Frozen Ears..

[tadpole]

Does anyone have any good tricks to saving the ears on a calf when its born when its so cold.  We had a calf born last night about 7.  This morning he was very cold, covered in frost, and ears were solid.  I put him in the calf warmer, got him warmed up, gave him a bottle, and got his ears thawed out.  Dad put him back in with mom and when I came home today from school, the tips of his ears were froze again.  So I put him in the calf warmer again and got his ears thawed out.  I put a pair of those sullivans ear muffs on him and got a roll of vet wrap, and wrapped his ears against his neck, but it doesnt seem to be staying on very good.  I know he will probably loose part of his ears anyway but I hope i can save some of them.  What do you guys use to keep ears from freezing on newborns when its cold?

 

[uluru]

go to www.uluru.com and look underCozy Caps

 

[shortyjock89]

Vet wrap like you did, then duct tape. 

 

[common sense]

Once the ears have frozen there is very little that you can actually do to save them.  To prevent the freezing you can dry them completely and wrap them back against the head being carful not to wrap too tight.  I actually use hoods depending on how aggressive the momma is about licking them.  Once the ears are froze you can TRY using DMSO if you can find it.  This absorbs quickly and gets the circulation going. It's a crap-shoot though.  But I really feel that I have lessened the damage this way in the past.  Make sure you wrap them after apply the product.  Consult your vet.

 

[andy]

Pantyhose.  Slip a leg over the calf's head and cut the end of the toe off for the nose/eyes to go through.

 

[randiliana]

I use old hockey socks to keep the ears from freezing. Cut them in half and pull them over the head. They work great so long as mama doesn't get real aggressive with her licking. Someone else on another forum mentioned buying cheap sweat pants and cutting the legs off. Whatever you use, pull the non elastic end over firs, and leave the elastic just behind the calf's eyes. Once they have froze hard, you are pretty much out of luck in saving them.

Last night was -30 here, pretty much as soon as mama had the calf licked off we were pulling the socks on and blanketing them. May have lost a few ear tips, but no big losses.

 

[VJ]

I feel your pain. Went to bed last night and all cows were laying contently by the hay feeder. This morning at 7:00 (5 degrees, 25 mph wind) two cows had calves. Both frozen but alive. Three hrs later both were nursing and doing well. Thank goodness for bathtubs, warm water, calf coats, and gentle cows. 85 lb Dirty Harry out of a big pb Shorthorn and a 70 lb Manchild out of a red NFL cow. Both were solid black bulls 5 days early. All is well except I'm really worried about their ears.

 

[red]

use a blow drier first thing if you catch it quick enough.

Red

 

[braunvieh]

I have been told to try sprinkling table salt on the ears when they are wet, the cows licks them like crazy and keeps circulation going and gets them warmed up.

 

[kanshow]

I think getting them completely dry first thing and then wrapping them somehow is the best way to save ears..

Having said that, I'm pretty sure one of our calves born night before last will loose part of an ear.  Who would think we'd still be worrying about ears in March in KS. 

 

[red]

we're getting snow flurries. Yuck!

 

[jbw]

It was 0 here last night and the night before we had -37 wind chills, thank goodness no calves! I'm waiting for global warming to kick in here. 

 

[jason]

use a blow drier first thing if you catch it quick enough.

Red

I second that, most important thing is to get them dry and than wrapped up.

 

[cowz]

I LOVE your new avatar....you are so clever!  Huckleberry!

We keep a drawer full of marginal kitchen and bath towels for this.  Just wrap and duct tape and repeat.

 

[klintdog]

White vinegar will help. Rub it on the edges of the ears where it's frozen and it will help to get circulation going again. Don't ask me how or why, but it works.