Any suggestions on getting a Brahman calf to suck a bottle. She is two weeks old, and we are still 'drenching' her. She refused to take bottle. Her mother's teats were too large for her to suck. This is my 4th Brahman calf I've had trouble with, but not like this. Guess what is going to the sale in the fall!
Brahman calf
- Thread starter Rusty2025
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bigbull338
Well-known member
will the calf suck your fingers.an is the calf drinking any water or eating any grain or hay.id send that cow to the sale now.no reason to hold her till fall.Rusty2025":2q92fgld said:
she will barely suck my fingers. will not drink water. I'm holding the cow to sell with others -- I live in a area where there are no Brahmans - and no pasture because of lack of rain. The little calf gets up and around, and goes to the fence where the other cattle are, and I saw her trying to suck on a cows face. I believe she is stubborn.
bigbull338
Well-known member
well brimmers can be real stubborn.do you have a cow with a calf thats about the same age as the calf your having probs with.if so id get her up.put her in the chute an see if you cant get the calf to suck her.Rusty2025":1dpv8moj said:
I have a cow with a 6 weeks ole calf and the calf would probably suck her, but I don't have any help right now, and getting a cow in the chute would be a major for me - to say nothing of trying to get the calf to the barn. I'm sorta stuck with the bottle right at this time - or with the tube feeding, as it is. I have raised calves on the bottle before, just never had one that absolutely refused to take it. She is also eating dirt and grinding her teeth. Guess I should have let her die when I found her, but I've been working on her for 13 days and just can't give up now......
bigbull338
Well-known member
put out some feed for her to eat an try that.but never give up on a calf.keep fighting to get her bottle broke.Rusty2025":31n0uuqy said:
rosebudbeef
Member
I have done this successfully..... several times... Stand behind the calf with the bottle, bend over the calf's back of neck and head, cup the calf's mouth around the nipple and lean into the calf head (like covering it's eyes) :shock: and your arm is wrapped around it's neck. you may need another person if you can't get it cornered. It's hard to explain but kind of give it a "hug" around the head and keep it's mouth clamped around the nipple. The calf should start. ;-)
I had a brahman 2 years ago .... same thing and now she is a MAMA Brahman and doing a great job. Hope this helps.
I had a brahman 2 years ago .... same thing and now she is a MAMA Brahman and doing a great job. Hope this helps.
brahmans have a bad reputation for being dumb suckers. still, four is kind of a lot. if these calves are related i might consider selling the bull. if not, nevermind.
some diseases can result in dumb suckers as can mineral deficiencies.
this case sounds like a case of poor udder quality. better start culling for that a little better.
assuming the calf is healthy enough, let it get a little hungry before the next time you feed it.
some other tricks to try include coating the nipple with sugar. supposedly they dont like the texture and will try to get it off their tongue and wind up sucking...
or you could try putting syrup or something sweet that will taste good on the nipple.
having said all this, like someone else said, brahmans are stubborn! you will probably just have to keep on until it clicks, however long that takes. good luck.
some diseases can result in dumb suckers as can mineral deficiencies.
this case sounds like a case of poor udder quality. better start culling for that a little better.
assuming the calf is healthy enough, let it get a little hungry before the next time you feed it.
some other tricks to try include coating the nipple with sugar. supposedly they dont like the texture and will try to get it off their tongue and wind up sucking...
or you could try putting syrup or something sweet that will taste good on the nipple.
having said all this, like someone else said, brahmans are stubborn! you will probably just have to keep on until it clicks, however long that takes. good luck.
Thanks for all the replies. I was wondering if the grinding of the teeth wasn't a sign of pain - maybe she does have intestinal problems. Yesterday pm, she was up and moving about - during the night, she scoured ,all over my garage. I really doubt she lives - and the herd is going to be culled in about a month. The calves I have lost are all related, two were first born, with one of them freezing to death after the heffier refused to nurse it - even tho I had it in the barn with hay all around it...the two others - never saw one of them, the other just died. It is definitely time to do some culling but I have raised all of these Brahmans from birth so they are sorta like family. As you might imagine - I am a unmarried old woman that thinks the Brahman are pets -- the rest of the commercial cows, I could care less about and never have any trouble with them.
My herd bull is 7 or 8, weighs a ton and is a beautiful speciman - I have sold all the servicable bulls from the herd, but have kept most of the females - time to get rid of several, probably the bull too.
thanks again for the answers..
My herd bull is 7 or 8, weighs a ton and is a beautiful speciman - I have sold all the servicable bulls from the herd, but have kept most of the females - time to get rid of several, probably the bull too.
thanks again for the answers..
This is the second go 'round with the scours. Had it stopped, and then last night it let go again. I am beginning to believe that the response of perhaps bvd might be right. Really don't know, because all of my cattle have been here since birth, or soon after - my Brahmans' were all born here - the commercial cows have been here for many years.
Does anyone use probios? or however it is spelled?
Does anyone use probios? or however it is spelled?
This works on some dumb suckers .Get her neck between your legs & put the nipple in her mouth and slide your finger under neath it and kinda squish the nipple to the roof of her mouth so milk come out with one hand and hold her chin with the other hand . By the way go in from the side of her mouth when you do this and make sure you keep her head down so the milk doesnt go down wrong. This has worked pretty good for me . If you do it a few times they will catch on pretty quick.
its possible. if the cows mean that much to you it might be worth calling the vet out and having a few tests run to find out for sure what you are dealing with. it could be something easy to fix, or something hard. could just be crappy luck but i think i'm the only one that gets that.
Beefy - I think it might be just crappy luck. The commercial cows pop calves out, no problems. Four of the Brahman cows have calved, no problem.....This little gal, I don't know.
Milkmaid - I am using a packaged milk substitute that has scour medicine in it, and a bolis for scours. She was fine until yesterday - I mixed some electorlites in her formula - just wondering if that could have caused a reoccurance of the scours.
I am wondering if she might not need some minerals, eventho the milk stuff is full of different things - she eats dirt, which would make me tend to believe she is definitely missing something.
I like the term 'dumb suckers' - never heard it before, at least not used in the bovine language.....
Appreciate everyone's suggestions - she is still alive - 2 weeks today.
Milkmaid - I am using a packaged milk substitute that has scour medicine in it, and a bolis for scours. She was fine until yesterday - I mixed some electorlites in her formula - just wondering if that could have caused a reoccurance of the scours.
I am wondering if she might not need some minerals, eventho the milk stuff is full of different things - she eats dirt, which would make me tend to believe she is definitely missing something.
I like the term 'dumb suckers' - never heard it before, at least not used in the bovine language.....
Appreciate everyone's suggestions - she is still alive - 2 weeks today.
novatech
Well-known member
I had the same problem with a brahman calf.
An old timer gave me the dumbest suggestion I thought I ever heard. Take a hand full of suggar a stuff it in its mouth and right away put the nipple in behind it. The calf worked its tongue trying to get rid of the sugar and in the process got milk. It sucked down the bottle in seconds. That night I did it one more time and thereafter was no problem. Take a bucket of water with you to wash off the sugar salava goo off your hands. I tried this on another calf and it did not work. With that calf I took an old nipple and inlarged the hole. Be careful you can drown them. If they start sucking change out to a normal nipple. Good luck.
An old timer gave me the dumbest suggestion I thought I ever heard. Take a hand full of suggar a stuff it in its mouth and right away put the nipple in behind it. The calf worked its tongue trying to get rid of the sugar and in the process got milk. It sucked down the bottle in seconds. That night I did it one more time and thereafter was no problem. Take a bucket of water with you to wash off the sugar salava goo off your hands. I tried this on another calf and it did not work. With that calf I took an old nipple and inlarged the hole. Be careful you can drown them. If they start sucking change out to a normal nipple. Good luck.
I'll try the sugar tonight. She abslutely refuses to suck. I have a soft lamb nipple with a slightly large hole that I can get the stuff down her, but that is no way for either of us....I'll let ya know. She came up today and put her head in my lap - how could I resist!!
