Calf that wont suck

[zippygirlchick]

Hi I am new here, i'm 18 years old and i've been around cattle my whole life, we have just encountered a problem with a calf. We thought the calf had sucked and she was born on a very very cold morning. so when my dad went to feed he seen how weak she was so he brought her home, i tube fed her and she wont suck a bottle. she can get up and lay down and walk a little. she is blind in one eye so she walks in circles a lot. she tries so hard to suck but cant get her tounge in the right spot. We dont know what to do with her we dont want to tube feed. we just want her to suck. she poops and pees when rubbed and she does when i tube feed her. she moves her tounge all over the place. she is getting stronger and is starting to fight back now. We dont know what else to do. we have tried lambs nipples and regular calf nipples. please help. any suggestions would be great.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Welcome to the world of cattle you most likely have a dummy calf happens from time to time.
Tube it and if you can keep it alive they usually go to sucking.

 

[KNERSIE]

Hi I am new here, i'm 18 years old and i've been around cattle my whole life, we have just encountered a problem with a calf. We thought the calf had sucked and she was born on a very very cold morning. so when my dad went to feed he seen how weak she was so he brought her home, i tube fed her and she wont suck a bottle. she can get up and lay down and walk a little. she is blind in one eye so she walks in circles a lot. she tries so hard to suck but cant get her tounge in the right spot. We dont know what to do with her we dont want to tube feed. we just want her to suck. she poops and pees when rubbed and she does when i tube feed her. she moves her tounge all over the place. she is getting stronger and is starting to fight back now. We dont know what else to do. we have tried lambs nipples and regular calf nipples. please help. any suggestions would be great.

I also had one this last season. When put on the cow and while holding its head it would suckle, as soon as I took my hand away the calf don't seem to have the coordination to keeps it head still and keep sucking. After three weeks I've given up and put it out of its misery.

That made me wonder, can a dummy calf also be genetic or is it always a case of oxygen deprivation during birth? In my case it was a very quick and easy birth and although anything is possible I didn't think the calf was ever deprived of oxygen.

 

[milkmaid]

The calf in question is blind in one eye as well? sounds like it may have more going on than just the typical "dummy calf" syndrome.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Hi I am new here, i'm 18 years old and i've been around cattle my whole life, we have just encountered a problem with a calf. We thought the calf had sucked and she was born on a very very cold morning. so when my dad went to feed he seen how weak she was so he brought her home, i tube fed her and she wont suck a bottle. she can get up and lay down and walk a little. she is blind in one eye so she walks in circles a lot. she tries so hard to suck but cant get her tounge in the right spot. We dont know what to do with her we dont want to tube feed. we just want her to suck. she poops and pees when rubbed and she does when i tube feed her. she moves her tounge all over the place. she is getting stronger and is starting to fight back now. We dont know what else to do. we have tried lambs nipples and regular calf nipples. please help. any suggestions would be great.

I also had one this last season. When put on the cow and while holding its head it would suckle, as soon as I took my hand away the calf don't seem to have the coordination to keeps it head still and keep sucking. After three weeks I've given up and put it out of its misery.

That made me wonder, can a dummy calf also be genetic or is it always a case of oxygen deprivation during birth? In my case it was a very quick and easy birth and although anything is possible I didn't think the calf was ever deprived of oxygen.

I seen several one time after heavily fertilizing a pasture,Vet contributed it to nitrate poisoning.

 

[zippygirlchick]

well we haven't fed her by tube today and you would think she would be trying to suck but she isn't. this is so frustrating. we have been bottle feeding for 16 years, i'm 18 now and we have never had this problem. we have probably 100 head of momma cows and 3 bulls, this has never happened. we didn't know about the oral calf feeder until about 6 days ago, we have never needed it. but anyways we have tried to feed her by bottle all day today and she tries to get away and is really fighting us, she tries pushing the nipple out of her mouth. we are thinking of putting her out of her misery if she doesn't try to suck tomorrow. are we giving up to early?? she is 8 days old now and she acts crazy. she seems to think the bottle is evil or something. what to do what to do. but one good thing that came out of this experience was that I learned about and how to use the oral calf feeder.

 

[milkmaid]

Some calves are just kind of crazy... some are hard to bottle feed... some refuse to drink until they realize they're not going to eat any other way... some take a few days to learn to nurse and you just tube them until then...

but sometimes a calf just has something physically wrong with it, and if it won't drink from a bottle or nurse off a cow, it just makes the right decision easier to make.

 

[angie1]

Will she attempt to suck your fingers at all? Maybe she can be taught to bucket feed.

 

[zippygirlchick]

no she wont. she does the same thing with the nipple.

 

[Joy of Texas]

Maybe if it's not to late. Call your vet and see if he has a shot for a dumb calf. I know it has vitamin B-12 and something else. I have used it a couple of times and within minutes the calf will start sucking.

 

[zippygirlchick]

well...... she is gone now... we tried