I had a very sporty bull calf born sometime today. He is a smooth 100 lbs but when I found him he was up with mom. He was still wobbly at this point, I'm guessing a few hours old. I have spent roughly an hour around this calf broken up in 3 visit and have yet to see him nurse. He will stand around momma and even walk under her but I have seen him make no attempt to nurse at all. I always get nervous when I don't see them nurse that first day I find them. Other than not seeing him nurse he is looking great and healthy. I gave him Bar guard 99 and it was almost impossible to restrain him by myself. Am I being paranoid about not seein a calf nurse like this?
Help ease my mind
- Thread starter jallen
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dirtfarmer1000
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If I am not sure if they nurse, I make sure they get some sort of dry colostrum, preferably in the first 12 hours. At least they have some antibodies in their system and then you can tell a day or so down the road if they are nursing and you wont have a chronically sick calf on your hands. Some calves are just plain stupid when it comes to finding the food factory.
branguscowgirl
Well-known member
I can usually tell by the cows teats if they have nursed or not. If they are black teats they will be shiny if nursed, and more wrinkled. You will also be able to tell if the calf poops yellow. They start pooping and peeing pretty quickly after they nurse.
I also get nervous if I do not see them nurse in the first few hours and end up holding them there and putting a teat in their mouth. But I can do this with most of my cows in the pasture just by throwing down some hay.
Good luck.
I also get nervous if I do not see them nurse in the first few hours and end up holding them there and putting a teat in their mouth. But I can do this with most of my cows in the pasture just by throwing down some hay.
Good luck.
Backbone Ranch
Well-known member
branguscowgirl":3u38f8c5 said:
I will do the same thing too on occasion, especially on some of our older cows with large udders. It is a good sign though that he was very vigorous and hard to handle when you gave him the Bar Guard 99.
I checked him this morning, his energy level is still very good for a day old calf north of 100lbs. He tried to nurse this morning and may have for 3 or 4 seconds but momma walked forward on him. It's all she can do to keep him run down as active as he is. Her bag was pretty full yesterday afternoon and this morning it did not seem to be as full. One side of her teats appears smaller than the other, albeit only by a small margin. I'm hopeful that everything went the way it should. I'm very new to all of this and just learned if tube feeding while reading last night. I will have the tools necessary for that by weeks end. I tend to worry about things that im I experienced with, and even more so when were talking life and death.
Assuming this calf is not and has not nursed, at what point is it going to become obvious with his behavior? I'm expecting one to go down hill pretty fast if they don't eat at all. I have not seen him poop and there is evidence on his backside that he has. I just saw a 4 day old calf go for the first time this morning and had seen no evidence on her up to this point either. I did see my day old bull calf pee for about 20 seconds this morning, not sure if that's a good sign or not.
Assuming this calf is not and has not nursed, at what point is it going to become obvious with his behavior? I'm expecting one to go down hill pretty fast if they don't eat at all. I have not seen him poop and there is evidence on his backside that he has. I just saw a 4 day old calf go for the first time this morning and had seen no evidence on her up to this point either. I did see my day old bull calf pee for about 20 seconds this morning, not sure if that's a good sign or not.
Rafter S
Well-known member
Look at his flank (the triangular area between his ribs and hip). If he hasn't nursed it will look sunk in. If it looks full, or smooth, then he's full.
His flank is not sunk in. I observed him again this morning and saw him nurse for a couple seconds. I caught the tale end of it so he could have nursed for a while. I have seen him per 3 times this morning as well so that makes me feel better.
Rafter S
Well-known member
jallen":hrp4qbr2 said:
It sounds like he's okay. I'm happy for you.
M-5
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jallen":330xszrq said:
make sure that sticky yellow schyte does not accumulate on his rear. every now and then Ill have one that I have to catch and peel off a clump . it will remove the hair.
Will do, I actually cleaned him up some. I had one last year that wasn't very active it's first few days, another big bull calf. He had maggots all over his rear when I checked him one day. Talk about a nasty mess
fenceman
Well-known member
Sounds like hes fine, they usually are. Look at mom if hes not nursing she will get swollen teats. Look for clean shiny empty looking teats. But for me the easiest sign to see is the hair on the udder if she calf is nursing it will look wet and curly, like its been permed. Once you see the difference in the hair before and after nursing you will be able to see it at a glance from yards away
Backbone Ranch
Well-known member
He should do just fine. For the first day or so, they will frequently go to the wrong end of the cow to try to nurse. After a few days, they get the hang of it.
