calf won't take bottle

[jgn]

I've got a calve on the bottle that is 10 days old. Been feeding one bottle in the a.m. and one in the p.m. everyday. Last night when I went to feed her she looked pretty filled out already and wouldn't take her bottle, when she took her bottle yesterday morning she got to the end of it and let out a big sneeze and passed a bunch of gas at the same time. This morning she got about half a bottle down but wouldn't take any more. I think she's refusing to take the bottle due to the excess gas, anyone have any ideas of what I can do or give her to get rid of the gas. I'm not positive she has defecated lately and she may be constipated would this be a viable reason for not eating? If so what could I give her for this? It's been a long time since I've had to bottle a calf and any help would be appreciated.

 

[Alice]

The calf may very well be constipated...at least let's hope that's all it is. We've had calves that seemed perfectly fine, then stop eating, yet they appeared full. The first thing we'd look at would be their water bucket to make sure it wasn't loading up on water right before it was time for them to eat. If that wasn't the case, then we'd wait a feeding or two and if the calf still appeared full and there was no evidence that calf had pooped anywhere, we'd treat for constipation.

Sometimes an enema works and sometimes giving it mineral oil works. There's a medication for constipation, but right now I can't remember the name of it. Whatever the case, I learned the hard way not to force the calf to drink if it appeared full.

Have you noticed the calf having pooped at all since it was born?

Alice

 

[jgn]

Thanks for the reply Alice and I'm happy to say any gas she had worked itself out yesterday before I got home from work. When I got home she was hungry and waiting.

 

[Alice]

Whew! Glad to hear that.

Alice