Calf not eating as normal...opinions requested

[gulfso]

Have a 3 week old bottle baby. Mom would not take her and we got some colostrum (2 qts) in her at about 16 hrs old..Been doing wonderful until Friday evening. She only drank 1 qt of milk. We were concerned that she might be getting sick so we gave her 3 ml of LA200. Saturday morning she drank 3 qts of milk, gave her 15 units of probios and 1.5 ml of B complex. Saturday evening she would not drink milk but drank some water. Sunday morning drank almost 3 qt milk. temps are not too bad (80's so I don't think heat is a problem.) Using the Nutrena dairyway milk replacer and she has been on 4 qts each morning and afternoon for over 2 weeks now.

 

[milkmaid]

4 quarts twice a day? How big is this calf? IMO, I'd cut her back to 1 to 1 1/2 gallons per day unless you want to feed milk until she's 300lbs. It's hard to get them to eat grain (and then, weaned) when they're full of milk.

FWIW, the standard LA200 dose is 4.5mL/100lbs... the minimum I usually give to a calf of any size is 5mL. She may just be full and limit-feeding herself, or she may be getting sick; if she is sick you'll need to treat more aggressively.

Also, as I recall, the dose for B-complex is 5mL minimum as well for calves, 1-2mL/100lbs for mature cows... check the bottle.

 

[gulfso]

Tonight she drank about 1 qt. Should we give her the rest of the dosage or wait and give another complete dose? Her stool is a little runny but not bad or not scouring. It has little clumps of something in it (resembles a hair ball) the yellow look appears normal for bottle milk.

 

[milkmaid]

What's her attitude? lethargic? Different pathogens result in different types of scours... some cause very runny diahreaa but the calf acts fine, others the manure will look normal but the calf is and looks half-dead. Depends on how and where the pathogen attacks the calf internally.

IMO I'd give B-complex, electrolytes, and a full dose of LA200 tonight, and follow with electrolytes and/or probiotics in the morning. See if that doesn't turn her around within 24 hours. Sometimes I use sulfa tablets orally too as I prefer to hit scours both systemically and orally as opposed to just one route.

 

[gulfso]

Attitude is good. Other than not eating normally you would not think anything is wrong. I feed re-sorb this morning and she drank the whole bottle and 1/2 bottle of milk and then she stopped. Not quite as aggressive eating but still pretty good.

 

[Alice]

Have you started the calf on any kind of dry calf feed? Also, does she have access to hay? And water...how much water is she drinking? And, the probios...have you continued to give her probios?

I, personally, don't think too much of LA200, but lots of folks have success with it.

Alice

 

[gulfso]

Still have a little bit of grass (something greenish anyway) so no hay. Dry feed has been there for older calf and she kinda of plays with it but not observed her eating it as yet.

Did another feeding of re-sorb yesterday and she sucked that down along with about a qt of milk. Have not gave anymore probios after the 15 on Saturday AM.

This morning she drank a bottle and half of milk and still seemed hungry so maybe she is getting her appetite back. I added some corn syrup to the milk to make it a little more tasteful so maybe she is like us and tired of the same thing everyday...lol

 

[Saltydawg]

My first thought was exactly what milkmaid said..." 4qts twice a day??"

My bottle babies get 2 qts in the morning and 2 in the evening and I try to get them on starter grain as soon as possible.

They seem to start on the grain a little better if they're still a little hungry. 8 qts of milk replacer in a day isnt gonna leave room for much else and would certainly kill their appetite in my opinion.

 

[gulfso]

I cut her back a bit and she is wide open again. Either the suggestions worked or she healed herself. Still eating a bottle and half each morning and each evening and beginning to eat some dry feed. The 2 bottle per day are the suggested rates from the bag directions. I am adding a little extra milk replacer to each bottle though

 

[milkmaid]

I have yet to run across a bag of milk replacer that advises more than 1 gallon/hd/day for calves. Maybe it says 2 QUARTS twice a day?