Calf will not take bottle or suck HELP

[angus9259]

Brownish yellow poop - without knowing exactly what you're seeing, that comes out of each of my calves on day two so I wouldn't worry. If anything, all the tubing might give her milk scours - it will look a little like runny sour milk.

I don't think the electrolytes would be necessary as long as you're tubing her with milk replacer as directed and she's not scouring too bad.

 

[angus9259]

I've also put some coffee or gator aid in with the milk replacer if I thought they needed a wakeup jolt or some mild electrolytes / sugar.

 

[angie1]

I've also put some coffee.

I see your reasoning here, but coffee has caffeine, and caffeine is a diuretic.
If there is a risk of scours (which there almost always is), I would discourage this practice.

 

[shadyhollownj]

Well she doesnt have he runs but there is host of other problems. We gave her a shot of bose (selenium and b12) and shot of steroids to build her immune system the vet gave us. He wasnt that concerned with the blood in the urine until he seen the sample. It could be a rare kidney disease or a broken blood vessel from labor. That is his main concern. The not sucking thing is probably just a dummy calf thing that we are hoping goes away one days. The tubing twice a day isnt that great of a job. If you looked at her though you would not think anything is wrong with her. She stands and walks and moos just like any other calf we have. We'll see the vet might swing by tomorrow just for informational purposes because he has never seen blood in the urine of such a young calf. Not a billing visit since this heifer is only gonna be freezer beef anyway. I'll keep posting for educational purposes in case anyone runs into this problem in the future.

Oh and one question about the heifer mom. Should I try to fatten her up before I take her to the sale barn since she is only 23 months. I didnt know If I was gonna get killed if I take her all bagged up and not finished at all. I would rather not deal with her for another two months but if its gonna cost me .60 or .80 I might have to feed her some.

 

[angie1]

Oh and one question about the heifer mom. Should I try to fatten her up before I take her to the sale barn since she is only 23 months. I didnt know If I was gonna get killed if I take her all bagged up and not finished at all. I would rather not deal with her for another two months but if its gonna cost me .60 or .80 I might have to feed her some.

No. Just ditch her.

Thanks for the updates, its always good to hear how they are turning out!

 

[shadyhollownj]

UPDATE She finally took the bottle after kinda forcing her too since the tubing was getting old. That bose and steroid shot made a tremendous difference. We are not out of the woods at all but a small victory never hurts. She definetly has more energy now. The urine is kinda brownish now which could signify old blood which could be good. Wifes a nurse the concrete guy which is me sure didnt figure that out. So thats the deal now. Hopefully this post will help someone out in the future if we can actually save this calf.

 

[mncowboy]

If she's got four pints in her most of the worry is over. As far as the nursing, try putting white sugar on the nipple of the bottle or on the cow. Let it sit in the calves mouth for a bit and it should take off. Also make sure the hole in the bottle is big enough that the milk will flow out of the nipple with out having to suck. The milk gathering in the back of the mouth will also help initiate the sucking/swallowing. Above all else be patient, make sure that the calf has just enough milk in its belly each night (even if you have to tube it) to keep it alive but NOT enough that its full/hungary, if need be milk the cow by hand to keep her from drying up. Eventually the calf will take the cow and vis-versa and then think about shipping the cow this fall.
Best of luck.

 

[mncowboy]

Also if you get a calf that isn't quite "with it," try giving it two cc's of gentamicin. Typicall used for horse urinary infection but it seems to give calves that are down a boost or adrenaline pump. Works well also at the onset of scours

 

[jilleroo]

If it was me, now the calf seems to be sucking, I'd be trying to put the calf back on the heifer. I'd put them in a pen together and give them some peace and quiet. They still remember the calf for a few days. Saves buying a lot of milk replacer. The heifer is probably just stirred up and next year would calve and rear her calf fine if you wanted to keep her.

 

[msscamp]

About the sucking issue does anyone think its from a swollen tongue or something and how long would that last. Thanks.

A swollen tongue would be fairly apparent, because anywhere from the muzzle to the entire face of the calf would be swollen and the calfs tongue would usually be sticking out anywhere from 1/4" to 1" - depending on how hard the birth was. The calf would also have trouble latching onto and sucking a bottle, his/her tongue would appear to be unmanageable by the calf, and would kind of flop around when he/she tried to suck. In the case of a swollen face/tongue, usually it goes down within 24 to 72 hours, but can last longer - again, depending on how hard the birth was and how badly the calfs face is swollen.

 

[angus9259]

If it was me, now the calf seems to be sucking, I'd be trying to put the calf back on the heifer. I'd put them in a pen together and give them some peace and quiet. They still remember the calf for a few days. Saves buying a lot of milk replacer. The heifer is probably just stirred up and next year would calve and rear her calf fine if you wanted to keep her.

yup. or put her in a chute to see if the calf will suck on her - that might help them figure things out too.

 

[novatech]

If it was me, now the calf seems to be sucking, I'd be trying to put the calf back on the heifer. I'd put them in a pen together and give them some peace and quiet. They still remember the calf for a few days. Saves buying a lot of milk replacer. The heifer is probably just stirred up and next year would calve and rear her calf fine if you wanted to keep her.

yup. or put her in a chute to see if the calf will suck on her - that might help them figure things out too.

Good idea. It doesn't take long for me to get tired of that twice a day bottle routine.
You may have to work for a while on her to get her started again. Oil her up and start milking.
Another thing, she is going to be hurting. Be carful as she will no doubt try and kick. I usually tie one foot with a rope.

 

[shadyhollownj]

UPDATE Ok the calf is taking a bottle fine now is is definetly more lively. She is walking and actually jumping over the wall we made to keep her in a corner of the mudroom. The medicated feed is actually taking care of the blood in the urine its almost gone. The vet said the the med replacer will probably clear it up since it may have been from a bladder or urinary infection from birth. I was thinking that I could probably put her back with the mom but if the going is good now Im not gonna chance losing the calf. Since she never got any antibodies from her moms real colostrum its probably better she is on a medicated replacer at least thats my opinion. The heifer is a nut anyway and doesnt have good udders so she is outta here thursday. She was half sim and half hereford. We have another calmer heifer from my neighbor so hopefully she works out better. Thanks for the help guys and girls. As always this sight is worth its weight in vet bills.