Lethargic bottle calf

[Jacksonduper]

Good morning,
I have a week old bottle calf that I had to take from Mom as it wasn't able to suck. I took her on day two so I don't think she got colostrum. It was not an option to milk mom as it is unsafe as she is crazy! We have been bottle feeding her for a week today and she is eating 5-6 qts per day total in three feedings. My question is as follows. She is lethargic and we need to help her up sometimes and then she can stand on her own to eat. Also sometimes not always we will find her laying flat on her side when we go to feed her. She will walk around some after we stand her up but very slowly. Any ideas. I'm going to take her temp now. Is she low on something? Can I give a shot. I have bottle feed a number of calfs over the years and she just doesn't seem right!

Joe

 

[Hereford2]

Try giving her a shot of
Bo-se I have a calf that was like that , but it had its Clostrum. My vet said he was low on selenium. Also every calf that I get that hasn't had Clostrum, even if they are 2 weeks old, I will give them Clostrum, half a bottle twice a day for the first day. My main advice is Ask Your Vet. If you haven't already..

 

[farmerjan]

I agree on the BoSe. Also, try some vit B-12 or a B-complex. That will help with the appetite and that may help her with more energy to get up and going. You might want to try a bottle of electrolytes in the middle of the day in place of a milk feeding. She might be a little low on something minor but it could be affecting her.
And I am in 100% agreement with Hereford2. I give any new calf on the farm, except for calves I get off one farm that I know his practices very well, at least 1 feeding of colostrum even at 2 weeks like Hereford2 does. Colostrum does provide antibodies, that is a given. I do not totally agree that those antibodies can only be absorbed within 24 hours.... But even if that is mostly correct.... colostrum also has some other properties of getting the gut tract to be working better. It is thicker, will coat the entire length of the gut tract and seems to be more readily absorbed by a calf. So even if they don't get all the benefits that a day old would get, I still feel that it helps to get some of the necessary things into their system that they might not have gotten. And if they are also absorbing the early life needed essentials, at a reduced rate, they are still getting something.

One other thing, get a bottle of Multi-Min from the vet. A shot of that will help boost most things that are missing . Good to give to any animal that is off their feed or just not acting 100%.