Bottle Calf that coughes after taking bottle question?

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cramz1973

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I have 2 bottle calves that I have been bottle feeding for 3 months I do plan to wean them in the coming weeks but I have a concern about 1. She has always coughed some after taking her bottle I felt like she drank it too fast. As she has gotten older she coughes more after her bottles now to the point she stops drinking and stand with her mouth open breathing heavy for a bit then she will be ok. I called and talked to a vet tech she told me that I should try a nipple with a smaller hole and thought that would fix problem. So I tried that last night and 1/2 way through bottle I thought it was helping but then she started the coughing again. My concern is I was told it could cause pneumonia so that really concerns me. I also tried to feed them milk out of a pan the one with the problem wouldn't drink it out of pan. Any ideas on what I should do I am stumped? Also both calves have access to hay 24/7 and grass and I feed them calf grower twice a day. Problem is they sometimes they eat all there feed some time hardly any. Is there anything I can do to get them to eat grain better? If I do wean sooner than later can I sprinkle the milk replacer over there grain? I hate to waste it. Thanks any advice would help.
 
First if you been feeding for three months they should be weaned already. Do they have any other symptoms besides coughing ?
 
I know most wean at 8 weeks but the researched I found said that they will be better cows if kept on bottle longer. So my plans were to feed regular bottles this week then next week cut back to 1 bottle then the coming week completely off bottles. No other symptoms that I see. Thank you.
 
Its aspirating milk when it drinks. You could try changing the angle of the bottle, but I would personally just put it in a bucket instead. He will either get the hang of it, or wean himself. The former is more likely in my personal experience.

Try mixing some sweet feed with the calf starter, they usually are real fond of those molasses.

Yes, you can sprinkle the milk replacer on his grain. Not sure if the nutritional absorption is the same as drinking it, but they do like it.
Someone else may be able to answer the nutrition question.

A calf on the cow doesn't get weaned til its 6 months old or so. Keeping them on replacer longer is expensive, but can help reduce the chances for that hay belly usually associated with bottle calves.
 
CottageFarm thank you that is what the vet tech told me that she was aspirating milk. I don't want her to get sick from it so I guess I should just try to get her to drink out of bucket. I doubt she will I have tried it twice the other one that doesn't have that problem she will drink out of bucket no problem. I wanted to wean gradually but with her like you said she may have to wean herself if she wont drink out of bucket. I am keeping these girls for nurse cows so I want them to have a good start. I would love to be able to keep them on milk replacer longer but just cant afford much more. I just want them to be eating grain better. I have other calves that will almost run you over to get to grain not these girls.
 
cramz.. You are raising those bottle calves with the intention of making them nurse calves ? With the time effort and milk etc you are paying to raise those bottle calves you could have bought a nurse calf ready to go now if you pencil out your costs as CB would say. In actually if you are raising the calves thinking it will be cheaper this may cost you two times more in the long run.
 
chances are pretty good that after a day or two she will drink from the bucket. Is she drinking water on her own? (I don't want to assume anything :) ) Some calves just take a little longer to decide the bucket of milk is a good as the bottle.
Is she eating sufficient amounts of starter (3ish %) if she does end up weaning herself? The risks with the aspiration are moderately low, but they do exist, that's why I would go with the bucket method if she were mine.
 
Skyhightree1 no I really didn't buy them with the thought they would be cheaper in the long run. I wanted to get calves from someone I knew and this was a local farmer and he sells them at a really good price so these calves were bought at a substantially lower price than market. Also wanted to raise them up myself. But the milk replacer I have bought for these calves for the last 3 months still is cheaper than purchasing 2 full grown nurse cows. But cost is not the question here I am needing help on the issue the one calf is having, thank you.

CottageFarm thank you I think I will continue to try to get her to drink out of a bucket. Thank you.
 
cramz1973":297fo7km said:
Skyhightree1 no I really didn't buy them with the thought they would be cheaper in the long run. I wanted to get calves from someone I knew and this was a local farmer and he sells them at a really good price so these calves were bought at a substantially lower price than market. Also wanted to raise them up myself. But the milk replacer I have bought for these calves for the last 3 months still is cheaper than purchasing 2 full grown nurse cows. But cost is not the question here I am needing help on the issue the one calf is having, thank you.

Nice Tude that will get you real far. I am sorry I thought maybe you wanted to run a profitable business not hoard cattle as pets. :tiphat: BTW when you look at your costs you don't just look at the feed costs as part of what makes them cheaper there's many other variables you need to consider. If you think just because the milk replacer is cheaper than buying 2 full grown nurse cows. Good Luck. You will need it. Don't worry about me answering any of your questions or giving suggestions cause you will probably be another that makes 30 posts then vanishes for good. :wave:
 
skyhightree1":2t8tuxd6 said:
Nice Tude that will get you real far. I am sorry I thought maybe you wanted to run a profitable business not hoard cattle as pets.
Who Peed in your cherios this morning?
 
I decide there is a lot of helpful people here and I wont let others run me off. I come here to learn and I am ok with constructive criticism but I think that way beyond that. Just an update last night notice calf was breathing heavier than normal and coughing some when she wasn't taking bottle. We gave her a shot of Baytril 100 and got her to drink the milk out of a pan with some work. She took it out of a pan this morning with some work coughs much less that way. But hopefully I can get her to drink it on her own soon out of pan. I planned to give both of them milk twice a day this week and weekend and my plans are to take away 1 serving a day next week and then the following week completely off milk. With her fighting this I don't want to stress her body by taking milk away this week. I hope the drinking out of plan verse the bottle will help. These are my thoughts. Question does anybody know or suggest a good calf grower my calves don't seem to like the kind I get too well?
 
Cramz1973 I would love to be able to help you, but I am just not qualified to do so when it comes to bottle calves. I have not had one in years. There are many helpful people here that I am hoping will chime in on calf starter for you. To me it sounds like you are on the right track. You are treating for a respiratory infection, and weaning from the milk.

I just wanted to say that there are going to be many different veiw points expressed here, so please do not let one negative comment run you off. Everyone has different goals, and they should be respected not belittled. :(

Good luck with your calves, and don't disappear. :D
 
A helpful tip someone posted a while back was to put a serving of milk powder in zip lock bags and put in freezer it will keep there. I freeze my partial bags as is. Wean the calves slowly off milk but don't forget to increase grain to recommended amounts. Some times people get scours of the mouth you just have to move on .
 
Cramz - There are some people that have pmed me that I have a great respect for that think I was too harsh on you. I took your response to me trying to help you and point things out appeared as an attitude. Many times when posting things can get misconstrued since it is typing and you can't hear a tone in someone's voice. I would like to apologize to you and hope that you have great success in whatever you are trying to do. I raise bottle calves and had a calf that did that in the beginning and had like a dry croup like cough and it turned out vet said it was getting pneumonia. I didn't have good drugs then and it died. This may help you

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=22178
 
M-5 thank you good ideas and part of my problem of weaning is they aren't eating the recommended amount of grain not because its not given to them they will just eat some and walk off but I think it is because they have access to hay and grass all day.

skyhightree1 thank you and I appreciate the apology. I am sorry if the message sounded as if I was getting an attitude I didn't intend for it to because I know everyone has different ways of doing things. I have no problem getting past this thank you for you information. This was the case with this calf also that evening after I posted I decided she was getting pneumonia so we gave her a shot of Baytril 100 and have since been trying to get her to drink out of a pan or bucket she will if we place the nipple in it and get her started that way. She seem better today and a lot less coughing when she drinks her milk. We are heading toward weaning next week we will be taking 1 milk serving away next week.
 
cramz1973":1rpizoat said:
M-5 thank you good ideas and part of my problem of weaning is they aren't eating the recommended amount of grain not because its not given to them they will just eat some and walk off but I think it is because they have access to hay and grass all day.

skyhightree1 thank you and I appreciate the apology. I am sorry if the message sounded as if I was getting an attitude I didn't intend for it to because I know everyone has different ways of doing things. I have no problem getting past this thank you for you information. This was the case with this calf also that evening after I posted I decided she was getting pneumonia so we gave her a shot of Baytril 100 and have since been trying to get her to drink out of a pan or bucket she will if we place the nipple in it and get her started that way. She seem better today and a lot less coughing when she drinks her milk. We are heading toward weaning next week we will be taking 1 milk serving away next week.

This is just what I would do id give 3 rounds of baytril.
 

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