bottle calves for newbies

[jborders]

A friend of mine has been raising bottle calves for years and he is the one that told me to use pepto.
And yes they both had consistent diarhea, very runny and yellow. I called our vet and he gave me two shots to give them and now they're both eating like, well, cows

 

[shorty]

That's good just keep an eye on them , keep checking their temps just to make sure everthing is okay.

 

[preston39]

MM,
Excellent.

Jen,
We do 6-9 bottle calves a year from the commercial and registered herds......for various reasons.
One of the most important items is the amount of milk you give them. If we error...it is on the LESS side, with gradual increases. Once they take the bottle some will over eat, if you let them and the results is not good.(A calf on a mom who is not a heavy milker...perhaps 10/12 on the EPD rating(19+/-...Angus avg EPD)...will keep nursing and hunching when the milk is finished....vs...a heavy milker...(i.e 26 EPD) where the calf will finish and maybe go back in a few seconds for a little more...but does not finish the milk available. Our experience is that this calf is most often the scours type.
Make sure that mouth/nose is up with neck stretched. I am not sure I understand why but the alternative ...with head level/down...is not good. The first gauge we use is;... the ears should be touching or horizontially level with the top of the neck behind the head...at least. (Watch a natural nursing calf to see the upward position the calf gets into. Often they will sway down/slanted backwards to get the head into a upward tilt position....the amount of tilt..depends on the height of mom/udder and calf). The top of the nipple/cap/bottle rim should be pressing on the nose...is another gauge. If you will note ...the more pressure you put on the rim against the nose....the more he will tilt up his head.....generally.

Additional thoughts...FWTW.

 

[preston39]

Thank you for your great post. That helps us green horns out a bunch. Thanks milkmaid! Just had a cow reject her calf and I'm scrambling to save this little bugger. I'm sure i have made many mistakes but its not from lack of trying. People like you giving your knowledge out for free after hours of sweat, blood and the hard work is really appreciated.

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If mom has milk...put her in the head catcher and make her let him nurse.(check for any abnormal udder conditions) If she kicks place a large cotton rope/strap just below/touching the udder in front of her back legs. Tie it off. Give her a treat while in the catcher. Some soy hulls will works. Do that first and while she is eating introduce the calf. Usually, 3/4 days (2x each) will get them to accept the calf.

 

[Dixieangus]

well my calf died monday and i got another calf and put him and mom in the stall and she took him without hesitation.thank the lord for good cows

 

[allritecoach]

How many bottle calves would you put in an 8' by 8' (16' hog panel bent into an L shape) pen? I have an old pole shed with 12' by 54' concrete pen and I was wondering how may calves I could put in it.

 

[sarah]

I read through the whole thread and found it very informative. Thank you.

I couldn't find anything about when to introduce grain/ration to their diet? I bought calf starter coarse mix ration, on the label it states from 1 week old on..? She will be two weeks the end of this week and I want to do things right. Any ideas?

 

[dun]

I read through the whole thread and found it very informative. Thank you.

I couldn't find anything about when to introduce grain/ration to their diet? I bought calf starter coarse mix ration, on the label it states from 1 week old on..? She will be two weeks the end of this week and I want to do things right. Any ideas?

We used to have the calf starter in front of them starting from day one. They wouldn;t eat much if any for a couple of days but curiosity would get them and they would at least start nibbling at it within the first week or so. So, put it in front of it now. Small amounts and keep it freshened up.

 

[sarah]

Brilliant, thank you! I got so much conflicting advice from friends and vets - it was slightly driving me around the bend! I'll offer some to her now and will keep it freshened up!

 

[dun]

Brilliant, thank you! I got so much conflicting advice from friends and vets - it was slightly driving me around the bend! I'll offer some to her now and will keep it freshened up!

If she isn;t into it pretty well after a week or so you might want to poke some in her mouth after she finishes her bottle. Sometimes works, sometimes doesn;t

 

[regolith]

I had to convert to metric, but I'd hazard a guess that shed would hold 40 max, the pen four, till no more than 3 - 4 weeks of age.

Be interesting to see what others think.

Dun is right re grain. Put it in front of them as early as you like and they'll eat it as they need it and when they've learned that it's food.

 

[larryshoat]

Rego's about right on the money, I figure about 15 square feet per calf.

Larry

 

[sarah]

If she isn;t into it pretty well after a week or so you might want to poke some in her mouth after she finishes her bottle. Sometimes works, sometimes doesn;t

Good advice, she is eating it now after I stuffed some in her mouth after the bottle. She loves it now.

 

[chulhee]

Spammer

 

[adashky]

I have a 21 day old heifer that I have been treating for a navel infection for a week. I have been having to tube feed her for that long. She won't go to the cow and I can't get her to take a bottle. Any suggestions on how to get her on a bottle until she will go back to the cow?
Thanks!

 

[Suzie Q]

I would say lift the head up so as she has to put her mouth up to reach the teat of the bottle. Put the teat in the mouth and squeeze so as milk goes in her mouth. You might have to do this for quite a while. Say 10 minutes till they get the idea.

Good luck.

 

[adashky]

I would say lift the head up so as she has to put her mouth up to reach the teat of the bottle. Put the teat in the mouth and squeeze so as milk goes in her mouth. You might have to do this for quite a while. Say 10 minutes till they get the idea.

Good luck.

I took a 1 quart bottle to her at 1:00 this afternoon and worked with her for 15 minutes. I squeezed her jaws, rubbed her neck, had my daughter rub her back end with a wet wash cloth. After 15 mins all that was gone from the bottle was 1/2 pint and I would say most of ended up on the floor.....after it ran down my hand!

 

[Suzie Q]

I just read in the other thread that you have the calf in with the cow and that she can walk. You have no idea how much milk she is getting by herself. If she is getting milk from the cow, she will not be thirsty and will not drink from a bottle no matter how much you try.

 

[Chuckie]

Excellent post Milkmaid. Nice to have before hand when that bottle baby arrives.
Chuckie

 

[hayray]

I have a calf that is about 6 days old now, got caught in a cold rain a couple days ago and looked pretty weak. The next day I tubed it and put it in the barn. I saw when it was born it was up and trying to nurse, not sure if it actually got any colostrum. Anyways, got momma tied up and put the calf on a teat, it had no urge at all to suckle, took about 10 minutes to get it to, but it will not pick up the end of the teat on its own, just nuzzles around the bag and suckles on everything else. It is strong enough now while it is out on pasture to walk up and stick it's head into between the hind legs and suckle the vestigal teats, no way it grabs ahold of the big ones. So I am still tubing it twice a day because it sure don't act very strong so I don't think it is getting much milk. How long should I give this calf before I just need to pull it out of pasture and treat it as a bottle calf?