Calf without Mother

[Anonymous]

I am a new hobby farmer and I recently purchased a 1 1/2 month calf. She was taken away from her mom 2 days before I received her. I am trying to give her milk replacement but she doesn't seem to be drinking much. I use my finger to get her tongue working and am trying to get her to drink out of the pail. She is eating hay, grass and grain pellets. I think she is drinking alittle water, but it doen't seem like much. How do I know if she is receiving enough nutition. Also, she has a wheeze, the fellow that sold her to me said there is grain stuck in her throat and that it will clear as she gets older. She isn't in any pain and she will cough and be okay for awhile. Any and all advice will be helpful.
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[Anonymous]

The calf should be getting 4 liters a day of milk replacer, 2 in the morning and 2 at night. It should also be getting calf starter, not straight grain. I wouldn't feed it anything else till it takes the milk replacer.Calves need milk replacer for at least 100 days, sometimes longer.As for the cough, I would be wondering if it has pnuemonia, pretty common in stressed calves.The stress of being taken from it's Mom too early and transporting it takes it's toll on the immune system.Check it for a fever and watch for scours.Myself I would be suspect to why this calf was taken off it's Mom at 1 1/2 months old.<br>Janet
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[Anonymous]

: I am a new hobby farmer and I recently purchased a 1 1/2 month calf. She was taken away from her mom 2 days before I received her. I am trying to give her milk replacement but she doesn't seem to be drinking much. I use my finger to get her tongue working and am trying to get her to drink out of the pail. She is eating hay, grass and grain pellets. I think she is drinking alittle water, but it doen't seem like much. How do I know if she is receiving enough nutition. Also, she has a wheeze, the fellow that sold her to me said there is grain stuck in her throat and that it will clear as she gets older. She isn't in any pain and she will cough and be okay for awhile. Any and all advice will be helpful.<p>You may need to visit the local farm supply store<br>and purchase a 25 lb bag of milk replacer, a bottle<br>(about 1 liter/quart) and a nipple! Mix the <br>replacer according to directions in warn(not hot)<br>water and feed the calf.

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[Anonymous]

: I am a new hobby farmer and I recently purchased a 1 1/2 month calf. She was taken away from her mom 2 days before I received her. I am trying to give her milk replacement but she doesn't seem to be drinking much. I use my finger to get her tongue working and am trying to get her to drink out of the pail. She is eating hay, grass and grain pellets. I think she is drinking alittle water, but it doen't seem like much. How do I know if she is receiving enough nutition. Also, she has a wheeze, the fellow that sold her to me said there is grain stuck in her throat and that it will clear as she gets older. She isn't in any pain and she will cough and be okay for awhile. Any and all advice will be helpful.<p>We have raised many calves on bottles with milk replacer. You can go to Tractor suppl or Southern States or your local feed store and they can outfit you for a nominal cost. Twice a day is usually sufficient but I always tried to feed three times at the start. A barn friend is also a good idea to keep the calf out of trouble. Our calves always adopted a barn cat or two. The wheeze may be more serious than grain and a vet should probably be called in. Also you need to keep an eye out for scouring which occurs very often in young calves at a change of diet. Good Luck.

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