WisRose
Well-known member
Just curious at how many weeks born early will a calf survive? What extra care is involved with a premie? Just in case I have to deal with it sometime.
Premature calves survival rate
- Thread starter WisRose
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With the variations of what is considered normal gestation length, determining premature is pretty hard. We had one 17 days before the "expected" birth date, she was slow to get up so I tubed her with packaged cholcotrum, gave her a shot of selenium and the little turd kicked the crap out of me trying to get away. She was alwasy a little smaller then all of the other calves but she only weighed 45 lbs at birth, weaned at 380 lbs at 179 days.
dun
dun
jerry27150
Well-known member
had one born a month or so early & didn't weigh only 25-30 lbs. gave it to my wife's aunt & she raised it up fine. it was a heifer & she could stand & act pretty normal when born.
TheBullLady
Well-known member
I had a bottle calf years ago that was a month early. Luckily she had colostrum before I got her! She was raised right along with my bigger calves and did fine.
survival of premies usually has a lot to do with how developed their lungs are. the lungs and eyes are some of the last things to develop. we had a 25 lber a couple of years ago, about the size of my beagle. she was healthy as all get out, or at least a fighter. she was always smaller but weaned a pretty decent weight.
Victoria
Well-known member
One thing to remember with preemies is they often have a harder time digesting milk than regular calves. Of course ideally they have had their colostrum and are drinking from their mothers. If they aren't on the cow though instead of feeding regular milk replacer feed them Carnation Evaporated Milk and plain yoghurt. 1 can of carnation = 1 Tbsp yoghurt. It is easier for them to digest and they will perk up much faster. 
