Preemie

[randiliana]

Here is our new baby. I figure he is about a month early. His coat is short, and he weighs in at a whopping 46#. Figure another 20-30 # at a lb/day makes him 20-30 days early. Mama is good, she bagged up and everything. He was a pull, but I think that had more to do with him being early than anything. Mama is a heifer. He is pretty floppy, but he is breathing well, and he sure can beller. He has a weak suck reflex so we tubed him. Now he is in a cardboard box in the kitchen. The cats are sure puzzled by the new addition :P

 

[Susie David]

And we thought we are pushing it with 125 pullets in the breakfast room.

have you given the calf any Se, A, E, D, B-12 ?
Good luck with the litle one.
DMc

 

[Beefy]

i would probably ignore the directions on the box.

 

[Susie David]

Beefy... :lol: :clap: :roll:

 

[randiliana]

And we thought we are pushing it with 125 pullets in the breakfast room.

have you given the calf any Se, A, E, D, B-12 ?
Good luck with the litle one.
DMc

No we haven't. Good point....

 

[randiliana]

i would probably ignore the directions on the box.

Whaaaat?? You don't think we should refridgerate him??? ;-) ;-) :P :P

Actually I'm trying to figure out how much colostrum we should give him. He's got 1/2 a litre in him now, and hes gonna get at least another 1/2 in a few minutes.

 

[Stepper]

randiliana,

What all will you have to do to keep him alive ? I mean you said he had a weak suck so i guess you tubed him with colostrum ? And will now have to tube feed him some type of milk until he is strong enough to take a bottle ?

I have never tube feed a calf. How do you go about tube feeding a calf ? I mean how far down its throat does the tube have to be put in and how do you know it is going into its stomach and not its lungs ?

I know this is alot of questions to ask and if it is to much trouble dont worry about answering them. I can and need to ask my vet incase i ever have to do this myself.

Thanks

 

[randiliana]

randiliana,

What all will you have to do to keep him alive ? I mean you said he had a weak suck so i guess you tubed him with colostrum ? And will now have to tube feed him some type of milk until he is strong enough to take a bottle ?

For now, we will keep him inside the house. Until he is strong enough to stand on his own. It is fairly nice here for the time of year, but it is cold enough to freeze up a little calf. Yes, we tubed him. We will tube him again tonite, mostly because it is easier and less time consuming than trying to get him to suck and it is late. Tomorrow we will work on getting him sucking and once he is strong enough we will put him back on the cow.

I have never tube feed a calf. How do you go about tube feeding a calf ? I mean how far down its throat does the tube have to be put in and how do you know it is going into its stomach and not its lungs ?

You just slide the tube into his throat and let him swallow it. Don't force it down, but put pressure on it. Most of the time we don't slide it down very far. Just far enough to be past his throat. It is fairly difficult to get the tube into the trachea (I have never had it happen). We use a flexible hose type bag with a bulb on the end of the hose.

I know this is alot of questions to ask and if it is to much trouble dont worry about answering them. I can and need to ask my vet incase i ever have to do this myself.

I'm happy to answer the questions. Makes me think about what we do as well.

Thanks

 

[randiliana]

Do his legs work? Im curious because from looking at the pics it doesnt look like they do.

He is pretty floppy, but if you hold most of his weight he can help. Don't know how well they work, but he had himself curled up in the barn so they have to work somewhat.

 

[randiliana]

Hmmmmm bose might not be a bad idea and b-12 a, e, etc.

Well, he got a shot of selenium and Vit ADE last night. Don't know if they were needed, but they sure didn't hurt. He is weak, but getting stronger. The biggest thing is that he wasn't finished developing. His lungs appear to be good, but his muscles are weak. He has a good suck reflex now, but he will only suck for a couple minutes before he is tired (the nipple has a fairly good hole cut in it). He tries to stand, and he can move himself around fairly well, but cannot get up on his own. If you do get him up he can stand for a little while. It will take some time, but I think he is going to be fine.

 

[Frankie]

Hmmmmm bose might not be a bad idea and b-12 a, e, etc.

Well, he got a shot of selenium and Vit ADE last night. Don't know if they were needed, but they sure didn't hurt. He is weak, but getting stronger. The biggest thing is that he wasn't finished developing. His lungs appear to be good, but his muscles are weak. He has a good suck reflex now, but he will only suck for a couple minutes before he is tired (the nipple has a fairly good hole cut in it). He tries to stand, and he can move himself around fairly well, but cannot get up on his own. If you do get him up he can stand for a little while. It will take some time, but I think he is going to be fine.

What a cutie. I hope you can get him on his feet.

 

[Joy in Texas]

Randi I hope the nipple hole isn't to big. Sometimes that keeps them from sucking because it's going in to fast. I would give him colostrum every couple of hours myself. A pint or so at a time. He's going to need all he can get at this point.
Good luck with him

 

[randiliana]

Randi I hope the nipple hole isn't to big. Sometimes that keeps them from sucking because it's going in to fast. I would give him colostrum every couple of hours myself. A pint or so at a time. He's going to need all he can get at this point.
Good luck with him

No, I don't think the hole is too big. It is a y (or x) cut. And a small one at that. I made it myself and it is a new nipple. He's gotten about 2 1/2 Litres of colostrum into him now, and we are milking the heifer to feed him. He is doing pretty good considering. Wants to get up, but just can't quite get the legs to work right. He can stand for a bit if you help him up though. Until he tries to walk, and then it is all downhill from there (literally) ;-)

 

[Workinonit Farm]

Good luck with the little guy.

I've had 2 in the last 3 years. The first one (2 yrs ago) was 40 lbs and he did just fine after the first week. The temps outside weren't too bad, so I kept him and momma up in a small pen with a well bedded run-in. I had to "help" him out for the first week but he did well.

The second was born last year, weighing in at a whopping 33 lbs, after a week and couple of days, she died. I wasn't sure she'd make it she was so tiny. That was the second time in a row for that cow. She went for a ride.

Yours sounds like he'll be okay. If he's sucking strong, and alert and trying, he should be okay.

Good luck.

Katherine

 

[Alice]

Randi, do ya' have a used nipple that doesn't have a larger hole in it. They can get so tired sucking that they quit, yet too much liquid at once can be a problem, also.

Glad ya' hit it with the vitamins...and as far as the colostrum goes, as premature as he is, I'd give him that for several days.

I'm with ya' on this one, girl! I'd be doing the same thing you are, box in the kitchen and all.

Alice

 

[gendronf]

He has a weak suck reflex so we tubed him.

Last week I had a small calf around 60 pounds. I try to tube him but I never could pass the ball of the feed bag throught his troat. Maybe I did something wrong? I always lube the tube and the ball. With this small calf did you had problem to tube him.

 

[randiliana]

He has a weak suck reflex so we tubed him.

Last week I had a small calf around 60 pounds. I try to tube him but I never could pass the ball of the feed bag throught his troat. Maybe I did something wrong? I always lube the tube and the ball. With this small calf did you had problem to tube him.

No we don't have any trouble tubing him. Just put some pressure on the tube, and let him swallow. Unless it has an unusually large bulb it should go down.

Alice, they are soft rubber nipples that I cut an small x into so they are easier to suck. I have 3 different nipples I have tried, 1 small rubber lamb nipple with an x cut, 1 larger calf nipple with an x cut and 1 larger calf nipple that I haven't made a cut into yet. Have tried all 3 with no real difference as far as him sucking goes. He will suck a bit, but I know he gets tired easily.

The nipples I prefer

24 hours old +/-

Standing up is HARD work. He was up for about 5 minutes here. Even tried walking a bit. Then he just collapsed. Now, I could go out there, and he would be unconcious to the world. He will be laying there limp as a rag, and out like a light. You can't hardly wake him up. First time I saw him like that I was pretty concerned!!

 

[Alice]

God love him...he's standing. Some of those babies...they sleep like the dead, don't they?

I've gone thru nipples like that...always think, hey, maybe this one...and it all comes back to...well, you know what it comes back to...you've been thru them.

He's worth the effort, Randi...I just know he is. Hang tough...it's work, but when the work pays off, it's worth everything. :heart:

Alice

 

[randiliana]

God love him...he's standing. Some of those babies...they sleep like the dead, don't they?

Alice

Exactly like the dead, if it wasn't for the fact you can see him breathing he looks like he died. Mouth open and just sprawled out. The worst is that usually when you find them like that they are dead, or so close to death you can't save them. Full term calves just don't sleep the same way ;-)

 

[milkmaid]

Actually I'm trying to figure out how much colostrum we should give him. He's got 1/2 a litre in him now, and hes gonna get at least another 1/2 in a few minutes.

Little late to answer this, but I've always heard you ought to get at least a gallon of colostrum into them in the first 24 hours, regardless of size. Some dairies try to get a gallon into them in the first 6-12 hours.

After the initial colostrum feedings, because of his size I'd go with no more than 1 1/2 gallons a day, just to keep him from developing milk scours (too much milk). That's what I usually feed twins and they do well on it. Calves on a cow don't usually overeat, but bottle calves have a tendency to gorge and drink so much (if they're allowed to) that they'll scour.