Friday, I had a heifer trying to calf. Long story short, I bought her as an open hiefer. I failed to lute her like should have last fall. She is tops 15 months old. Luckily she was way over 1000 pounds. I lost my working pens in a storm. She was to wild to tie to tree by myself. I had to wait to round up enough help to neck her to the side of my cow trailer. I got the calf out, but his head and tongue were swelled something awful. Might have been a bad call on my behalf, but with no good place to put the heifer, I stripped her out, and turned her loose. I brought the calf to the house. I have now been tubing him since Friday afternoon. I don't think he is brain damaged. I'm pretty sure his tongue just doesn't work like it should. What's the longest you've tubed one that was like this?
Tube feeding question?????
- Thread starter Bigfoot
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John SD
Well-known member
This is a case where patience is definitely a virtue. Keep trying. The calf's tongue obviously is bruised and hurt and that is why he is reluctant to use it.
A good sized drop of honey or molasses on his tongue might help stimulate the sucking reflex. As long as you are tubing him and the calf is making progress, there is hope. The calf should become a bit stronger each day until hopefully mother nature will take over.
Good luck!
A good sized drop of honey or molasses on his tongue might help stimulate the sucking reflex. As long as you are tubing him and the calf is making progress, there is hope. The calf should become a bit stronger each day until hopefully mother nature will take over.
Good luck!
regolith
Well-known member
Not sure what the longest I've ever tubed a calf is but it might have been a week.
Keep trying with offering the bottle first before tubing. If you're tubing more often than 2x a day or giving too much, lack of hunger might be additionally suppressing the suckle. He should come round eventually...
Never tried the honey, let us know if it works it sounds interesting.
Keep trying with offering the bottle first before tubing. If you're tubing more often than 2x a day or giving too much, lack of hunger might be additionally suppressing the suckle. He should come round eventually...
Never tried the honey, let us know if it works it sounds interesting.
branguscowgirl
Well-known member
Can you give him an anti inflammatory of some kind to decrease the swelling and discomfort? I have never had that happen, but it seems that if you could help with that, he may be more inclined to suck.
OP
OP
Bigfoot
Well-known member
He was very lively this morning, but wouldn't suck. The blue color in the tip of his tongue seems to be disapating a little. I treated him for scours yesterday. Seems over that. I've been giving him anti-inflamatories, but stopped this morning.
John SD
Well-known member
Bigfoot":1xwk48hs said:
Very lively, tongue healing, over the scours. Things are looking up a bit :!: :banana: Keep us posted.
OP
OP
Bigfoot
Well-known member
All I had was pancake syrup. I've tried that twice since John posted about it. I bet it would work great on some calves. He is nosing the kids, and the walls when he is hungry, just no inclination to suck.
John SD
Well-known member
Another thing you might want to try is instant coffee or 5 hr energy drink in the milk.
No experience myself, but some of the guys at NAT have had success with it.
This is one of several threads about the subject:
http://talk.newagtalk.com/forums/thread ... tid=449432
No experience myself, but some of the guys at NAT have had success with it.
This is one of several threads about the subject:
http://talk.newagtalk.com/forums/thread ... tid=449432
I had a calf born during the ice storm we found comatose and a body temp near fatal. We brought him in and set him a bed at the wood stove and i put a hair dryer on him to help speed the heat. He laid there for 24 hours. We tubed him colostrum i keep frozen that i harvest from cows that lose a calf. He was a big calf, around 90 lbs. The next morning he showed signs of life so he went out to the greenhouse with all the other tragedies of the ice storm. I tubed fed him for a week, never once did he ever show he was hungry and wouldnt even try to nurse a bottle. He was the last calf out of the greenhouse. One day, he stood up on his own and lacklusterly nursed a bottle, hence his name Lackluster. He could stand, he showed a little interest in nursing so to avoid his mother totally giving up, i put him back out with her and bagged him in the pasture. I bagged him at least once out there and i supplemented him with a bottle a couple days. One day i went out and his mother was nursed dry and i havent had to do a thing since...Moral to the story is, never give up...
highgrit
Well-known member
Bigfoot, can you put him with another calf and it's mother in a pen. Might just need to see what to do.
OP
OP
Bigfoot
Well-known member
The monster energy drink is the trick. Never seen anything like it. Calf sucked like he was bottle broke this morning. Totally sold on it. The literature on the net is sketchy on details. I used half a can.
highgrit
Well-known member
That will sure make things a little easier. That's ashame with the pens, I saw what was left of your barns.
