Hello! I'm bottle feeding a Red Angus heifer, eight days old today. We've raised orphans before, but it's been over ten years since we've raised one from birth. I'll give some background on her first.
Her momma died after a rough labor; she was one of our pet cows, sweetest in the herd, only ten years old, but in poor condition due to the drought despite our best efforts. Baby is also a bit larger than her calves normally are. She was 3 to 5 hours old when we found her; energetic, bawling, and still messy from the birth. She got one single serve bag of powdered colostrum asap that evening (all we had), and took to the bottle faster than I've ever seen before- absolutely no hesitation. We tried a cow who had a two day old calf, but the cow flat out refused to have anything to do with her. Bratty Brangus. So, baby is living in a snug pen in our front yard, with much supervised romping in the yard itself. I don't trust her alone out there until her brain grows in (after three weeks, at least!).
The next two days after colostrum, baby had a 4 pint bottle of milk replacer (22% protein) twice a day. Due to a cold front and early freeze, I also gave her a bottle with about half the usual milk replacer around one a.m. on those days; mostly warm water. Since then (last six days), she's had two bottles a day, sometimes with a half bottle of warm water as a chaser, or half a bottle with less than a quarter of the usual milk replacer around noon. One day she got an extra bottle due to miscommunication, with no ill effects. She's got a fantastic appetite. Pushiest, most determined heifer I've ever fed. Even the twins we raised years ago didn't cover me in THIS much calf slobber! Yesterday, I started shoving some calf starter pellets in her mouth after bottles; first time we've ever used calf starter. She's drinking water on her own, a bit. She's bouncy, energetic, makes strafing runs at our dogs (poor things are very confused by this) when we let her out in the yard, kicks up her heels an' all, addicted to having her ears rubbed, an' is shiny an' bright eyed. Sounds fantastic, right? But I'm paranoid. We've had really good luck with orphan calves, and I don't want to screw that up. Her momma was very dear to us.
My concerns:
Her breathing seems too fast when she's lying down, and, for the first three or four days, she'd raise her upper lip a bit, wrinkle her nose, and breath through her mouth a little. The other calves around her age won't let me get close enough to look at 'em while they're lying down. (They're with the herd.) It's slowed some now, but still seems touch fast. It isn't noisy; no wheezing, no snot, everything sounds normal. A few coughs, but nothing chronic or worrisome. One sneeze when she shoved her nose into her hay nest a bit too far. Should I be worried about her rate of respiration? Or wait an' do the worrying if she starts wheezing, coughing, and doing various bad breathing things?
She grinds her teeth. I didn't think anything of it- I've been grinding mine in my sleep since I was a baby, why shouldn't a calf do it?- until I saw some posts here about it being a sign of pain or stress. She doesn't seem to be in pain or stressed. I found lots of "grinding means pain" posts, and one post about calves seeming to chew "invisible" cud. That's really what this looks like. She lies down, gets the thoughtful cud chewing expression, and sounds like she has a mouthful of gravel. She doesn't do it standing up, or all the time lying down. Anyone have experience with something similar?
Her poop has been everything you could want in bottle calf poop; not a sign of scours, looks and smells just like milk replacer poop should (icky!). Until today, she'd been pooping at least once a day, and often twice. She hasn't pooped since 9 p.m. Monday night. I rubbed her rear with a warm cloth for a bit; got some gas, but nothing else. She hadn't had gas to speak of until we started pellets yesterday...or I just wasn't paying as much attention to it. She doesn't look bloated, or seem uncomfortable. It doesn't seem like such a small amount would make a difference, but maybe it's the addition of the pellets slowing down the poop schedule? At what point should I worry about lack of poop?
Last, her appetite. She butts, mehs, slobbers, and generally makes a pest of herself for the first five minutes we're within reach, and for at least ten minutes after a bottle, if we stay nearby. I know bottle calves tend towards that sort of thing, but this is extreme compared to previous experiences. I'm worried that she isn't getting enough. She's 65 to 70 pounds, getting a gallon of milk replacer a day between the two feedings, has a little bit of mineral block, a bit of calf starter to contemplate, hay and grass to sniff an' ponder, and a bucket of water...she's fine, right? Probably more than fine. Probably end up a spoiled rotten cow, and I'll fondly remember the days of pushy little baby calf. Logically, looking at the numbers, I know she's getting plenty, so consider me a guilt tripped sucker looking for reassurance. Is giving her a half bottle of warm water after the real bottle, or a half bottle with a touch of milk replacer at midday, an issue? We've done it with others, but not this young. And, since we haven't used calf starter before, will the extra water bottles interfere with her appetite and getting her interested in the starter? She doesn't seem to think it makes a difference to her belly, heh.
And, of course, any general advice would be welcome. "Don't give in to the guilt tripping calf" can't be said often enough. *grin*
Thanks for reading, and thanks for being here. I've worked with cows for most of my life, and I know there's always something new and surprising to learn. Reading these boards the last couple days has been entertaining and educational!
-Ori
Her momma died after a rough labor; she was one of our pet cows, sweetest in the herd, only ten years old, but in poor condition due to the drought despite our best efforts. Baby is also a bit larger than her calves normally are. She was 3 to 5 hours old when we found her; energetic, bawling, and still messy from the birth. She got one single serve bag of powdered colostrum asap that evening (all we had), and took to the bottle faster than I've ever seen before- absolutely no hesitation. We tried a cow who had a two day old calf, but the cow flat out refused to have anything to do with her. Bratty Brangus. So, baby is living in a snug pen in our front yard, with much supervised romping in the yard itself. I don't trust her alone out there until her brain grows in (after three weeks, at least!).
The next two days after colostrum, baby had a 4 pint bottle of milk replacer (22% protein) twice a day. Due to a cold front and early freeze, I also gave her a bottle with about half the usual milk replacer around one a.m. on those days; mostly warm water. Since then (last six days), she's had two bottles a day, sometimes with a half bottle of warm water as a chaser, or half a bottle with less than a quarter of the usual milk replacer around noon. One day she got an extra bottle due to miscommunication, with no ill effects. She's got a fantastic appetite. Pushiest, most determined heifer I've ever fed. Even the twins we raised years ago didn't cover me in THIS much calf slobber! Yesterday, I started shoving some calf starter pellets in her mouth after bottles; first time we've ever used calf starter. She's drinking water on her own, a bit. She's bouncy, energetic, makes strafing runs at our dogs (poor things are very confused by this) when we let her out in the yard, kicks up her heels an' all, addicted to having her ears rubbed, an' is shiny an' bright eyed. Sounds fantastic, right? But I'm paranoid. We've had really good luck with orphan calves, and I don't want to screw that up. Her momma was very dear to us.
My concerns:
Her breathing seems too fast when she's lying down, and, for the first three or four days, she'd raise her upper lip a bit, wrinkle her nose, and breath through her mouth a little. The other calves around her age won't let me get close enough to look at 'em while they're lying down. (They're with the herd.) It's slowed some now, but still seems touch fast. It isn't noisy; no wheezing, no snot, everything sounds normal. A few coughs, but nothing chronic or worrisome. One sneeze when she shoved her nose into her hay nest a bit too far. Should I be worried about her rate of respiration? Or wait an' do the worrying if she starts wheezing, coughing, and doing various bad breathing things?
She grinds her teeth. I didn't think anything of it- I've been grinding mine in my sleep since I was a baby, why shouldn't a calf do it?- until I saw some posts here about it being a sign of pain or stress. She doesn't seem to be in pain or stressed. I found lots of "grinding means pain" posts, and one post about calves seeming to chew "invisible" cud. That's really what this looks like. She lies down, gets the thoughtful cud chewing expression, and sounds like she has a mouthful of gravel. She doesn't do it standing up, or all the time lying down. Anyone have experience with something similar?
Her poop has been everything you could want in bottle calf poop; not a sign of scours, looks and smells just like milk replacer poop should (icky!). Until today, she'd been pooping at least once a day, and often twice. She hasn't pooped since 9 p.m. Monday night. I rubbed her rear with a warm cloth for a bit; got some gas, but nothing else. She hadn't had gas to speak of until we started pellets yesterday...or I just wasn't paying as much attention to it. She doesn't look bloated, or seem uncomfortable. It doesn't seem like such a small amount would make a difference, but maybe it's the addition of the pellets slowing down the poop schedule? At what point should I worry about lack of poop?
Last, her appetite. She butts, mehs, slobbers, and generally makes a pest of herself for the first five minutes we're within reach, and for at least ten minutes after a bottle, if we stay nearby. I know bottle calves tend towards that sort of thing, but this is extreme compared to previous experiences. I'm worried that she isn't getting enough. She's 65 to 70 pounds, getting a gallon of milk replacer a day between the two feedings, has a little bit of mineral block, a bit of calf starter to contemplate, hay and grass to sniff an' ponder, and a bucket of water...she's fine, right? Probably more than fine. Probably end up a spoiled rotten cow, and I'll fondly remember the days of pushy little baby calf. Logically, looking at the numbers, I know she's getting plenty, so consider me a guilt tripped sucker looking for reassurance. Is giving her a half bottle of warm water after the real bottle, or a half bottle with a touch of milk replacer at midday, an issue? We've done it with others, but not this young. And, since we haven't used calf starter before, will the extra water bottles interfere with her appetite and getting her interested in the starter? She doesn't seem to think it makes a difference to her belly, heh.
And, of course, any general advice would be welcome. "Don't give in to the guilt tripping calf" can't be said often enough. *grin*
Thanks for reading, and thanks for being here. I've worked with cows for most of my life, and I know there's always something new and surprising to learn. Reading these boards the last couple days has been entertaining and educational!
-Ori
