1st Bottle Baby Question

[ffamom]

I read MM bottle baby section. Short version of a long story. Neighbor saw a our dead cow with after birth beside her. No calf. No idea how long the cow has been dead. She was on her side, so he might have milked her out. Looked for calf for 1.5 days and finally joined up with heard. 2 of the cows calved the day before were show animals, so we tied them and allowed the calf to nurse. Orphan calf drained them both. He is around 90 lbs.

My question:
We gave him 4 pints and he still acts like he is starving. Do we give him more or make him wait until the next feeding? Should be try to find the IV stuff since we don't know if he got the 1st milk?

Thanks for reading.

 

[Nite Hawk]

Be careful not to "kill him with kindness", as feeding him way too much can cause him to scour.
Half a gallon of real milk twice a day shouldn"t hurt him to start though, depending
on size and if you are feeding him jersey milk,which is high in butter fat ( which can be cut with a bit of water if needed) or thinner milk like holstein milk.
Actually I have fed my jersey calves more than that twice a day, they are alot smaller in size. You will probably have to up his intake depending on his size, but if he starts to get the "runs" cut him back a bit.
On alot of the dairy farms they are fed twice a day and that is it. However if he is weak, more frequent small feedings are usually in order till he gets up on his feet and is strong.
Some calves are real "pigs" and will keep eating till they make themselves sick, so appetite isn't the only indicator as to how much he should get.
What are you feeding him? On Calf replacer he may survive, but they often don"t thrive, like they do on real milk.
Because you don"t know if he got colostrum, watch him carefully for any sign of weakness /sickness.
There used to be artificial colostrum on the market years ago, but am not familiar with the product.
Nite Hawk