New Calf question...

[sprinter86]

This is my first year with beef cows and everything is going pretty good. The only real question that I have is that a calf was born yesterday afternoon late and the momma has claimed it and everything, but I have yet to see the calf suck. When ever I am in the area I see it get close, but not latch on. Am I worrying to much? It is supposed to be down to 34 tonight with rain so I locked them in a maturnity pen. How long do I wait until I pertrude and try a bottle?

 

[angie1]

Is it a heifer that had the calf? So far things seem to be going well, and I think it is good that you put them in if you are expecting rain with that cold ~ its hard on the new babies, and preventing problems is more than half the battle. There was a post on this not long ago, I will see if I can find it quick (American Idol is almost on!) and paste it in here. It includes some tips on what you might could do. Good luck!
Here it is!
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=63196

 

[I luv herfrds]

Welcome to the board. :welcome:

first just relax. Sometimes it takes calves awhile to get latched on to nurse.
We had our last first year heifer calve today and it took quite awhile for the calf to get up and nurse.

If you are really concerned and the cow is calm enough I would assist the calf in latching on.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[dun]

If the calf hasn;t nursed by now there is a real problem with it's immune system from not getting any colosturm. Is the calf peeing and has it pooped yet. Look under it's tail, if it's pooped you will usually see some evidence of it. Could be the calf isn;t really hungry and is just messing aorund with the teats as something to do. I tthe udder swellen and hot, does one or tewo quarters appear smaller then the others. Is the calf sunken in the sides in front of the hips. Those are usually the first things I check if I'm concerned about if the calf has eaten. Newvborn calves don;t nurse very frequently, a couple of times a day usually. But if they;ve been laying around for a while they may go over and fiddle around like they might want to eat but they don;t. Usually the first thing in the morning when they get up they will eat, someitmes takes them a few minutes to get aoround to it.

 

[TexasBred]

This is my first year with beef cows and everything is going pretty good. The only real question that I have is that a calf was born yesterday afternoon late and the momma has claimed it and everything, but I have yet to see the calf suck. When ever I am in the area I see it get close, but not latch on. Am I worrying to much? It is supposed to be down to 34 tonight with rain so I locked them in a maturnity pen. How long do I wait until I pertrude and try a bottle?

Look at the cows udder also. You can often tell if at least one teat has been sucked on.

 

[spinandslide]

agree, check the mom's bag..if it doesnt look tight and swollen, calf has probably nursed..it took me 2 days to finally catch my booger calf nursing off her mama..but I knew she had, as mom's bag was significantly smaller.

 

[sprinter86]

Thanks to all who had responded. This morning went in and checked on momma and baby and they were both laying down. The cow is on her third calf. and very protective of this one. Udder was kindof uncertain whether or not it sucked or not. The sun was out and a nice day so i kicked them back out to the pasture. Couple hours later saw the baby latching on for breakfast. Talk about a great feeling.

 

[I luv herfrds]

Glad to hear the good news.

 

[jcarkie]

also when mom wants baby to follow she will let him go for the meal, then lead him away by not letting him get ahold till she gets him away fom you. it is hard sometimes to tell if they have nursed much when she is so swelled, they dont drink much for the first few days.

 

[tamarack]

A couple of tips are put your fingers in calf mouth if its cold you should feed it if warm it more than likely has sucked . Put some tattoo ink or the like on calfs nose then you can check the cows bag for ink it will tell you if it is in the right area usually they will suck if every thing else is right. Good luck with calving and relax .