FIRST CALF!! HELP!!

[TF Gerts]

New to the board and new to cattle. One of my first calf heifers had a calf Friday night around 9p.m. I had not seen the calf nurse as of yesterday at lunch so I caught cow in head gate and assisted the calf in nursing. He went right to sucking. i repeated this early this morning and calf sucked without any assistance. i kept the heifer and calf in a lot so I could keep an eye on them. The thing is I have not seen the calf sucking on his own while they are in the lot. When the cow is caught in the chute he sucks fine but when he tries to suck just out in the lot he has a hard time getting udder in mouth (the udders are big. Actually had to milk them down bc they were so big when I first caught her up). He is sleeping a lot (which is normal I guess) and runs around when he does get up. Should I be worried? Is there anything I can do to know the calf is sucking? Should I continue to catch the cow in chute to ensure calf is sucking? I know I'm probably overthinking this, I am a worrier by nature. Help please lol

 

[Supa Dexta]

Yes, ensure its drinking for several days until you're sure its getting it on its own. After its drank, separate it from its mother (just behind a gate or something, where she can still see it) for 4 or 5 hours and then let them back together and see if it drinks on its own. Otherwise you won't know if its sucking when you're not there to see it.

 

[cowgirl8]

You should be able to tell by the teats...Newborns sometimes only nurse one teat for the first couple days if they are big..This makes it easy to tell if the calf is nursing, just look for a clean shiny teat that is smaller than the rest..
Its not going to hurt anything by putting the cow in the chute and helping. It might be easier on you knowing it did nurse....In time it will nurse on its own if its not now...

 

[dun]

Depending on the teat color, you could use food coloring to dye the teats. Then at a glance you can tell if she has been sucked on. Won;t tell you the amount though.

 

[TF Gerts]

Thanks for the advice. I just didn't want to make the calf lazy or expecting only to nurse when I have the cow in chute. He seems really lively when he is up moving. I actually got him up late Sunday evening to see if he would nurse and he didn't. He seemed like he was just full and did not want any. He wasn't weak or sickly looking. He was running and kicking. 2 quarters did look to be sucked down some. I just worry they will fill back up and cause problems. Will milking down those full quarter that are so big cause a problem? I definitely do not want to cause a problem through interference!

 

[TF Gerts]

Never thought of food coloring!! This heifer is producing a lot of milk like a typical gert. I figure if I can get him past these first 3-4 days we will be home free as far as nursing.

 

[M-5]

It helps to have a general idea of what each teat looked like before she calved. You will then be able to distinguish if its been nursed.

 

[fnfarms1]

we worked cows last weekend. noticed all these calves have knots on their necks. vet says maybe a dirty needle causing infection when I gave antibiotics. doesn't feel like its related to calves being slow starters