Need Some Reassurance...

[ngachickens]

Hey guys...
This is our first bottle calf and I am a nervous Nelly!
She hasn't been eating as well as she was... She is about 14 days old. She was eating 2 quarts 2x a day up until 2 days ago and she just seemed disinterested in eating (as well). She is drinking about 1 quart in the morning and 2 quarts in the evening. She has always been a slow eater...Is this normal, eating less? Her water intake is still good. She is still peeing a lot (not abnormally so), so I don't think she is dehydrated. Her poo is fine...soft and dark. She has calf starter, but just nibbles a little at it. She seems happy, she likes to rest in the shade and will nibble on the grass...
It's been in the 80-90's here...and dry. Is she just hot and wants to be lazy? Sometimes i don't like to eat when i am hot...ha ha
Here are some pics of her... does she look normal??... LOL
I feel like this is my first child and I want to know if she is "normal" HA HA...

 

[ngachickens]

God Bless you! LOL... I was beginning to think she was on the verge of dying and no one wanted to break the news...
I caught her grazing the pasture today and she took some hay from my girl.
Thanks for the much needed reassurance

 

[hillsdown]

I have never had a calf "disinterested" in milk unless they were getting a better feed source else where aka stealing milk..

You might want to evaluate the situation a little closer ,at this age she should be demanding way more milk ,so maybe she doesn't like the milk for some reason and has moved on to grain..

Hard to tell from the pic as to whether she is healthy or not..

 

[Loch Valley Fold]

Bottle / bucket fed babies usually get "stress" scours after about 7 days you will notice this as they will look a bit ordinary & will go off their feed & will get the scours. If it is really hot you may want to think about putting some electrolites in her water to help keep her hydrated. Nothing will kill a calf faster than if they get dehydrated. It may also just be that your calf is drinking too much water & doesn't want her milk.
When rearing our heifers we make sure they have:
1) Shelter & Shade
2) Milk x 2 daily for the first 4 weeks than 1x daily until weaning. (we feed 3 litres at this stage)
3) Water
4) Dairy/calf Pellets ad lib
5) Hay (although straw is better as it won't fill them up as much)
6) Worm every 4 - 6 weeks
We've been able to wean calves off at 12 weeks using this method bottle calves should start eating/nibbling at their pellets around 1week of age you will notice they start eating grass at the same time. We will leave them in a pen until they start eating pellets & drinking from a bucket instead of needing a bottle.

 

[ngachickens]

Thanks so much guys... sounds like we are doing everything right. I gave her some electrolytes today. This evening she was ready for some milk!
I did notice she had drank quite a bit of water today, but I will keep an eye out for any signs of scours! With my two year old, we are out there about 15 times a day! LOL She enjoys checking on her!
Of course, i will keep ya'll updated on our first baby

 

[larryshoat]

I have never had a calf "disinterested" in milk unless they were getting a better feed source else where aka stealing milk..

You might want to evaluate the situation a little closer ,at this age she should be demanding way more milk ,so maybe she doesn't like the milk for some reason and has moved on to grain..

Hard to tell from the pic as to whether she is healthy or not..

I'm with HD on this . I don't like the sounds of a calf this age decreasing milk . When a calf starts on dry feed they should not back off on milk . If she decreases any more, I would start to look for other causes . Keep us posted and we will try to help .

Larry

 

[TexasBred]

She looks great and three quarts a day may be adequate, especially if she's drinking water and nibbling on the calf starter. Just observe her closely (which it seems you are) and handle accordingly. I don't see any reason for concern yet.

 

[ngachickens]

Great news ya'll!
She is drinking that bottle with gusto!
I had a little talk with her this morning and sang her a little song... after that, I couldn't keep her away from the bottle!!
Thanks so much to all ya'll who gave some much needed reassurance!
She had 2 qts 2x today...and hollerin for some more!

Thanks again! :tiphat:

 

[skyline]

I had a little talk with her this morning and sang her a little song... after that, I couldn't keep her away from the bottle!!
:tiphat:

nga, If you can make calves eat by singing to them, you might be able to hire yourself out! Good job. I have discovered with cows that it's always feels really good when things improve and you can quit worrying. Keep up the good work and congrats on introducing your 2 year old to livestock. I don't think you'll regret that one bit.

 

[ngachickens]

I had a little talk with her this morning and sang her a little song... after that, I couldn't keep her away from the bottle!!
:tiphat:

nga, If you can make calves eat by singing to them, you might be able to hire yourself out! Good job. I have discovered with cows that it's always feels really good when things improve and you can quit worrying. Keep up the good work and congrats on introducing your 2 year old to livestock. I don't think you'll regret that one bit.

Singing has been my salvation in more cases than just this one!

When I was much younger, I inherited a horse from a relative that had passed (we never really like each other and I think it was his way of getting the last word! HA HA God Love him!)
Anways, Jitters was the horses name. I couldn't get my hands on him for two months...One morning I was putting his feed out and was singing "Amazing Grace"... In minutes, Jitters was eating sweet feed out of my hand!

About my two year old...
I am a firm believer that you train your children in the way you hope they will turn out! Too many are doing the "let's let em do what they want to do, and hopefully, they will turn into something" child rearing non-activities! But I could stand on that soap box for days! I know I won't regret introducing my girl to livestock...
Here she is helping with the bottle this morning (Her 2nd birthday is next month!! She wants a chicken cake...ha ha)

 

[Irishred]

nga,
Your daughter is adorable and obviously likes your calf. (Love the t-shirt)

Out of my older 3 kids, my 4yo daughter has shown the most interest in our calf. They all like to go out and watch the cattle in the next pasture and go see the calf but my dd seems to show the most interest on a regular basis.

Oh, my calf likes it when I sing to, or at least I think he does. He butts and rubs on me more when I sing to him.

IR

 

[spinandslide]

I too am a new bottle calf owner. I cant see your photo, but if thats her in your avatar, she looks cute! IT looks likeyour daughter is having a great time! My 7 year old son loves our calf

 

[TexasBred]

Thankfully mine aren't waiting on a song from me. We would have a stampede if I cranked down on some George Strait or something.

 

[spinandslide]

Thankfully mine aren't waiting on a song from me. We would have a stampede if I cranked down on some George Strait or something.

Youre that good eh???? ;-)

 

[ngachickens]

Thankfully mine aren't waiting on a song from me. We would have a stampede if I cranked down on some George Strait or something.

Youre that good eh???? ;-)

LOL...now I never said I was good...
My husband says I might sound like her Momma... ha ha :lol:

I certainly make sure no one is around to witness this mini-concert for the animals

 

[spinandslide]

Thankfully mine aren't waiting on a song from me. We would have a stampede if I cranked down on some George Strait or something.

Youre that good eh???? ;-)

LOL...now I never said I was good...
My husband says I might sound like her Momma... ha ha :lol:

I certainly make sure no one is around to witness this mini-concert for the animals

LOL..as long as there are not any witnesses! I admit, I love music and I sing in the car..My cows names are all music related too..come to think of it, I think I used to hum songs to my heifer when I first got her and she was abit snorty..