunity. That's why you are reading about PPL using Alpha-7, or Vision 7, or Ultrabac-7 pretty much @ birth to prevent troubles in the very early stages of the calf's life.