Salebarn bottle calves

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Well, your in it now. If nothing else it will be a good lesson for the future. If the big calf is still alive; I V bannamine, and fluids. Multi-min90, vit AD&E, a little nuflor, and recover antihistamine.
Good Luck.
 
I gave him A&D , vitamin B, Multimin 90, and his poop is like pudding now, so hopefully he's going to get better!?? And he is getting 2 gallons of liquid, split into four feedings. He's drinking his bottle slowly,
 
Gosh. I would drink real slow too if I had to drink 2 gallon a day.
IF HES DOING WELL, I'd cut him back to 2 bottles (that's 2 qt bottles) of good milk per day, cut Into 2 feedings, 12 hrs apart. Or as close as possible. Thats 4 qts a day. Hopefully hes hydrated by now.

Hes probly gonna slow down on you for a day or 2 now that hes caught up on fuel. Keep an eye on him

Surely his belly is full...
Does it look and feel full?
Any pics of the lil bugger?
 
Even after he drinks a bottle of milk, his sides look caved in, like he doesn't have anything in his stomach... He is getting the 2 gallons over a 16 hour span, in a 24 hour period. This evening his nose is finally wet and he is curling up like a calf should. I need to get pictures of him I keep remembering when it's dark out lol
 
I agree with the post that recommended cutting back to the two quarts at a feeding. They can be over fed and can cause more problems than being slightly underfed when first starting them out. It was recommended to us by several sources to not give the full amount of milk replacer on the label for a while slowly building them up to it. When we used nurse cows I just let the new ones nurse for just a few minutes provided that they took to it good. Calves can be be hard to raise, and it unfortunately comes with losses. I used to raise 80-100 a year on bottles or nurse cows. I had a lot better survival rate when getting them first hand straight from a dairy.
 
Gosh! At 70 pounds or so, I cant imagine where he would be putting it! Lol

A hungry calf is a happy calf!

That is to say, they usually always seem like they are starving.
4 qts a day should provide all the nutrition it needs.
I would definitely provide a bucket of clean water.
Water nursed from a bottle goes to the wrong compartment in the stomach.
And musn't forget a small bowl of feed.
I'd hold off on the feed a couple days til hes good and adjusted to his bottle feeding routine.
Sounds like hes on the right path tho.
Hope all continues well!
 
I think you are feeding him right as the 2 bottles of milk are for nutrition and the electrolytes are to get him well hydrated. If he looks really good then stop one electrolyte bottle. After a couple of days stop the other. I hope he makes it for you.
 
Hereford2 said:
Even after he drinks a bottle of milk, his sides look caved in, like he doesn't have anything in his stomach... He is getting the 2 gallons over a 16 hour span, in a 24 hour period. This evening his nose is finally wet and he is curling up like a calf should. I need to get pictures of him I keep remembering when it's dark out lol
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Well done. Keep up with the 2 gallons a day. There are still a few folks out there that will feed 2 quarts twice a day, but fortunately that's dying out. It's a starvation ration for calves. Some of the dairies I work with will work calves up to three gallons a day. It's amazing how much healthier they are when you feed them like a cow would.
 
:cboy: I should have been more specific, I'm feeding him a total of 1&1/2 gallons of Jersey milk, split into 3 feedings, the Fourth feeding is Electrolytes, and I'm happy to say that he is looking better, still really weak. It's supposed to get down to 13 Degrees farenheit, tonight, so if he lives through that, he should make it... I have him in a snug shelter with super deep straw and he let me bury him in another foot of straw on top of him.
 
:eek: It got down to 7 degrees last night.. But the calf is doing better than yesterday! He started mooing when he heard me coming, and he stayed standing up and continued to moo at me while I was feeding the rest of the calves! I put a reminder on my phone to get a picture of him lol. So hopefully you will see him today lol
 
Buck Randall said:
Hereford2 said:
Even after he drinks a bottle of milk, his sides look caved in, like he doesn't have anything in his stomach... He is getting the 2 gallons over a 16 hour span, in a 24 hour period. This evening his nose is finally wet and he is curling up like a calf should. I need to get pictures of him I keep remembering when it's dark out lol
Click to expand...
Well done. Keep up with the 2 gallons a day. There are still a few folks out there that will feed 2 quarts twice a day, but fortunately that's dying out. It's a starvation ration for calves. Some of the dairies I work with will work calves up to three gallons a day. It's amazing how much healthier they are when you feed them like a cow would.
Click to expand...

Buck Randall, I agree with you that calves will do better receiving more milk, that's why random calves out in the field will have the appearance of 2-3 months more growth on them than the average bottle calf. I don't believe real young calves need that much. I believe that especially the first couple weeks after birth or the same amount of time after a purchase they should be fed a smaller amount and then be gradually worked up to larger amounts if desired. I have had several vets say that you can kill them with kindness by over feeding them. When I raised dairy calves I left them on milk longer usually than recommended because I thought they did better later. I think proper sanitation and nutrition are the most important factors in calf raising.
 
This calf was fed half bottles first then worked up to full bottles. I've raised dozens of calves. 3 others from the sale barn. These calves weren't that young, they were just starved nearly to death. The calf that was alive this morning is dead now.
 
:frowns: :cry2: :???: :cry2: This picture was just before he laid on his side and died, he went from pudding poop this morning, to undigested milk coming out of his mouth and his back end and dead in a very short time. I did everything possible for him and he still didn't make it.
 
Awww BALLZ!

Sad to hear that.
Good on you for trying so hard tho.

I had one I stayed up all night with.
My wife hollaring the whole time about me having a calf in the darn bathtub.
He didnt make it.
So sad even when it's just for a days time
 
Hereford2 said:
:cry2: I'm sorry,. I am sad I get attached to them so fast .
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Sorry. It's impossible to know, but I'd be curious as to how long your calf went without milk before you got him. Calves that are weaned too young can lose the ability to digest milk, but not yet have the ability to survive as a ruminant. That might have been what happened to yours. You were probably doomed before you started.
 

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