Feeding schedule for day old calf

[tobemeghan]

My Dexter calved a bull yesterday morning and this morning I pulled the calf away. I was going to wait for a little while but I was afraid his mother was going to hurt him as she kept hitting him with her horns which would sent him flying.

I have gotten all of my Dexter's as adults and so don't know how much this little guy needs to eat how often. I saw one site said a quart 9-12hrs apart but it didn't say when and how much I need to increase/decrease this amount.

Thanks!

PS I am not using commercial milk replacer.

 

[deenranch]

I'm not sure why you pulled the calf off...
But if you were bottle feeding a calf you would feed it 3-4 quarts 4 times a day... I know you aren't bottle feeding it, so this may answer your question on how many times a day he needs to eat... I would say his momma was letting him know when he needed to eat.... good luck

 

[Suzie Q]

If you are worried about the calf then you can feed it on the cow.

In Australia where we do not get snow we do it by this.

Lock the calf away from the cow.

If they cow is quiet enough put in a triangular pen so she can't get away from you, but you can get in there with her with a long whip. Do not do this if you are in danger of being attacked.

You let the calf drink and do not let the cow kick or head butt.

You do this twice a day.

If you can not stand with the cow as you are in danger then put her in a cattle crush (squeeze chute) and I can open the bottom half of the door. You start milking her and then you put the calf on.

As this has just happened it should be easy to put the calf on. If it is hard then you need one person and four hands would be easier. You have to get behind the calf to push it forward with your knees. Push down on the back of the neck, lift the head, open the mouth, put a teat in the mouth and milk the teat into the mouth. You might have to do for a while and suddenly the calf will suck and you will be away.

They suck for about half an hour or so and you have to do that twice a day.

If you are lucky the cow will accept the calf and you can let them out together with no problems.

If you think the mother was rejecting the calf for some reason, you could also look it over for any abnormalities. Inside the mouth, etc. Mum might have known something you don't.

 

[backhoeboogie]

I've got a nursing crate that works well for such situations. Had a cow reject her first calf a couple of months back. Put her in a head gate with the squeeze open and the calf nursed. Did it again 12 hours later. Then decided to bring her home to crate her here at the house. The cow was going in the crate every 12 hours. A few days later that calf was out nursing in the pasture. Everything has been fince since then.

 

[chippie]

I am a few days late on this, but we allow our dairy cows to keep their calf for a day or two before separating and doing the twice a day feeding. The calf bumping the udder helps reduce edema and stimulate production.

That' a shame that she rejected her calf.