That sounds very much like one born here a couple weeks ago. I am not sure of the reason, but I suspect Lepto, since I lost two about a month premature and blood tests revealed Lepto. The Vet warned me we could have weak calves, but this was the first. I was told we need to vaccinate for Lepto twice per year. The calf weighed only 62 pounds out of a cow that had a 90 pound calf last year and an 83 pound calf as a 2 year old.
The calf born here was also making some gurgling sounds. I did what you are doing. Got him dry and kept rubbing him and moving his legs while keeping him up on his chest, while my husband went to get a bottle and a bag to tube him. We milked the cow, and tried to get him to suck, but he had very little suck response. His temperature was below the 102 that is normal, so we knew he was hypothermic also. When he would not suck we went ahead and tubed him with 1 1/2 pints of his mother's colostrum. I kept rubbing him and we lifted him to his feet where he balanced for a short time once we got the feet in position. He went down in a minute and I continued to rub him to imitate the cows licking. His temperature rose after the milk got in him. We tubed him again about 6 hours later, and by then his temp was normal and he was up on his chest resting normally. The next morning we offered him a bottle of his mother's milk, but he still did not suck, so we repeated tubing him. Later that day he was able to get up with a little help and took the whole bottle on his own. I helped him urinate and defecate by massaging him while he was sucking, because I always see the cow's do this. It worked and he seemed livelier after. The next morning he rose without help and I gave him a little from the bottle, then took it away. We were able to get him on the cow. By that evening he was sucking on his own. It took him a few more days before he looked as strong as the average new born, but he is now 2 weeks old and over 100 pounds.
