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Calf will not drink!
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<blockquote data-quote="msscamp" data-source="post: 135971" data-attributes="member: 539"><p>My experience with a calf this old is that it is going to be difficult to get her to suck a bottle. The bottle nipple is much different than her mother's tit and that's where the problem is coming in. Is she also eating hay or just the pellets? Is she in a corral or on grass? What kind of pellets? If she is on grass, eating hay as well as the pellets I believe I would just work on gradually increasing her pellets and forget the bottle although she is a little young to not have milk. Same thing if she is eating a good quality hay along with the pellets. Another option would be to sprinkle the dry milk replacer on her pellets. That way she will still be getting the vitamins and minerals, but you don't have to fight her to get her to drink a bottle. Another option would be to try to bottle her with a sheep's nipple. It's smaller than a calf nipple and might do the trick until she adjusts. Something else that I have done with fairly good results is to coat the nipple with molasses or maybe karo syrup. Calves like sweet and it will sometimes encourage them to suck. Be careful with the sheep's nipple because if she takes to it she can suck the nipple off the bottle, I wouldn't use it any longer than necessary to get her to nurse without your finger in her mouth. Just my thoughts.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="msscamp, post: 135971, member: 539"] My experience with a calf this old is that it is going to be difficult to get her to suck a bottle. The bottle nipple is much different than her mother's tit and that's where the problem is coming in. Is she also eating hay or just the pellets? Is she in a corral or on grass? What kind of pellets? If she is on grass, eating hay as well as the pellets I believe I would just work on gradually increasing her pellets and forget the bottle although she is a little young to not have milk. Same thing if she is eating a good quality hay along with the pellets. Another option would be to sprinkle the dry milk replacer on her pellets. That way she will still be getting the vitamins and minerals, but you don't have to fight her to get her to drink a bottle. Another option would be to try to bottle her with a sheep's nipple. It's smaller than a calf nipple and might do the trick until she adjusts. Something else that I have done with fairly good results is to coat the nipple with molasses or maybe karo syrup. Calves like sweet and it will sometimes encourage them to suck. Be careful with the sheep's nipple because if she takes to it she can suck the nipple off the bottle, I wouldn't use it any longer than necessary to get her to nurse without your finger in her mouth. Just my thoughts. [/QUOTE]
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