How much milk replacer?

[hayray]

I pulled a calf out of the pasture that is a good week now, weak and unthrifty and now I am tube feeding and trying to get it to take a bottle. I think she is behind nutritionally. How much volume of milk should she be getting, she is a smaller calf? How many days in a row can you tube feed them?

 

[vclavin]

I pulled a calf out of the pasture that is a good week now, weak and unthrifty and now I am tube feeding and trying to get it to take a bottle. I think she is behind nutritionally. How much volume of milk should she be getting, she is a smaller calf? How many days in a row can you tube feed them?

Does the calf have the sucking reflex? If not, may be 21 days or more premature. Those are tricky. Might do a sight search for tube feeding to get info on how long. I believe I saw a thread about it.
Good Luck
Valerie

 

[backhoeboogie]

They should get a half gallon twice a day.

I have never tube fed one. I have the kit but have never had to use it, through hundreds of calves now.

Get straddle the calf with its head in front and its backside up against a gate or coral fence such that you can squeeze it with your legs just behind its shoulders and it can't back up on you. Pick the head straight upward with your left hand with fingers on the side of the mouth. Put the bottle nipple in with your right hand holding the bottle and keep it in there no matter how it tries to twist and turn its head. Gently squeeze the jaws with your left hand until milk flows out of the bottle. Keep that head upright until the calf swallows. When the calf begins to actually nurse, gradually release the pressure you are holding on it.

Some of them are hard cases. Most of them become your best friend before you are even 1/4 the way through that bottle.

 

[novaman]

Backhoe has some good advice about getting the calf to take a bottle.

The calf isn't chilled is it? I agree 2 quarts twice a day should be about right. I would mix 8-10 ounces of milk replacer powder in warm water and bring the total volume up to 2 quarts. If the calf won't take to the bottle you'll be forced to tube but I would try my best to get away from the tube. I'm always worried about getting fluid in the lungs.

 

[hayray]

The calf has some sucking reflex, actually it was sucking on it's momma a couple days ago, don't know what happened. I have the body temp back up now to 102. The first day I brought it in the barn it was at 97 F. By the end of the day the temp was back up to normal. Unable to get it to suck the nipple, it really fights.