Calf sucking air into belly while bottle feeding/dummy calf

[Danni eggeling]

Hi all,

I have a 3 day old Hereford/Angus cross heifer. She was removed from cow at 24hrs as she was weak. On closer inspection I would maybe believe her to be a dummy calf. While she hates having the bottle put in her mouth she will drink for short periods of twenty seconds or so and need a break. She has abnormally excessive gut sounds and while drinking it sounds like she is gulping air at the same time. She urinates frequently. Has a lot of gas and is always wet from the. Corners of her lips to under her jaw. It is not milk. I tried a rope squeeze technique some improvement but still struggling. She drank 1.4litres over three feeds yesterday and 1.6 + 300mls of electrolyte mix today. Thanks for any input

 

[branguscowgirl]

Have you looked in her mouth to see if she has a cleft palette?

 

[Danni eggeling]

I have inspectected and everything looks normal. But what are some indicators I should be looking for. TIA

 

[branguscowgirl]

With a cleft palette there is a hole in the roof of their mouth that opens into their sinus. It should be pretty obvious if you feel or look up there. When they try to nurse they may not get a good suction, and you could sometimes see milk come out their nose. They will usually end up with aspiration pneumonia from getting milk in their lungs. You can google and see some pictures.
I really don't know if that's your calfs problem, I am just trying to come up with some ideas for you to rule out.
Hopefully some of the folks that raise a lot of bottle calves will chime in.

 

[branguscowgirl]

Can she suck your fingers ok?