3 Day Old Cow Wont Eat

Help Support CattleToday:

Jeanne - Simme Valley":1b816nfi said:
Remember, you gave her an antibiotic. That will kill all the good bugs in her stomach. You should give her some Probias to help the good bugs build back up.
I'm so glad You reminded me of giving her Probias! That didn't even cross my mind!
 
Jeanne Helped inspire me for this idea!

So after you mentioned Probios, I ran to where I keep Mira's medication and feed and supplies and started digging around for some Probios.

Sadly I didn't have any more. But as I was put out that I'd have to wait til tomorrow (today) to get some, my eyes landed on the giant bag of Bounce Back (electrolytes) I had gotten back when Mira had signs of scours and wasn't eating enough to give her the electrolytes she needed... An idea came.

I mixed 2 Pints (1 quart) if electrolytes. I didn't want to give Mira a lot obviously because you don't want to shove too much of this down a calf.

I took the bottle to Mira and she sucked down the full two pints well enough but did struggle just as she had been doing with the milk replacement. But I was happy to get that in her.

I woke up around 3AM and it had been over ten hours since I gave Mira the electrolytes. I rolled out of bed and went down to make three pints (a quart and a half) of replacement and shuffled down to feed Mira and check on her.

I get down there and Mira pops her head up and charges out of the barn (I'm keeping the barn door open now so she has full free roam at night as well) and she headbutts me all the way to the barn light. As soon as she had the bottle, she sucked down the full 1.5 quarts of milk replacement and was head butting me for more. I was completely pleased and surprised by Mira's appetite and energy. She was basic like her normal self.

I gave her a single pint (half a quart) of electrolytes before I've carried myself back to bed. I'll see how she is when I wake up again but so far the little boost helped a little it seems.
 
Health is going well for Mira. I'm still unsure about her eyes but after what she went through with the Draxxin, I'm giving her at least a week or two - unless it shows signs of worsening - before I apply anything else to her face.

My biggest concern - and annoyance - is that for the last two days it has been raining. And the rain has flooded the entryway of where I keep Mira / her barn space. The entryway is soaked with mud, hay, and cow poop and it looks like a small muddy swamp.

I've decided that once the rain lets up, I'm gonna need to do something for this area because it's just not sanitary and two it's dangerous for me when I go to feed Mira - I'm not graceful and mud is freaking slippery.

So I'm gonna look into some crusher run and pea gravel to fill up the area. Gonna have to dig up a small bit of the area then fill it with the crush run and pea gravel and maybe mix in some mulch to help keep the area leveled and from flooding and place something that Mira won't hurt herself on.

I know mud and water won't hurt a cow but it's not exactly keeping her warm and it's flooding my barn and it's slippery as snot! So that's my struggle for the moment!
 
Jeanne - Simme Valley":2tl1c5o2 said:
If you dig it out, put down some fabric made to put under gravel. You should be able to get a piece from place where you get gravel.
Have you made a halter yet?
Oh landscape fabric! Good idea! I knew I was missing something. And yes I have a halter made.
 
Leveled the muddy area out after the rain has finally calmed down. All that's left is to lay out the mat and rock and sand leveling.

Mira is doing well. Still think something is up with her eyesight. But she doesn't show signs anymore of anything to work at. No clouding, no gunk, no pink or yellowing... But I can tell she can't see too well... Guess she just has poor sight... Othersise she's okay.
 
LizHartley1991":1xofk7j8 said:
So after you mentioned Probios, I ran to where I keep Mira's medication and feed and supplies and started digging around for some Probios.

Sadly I didn't have any more.

Should ever run into that problem again, yogurt will work just as well, provided it is a yogurt with live & active cultures. Plain or vanilla. Years ago, when I raised bottle calves, that is what I used.

Keep up the good work, sounds like you're doing a good job with her, and learning all that you can.

:D
 
I got a laugh last night. I wanted to test the halter on Mira. I slipped the mouth part on her while she was drinking. As soon as I tried to get it over her last ear, she freaked out and was flailing around as she tried to get it off her face. It took me awhile to catch her and get her settled but I got a laugh as I tried to settle her lol
 
Well things are okay. I'm trying to wean Mira but I'm getting the feeling she's not eating and drinking enough now that I've started cutting down her food intake (she still gets fed, I'm just cutting down how much formula I'm mixing with the water). She's three months now. By March 27th she'll be four months... Should I wait another month before I start weaning her? I know she drinks water and I've seen her eating away at grass... Not sure.
 
3 months is pushing it with all the challenges she has had. I would continue to give her at least one full strength bottle a day, not diluted. If you see her drinking water, then try to get her to eat more grain. She will come looking for her bottle, but offer her more grain instead. Say feed her either in the morning or night, keep her on a schedule and the other time when you go to see her, offer the grain fresh in a bucket. Diluting the bottle will cause her to get her water from the bottle and not push her to drink out of a bucket. If she was mine, I would put her on the once a day for another month, and the weather gets a little nicer. Even though she is wanting the grass, she is too young to get any real amount of nutrition from it so you have to make sure she is eating grain. A calf that is raised on a cow will be getting milk for at least 5-8 months as well as supplementing it with hay/grain/ and/or grass. The amount of milk is less than at 2-3 months, but still supplies a decent amount of nutrition. I keep all my bottle calves on milk for 3 months minimum. They just do better. I leave the calves on the nurse cows for at least 3-4 months and they are eating grain and hay good.
 
Rumen development doesn't start until they start eating solid food, and takes a couple of months at least to get working well enough to get them by. I would want her eating a good amount of calf ration from the feed store for quite some time before stopping the bottle altogether. And keep her on the appropriate ration until this fall before switching her to what the other calves are getting post weaning.
 
You've worked too hard keeping this calf going to ruin it all by stopping the milk too soon. Wait until she's eating sack feed really well, and even then, the longer she stays on milk the better she'll do.
 
Thanks guys. I've been replacing one of her feedings with grain offerings. I give her a full bottle in the morning and offer up more grain at the second feeding. It seems to be a good balance for her. I've equal cut the water and feed down. So instead of 4 Pints (2 quarts) she's getting 3 Pints (1.5 quarts) and grain/feed. She was showing early signs of not taking to thevfeeding idea I had so I definitely took your all's advice quickly as I don't want her going backwards in health. This may not be the most effective idea but it's working for Mira right now. I'll give her another month before I cut down anymore milk. So by five months I'll have her down to 2 Pints (1 quart). I think that'll be good. And I'll start offering up the starter feed with her more when I go down.
 
Sounds like you hit the right "happy medium" for Mira. Once the weather gets a little nicer she will have more interest in feed and grass and being outside getting more exercise. I think that by the time another month goes by she will be eating more and you will just be able to cut out the bottle. But, if it makes you feel better to cut her to one quart, then do it for a week or two then just stop it. Still give her some attention and time with the grain, but she will be able to do fine without the bottle.
 
Mira keeps forgetting where the pellets are. I have to keep leading her to the giant dog dish of grain that I have for her, otherwise she just bawls her head off nonstop at anything that moves. I have tried a lower pan dish for her, the dog bowl, hand feeding... She eats the stuff when she finds it but everyday I'm having to lead her to the dang feed after I give her the formula... Crazy cow lol
 

Latest posts

Top