Couple bottle calf questions

[Brute 23]

I have a cow that's bag is blown out. She had a calf about a week ago. The calf is alive but today was real droopy eared, poor looking, and weak. Its getting some thing because its still alive. I have seen it try to suck off to little teats on the back of the cow.

Today I put the cow and calf in a small pen together with a bale of hay so the calf doesn't have to go far.

I'm hoping to maybe supplement the calf until it is big enough to get on the blown out bag. So here are my questions:

Can I give a calf pedialyte to pep it up a little?

Has any one herd of feeding a calf straight vitamin D milk from the store? I have heard some other people say it works great.

Any other advice or ideas?

 

[Air gator]

You can give the calf pedialyte. The critical time is when the calf is 2 weeks old. You need to pull the trigger and put the calf on a bottle. Choose medicated whole milk without soy and give it 1 bottle twice a day. Tractor Supply has it. Follow the mixing directions. You will lose the calf with milk from the store. Don't delay. Give it the Pedialyte immediately if it's sluggish or droopy.

 

[Workinonit Farm]

I've always used (when I didn't have a nurse cow) Cow's Match made by Land-O-Lakes. anytime I fed medicated replacer, the calves always got the shyts. Pedialyte is safe to give a calf. Don't delay.

You talk about the calf being big enough to get on the "blown out bag". Is it possible for you to milk the cow, and put the milk in a bottle and feed that to the calf.

Whatever replacer you choose, be sure it is 20% fat, 20% protein and 100% milk product, no soy.

 

[RanchMan90]

I'd pull it off and sell them as a split at next available sale. Give it draxxin and a tube of probiotics for the droopiness.

 

[Brute 23]

Part of my problem was being the weekend but we have a TSC 30 min away. I'll get to it in the am.

Thanks

 

[dun]

Part of my problem was being the weekend but we have a TSC 30 min away. I'll get to it in the am.

Thanks

Make sure it's the good stuff. All milk or milk byproducts and at least 20-20 protein/fat

 

[M-5]

Walmart should have a uni milk. For when your in a pinch. Also unless you use the whole bag of replacer put remainder in the freezer for next time. I have also made up my own electrolytes , karo syrup, baking soda, salt

 

[TCRanch]

I have a similar situation except this calf was born Dec 6th. The mama is our oldest cow & has always raised huge calves but noticed the calf was only nursing 2 teats. Treated the cow for mastitis but the calf still wasn't thriving so we now have them penned in the barn and I've been supplementing the calf. Not easy getting a month old calf to start taking a bottle but she's doing great. I started with a mixture of electrolytes & the aforementioned Land O Lakes and have now segued to straight replacer. She's even eating cubes, sharing the feed bowl with her mama. Supplementing a calf is not an ideal situation but it's easier (at least for me) to let the mama raise her and all I have to do is show up with a bottle a couple times a day. And now that the calf is comfortable with me & knows I'm her primary source of food, I'm going to let them join the herd.

 

[TCRanch]

P.S. a shot of B complex should help pep up the calf.

 

[Brute 23]

How many ml on the vitamin b? Can I inject under the skin in that neck area right in front of the shoulder?

 

[cotton1]

I'd be curious about the vitamin b. Never gave it to a cow, but it gives me a boost when I take it. There is a tablet that will dissolve in your mouth, maybe 500 mg. If you can find out if that's not too much, you might be able to dissolve that in with the electrolytes.

Dad always mix's salt, baking soda, and water. If they are weak he puts it in a long neck Pepsi bottle and just pours it down the calf's throat until the desired amount is in the calf.

We always wind up getting attached to the bottle calf's. It makes sale time kinda grim, but its worth the effort.

Best of luck,

Cotton1

 

[dun]

We always wind up getting attached to the bottle calf's. It makes sale time kinda grim, but its worth the effort.

Best of luck,

Cotton1

If you don;t there is something wrong with you!

 

[skyhightree1]

I'm hoping to maybe supplement the calf until it is big enough to get on the blown out bag. So here are my questions:

Can I give a calf pedialyte to pep it up a little?

Has any one herd of feeding a calf straight vitamin D milk from the store? I have heard some other people say it works great.

Any other advice or ideas?

I gave pedialyte as well as Gatorade before and Vitamin D from the store I have done that as well but don't think its the best you can provide. I recently started giving waste milk from dairies to calves though. If a dairy around you or milk company check with them they will give all you want. I have goat bottle babies now and that's all they get is vitamin d milk.

 

[TCRanch]

How many ml on the vitamin b? Can I inject under the skin in that neck area right in front of the shoulder?

I give calves 5ml IM and yes, neck area in front of the shoulder. I use Durvet High Level Vitamin B Complex, you can get it at Tractor Supply, Orscheln's, Coop, online & of course from your vet.

 

[TCRanch]

We always wind up getting attached to the bottle calf's. It makes sale time kinda grim, but its worth the effort.

Best of luck,

Cotton1

If you don;t there is something wrong with you!

Just happy mine's a heifer. Bottle steers at the Sale Barn = awkward crying.

 

[farmerjan]

Any type of electrolytes is better than nothing in a pinch. Get the cow in the chute and check all 4 qrtrs. She might have just junk in them. If you don't want to feed a bottle calf then get it fed up a few days to where it is looking better and drinking a bottle, split and sell both. Otherwise, vit b is great we give it to any calves that aren't real perky to keep their appetite up. All Milk, milk replacer 20/20 protein/fat. Do not use anything with soy, it will starve the calf. 2-3 qt bottle 2x day. I had a cow with mastitis in 2 qtrs and penned her & calf and got the calf to come to a bottle and it still sucked the cow and then after about 2 weeks, turned them in a small field and the calf would come when I called for the supplemental bottle. Got it up to about 10 weeks and it was eating grain with the cow and then cut out the bottle and it did okay but was getting most of it's nutrition from the grain. Culled the cow and sold the calf with the other weaned steers.

If the calf doesn't keep on sucking ALL the quarters then they will dry up/or get mastitis and be no good. Got to keep stimulating all the qtrs. That is why so many will quit on a qtr on a dairy cow and just milk 3 because she had mastitis and couldn't get it cleared up so quit milking that one. Biggest thing is you need to find out if she has any that are good. If not, ship the cow and keep the calf on a bottle or sell both. Liquid crap out of a qtr will make the calf sick.
I don't feed medicated milk replacer either, but treat the animal if it gets sick. With the new VFD don't know what will be allowed in milk replacer anyway. Vit D milk will work in a pinch also, but since it is pasteurized, alot of the "good" is destroyed. TSC has a top line milk replacer that is not medicated, all milk. Land o Lakes is good. I use the local brand that our feed store carries and it is all milk.

 

[Brute 23]

How many ml on the vitamin b? Can I inject under the skin in that neck area right in front of the shoulder?

I give calves 5ml IM and yes, neck area in front of the shoulder. I use Durvet High Level Vitamin B Complex, you can get it at Tractor Supply, Orscheln's, Coop, online & of course from your vet.

Good deal. I keep Vitamin B and Pedialyte around for my dogs so I was hoping that would work.

I gave it 5ml of V-B, 1/2 a bottle of pedialyte, and 1/2 a bottle of milk.

It took the milk good at first then didn't want any more. I'm guessing there is probably a little adjustment period?

I'll try again this evening.

 

[Brute 23]

Any type of electrolytes is better than nothing in a pinch. Get the cow in the chute and check all 4 qrtrs. She might have just junk in them. If you don't want to feed a bottle calf then get it fed up a few days to where it is looking better and drinking a bottle, split and sell both. Otherwise, vit b is great we give it to any calves that aren't real perky to keep their appetite up. All Milk, milk replacer 20/20 protein/fat. Do not use anything with soy, it will starve the calf. 2-3 qt bottle 2x day. I had a cow with mastitis in 2 qtrs and penned her & calf and got the calf to come to a bottle and it still sucked the cow and then after about 2 weeks, turned them in a small field and the calf would come when I called for the supplemental bottle. Got it up to about 10 weeks and it was eating grain with the cow and then cut out the bottle and it did okay but was getting most of it's nutrition from the grain. Culled the cow and sold the calf with the other weaned steers.

If the calf doesn't keep on sucking ALL the quarters then they will dry up/or get mastitis and be no good. Got to keep stimulating all the qtrs. That is why so many will quit on a qtr on a dairy cow and just milk 3 because she had mastitis and couldn't get it cleared up so quit milking that one. Biggest thing is you need to find out if she has any that are good. If not, ship the cow and keep the calf on a bottle or sell both. Liquid crap out of a qtr will make the calf sick.
I don't feed medicated milk replacer either, but treat the animal if it gets sick. With the new VFD don't know what will be allowed in milk replacer anyway. Vit D milk will work in a pinch also, but since it is pasteurized, alot of the "good" is destroyed. TSC has a top line milk replacer that is not medicated, all milk. Land o Lakes is good. I use the local brand that our feed store carries and it is all milk.

Thanks. That is what I'm hoping for. I may haul the cow to the vet this week to check the bag out. We don't have the facilities and he is really reasonable on cost with us for small stuff.

I always feel a little bit of responsibility to do the best I can for the calves, even if it costs a few bucks. The cow is definitely gone asap.

 

[TCRanch]

How many ml on the vitamin b? Can I inject under the skin in that neck area right in front of the shoulder?

I give calves 5ml IM and yes, neck area in front of the shoulder. I use Durvet High Level Vitamin B Complex, you can get it at Tractor Supply, Orscheln's, Coop, online & of course from your vet.

Good deal. I keep Vitamin B and Pedialyte around for my dogs so I was hoping that would work.

I gave it 5ml of V-B, 1/2 a bottle of pedialyte, and 1/2 a bottle of milk.

It took the milk good at first then didn't want any more. I'm guessing there is probably a little adjustment period?

I'll try again this evening.

Definitely an adjustment period but hunger is a good motivator. Just take your time. I started with full electrolytes (with a shot of Karo syrup for taste) then mixed the electrolytes with diluted replacer in the same bottle. Don't be surprised if the calf gets scours - not unusual & as long as they're brown (not yellow, viral) they'll clear up. That said, I did give my little girl 2 Sustain III calf boluses to speed things up. She's now up to 1.5 bottles twice a day and is still hungry so after I feed her she runs over to her mama to nurse what little she has. It's a team effort

 

[farmerjan]

I give calves 5ml IM and yes, neck area in front of the shoulder. I use Durvet High Level Vitamin B Complex, you can get it at Tractor Supply, Orscheln's, Coop, online & of course from your vet.

Good deal. I keep Vitamin B and Pedialyte around for my dogs so I was hoping that would work.

I gave it 5ml of V-B, 1/2 a bottle of pedialyte, and 1/2 a bottle of milk.

It took the milk good at first then didn't want any more. I'm guessing there is probably a little adjustment period?

I'll try again this evening.

Definitely an adjustment period but hunger is a good motivator. Just take your time. I started with full electrolytes (with a shot of Karo syrup for taste) then mixed the electrolytes with diluted replacer in the same bottle. Don't be surprised if the calf gets scours - not unusual & as long as they're brown (not yellow, viral) they'll clear up. That said, I did give my little girl 2 Sustain III calf boluses to speed things up. She's now up to 1.5 bottles twice a day and is still hungry so after I feed her she runs over to her mama to nurse what little she has. It's a team effort

Totally agree, calf needs to be a little hungry. It will also start to eat feed quicker that way too. not out of desperation to not starve, but so that it can fill up the empty spots. Usually takes me about 3-5 days to get the calf to want the bottle and be able to drink it all. Don't forget, they get alot less at a time from the cow, just alot more often. So it's tummy might not be able to handle that much liquid all at once, until it gets a little older. :nod: :nod: