Bottle feeding question

[Dieselrider]

We have raised cattle before but this is our first with a calf this young. A couple weeks old. The previous owner hadn't started bottle feeding it but was concerned that the mother was not producing enough milk. I have milk replacer but have not been able to get the little bugger interested in the bottle yet. My wife and I have held it and put the bottle into it's mouth but it is not sucking. We even squirted the replacer into the mouth and it does lick it's nose and lips but, does not seem too interested in the contents.
The calf does nibble some chop and hay and does drink from a tub of water some. It just seems small ad I wanted to get the protein in her before too long. It moves around ok and seems to be doing well, am I worrying too much? Tell me what you think.

[Dieselrider]

We were finally able to get her to take some from a bottle but, not much. She seemed to be suckling a bit toward the end but it didn't seem that she drank much. How hard is it usually to get a calf started on a bottle? Thanks.

[Callieslamb]

In my experience, if a calf is hungry it will eat. Or rather, drink. HOw long have you had the calf? How long has it gone with out milk?

[Dieselrider]

We got the calf yesterday early afternoon. I don't know for sure but it would be at least since yesterday morning sometime.

[farmergirl]

You mention that the calf is drinking water from a bucket. We had GREAT luck feeding milk replacer in buckets, instead of bottle feeding. It's much less work and the two baby holsteins we bought this spring did wonderfully on it. We learned this from the dairy farmer we bought them from.

[Wilhelm]

I raise calves for a living, and at 2 weeks, they should be taking a bottle at least twice a day. We also get them going on a grain mixture and drinking from a bucket. This sounds harsh, but sometimes you need to tube them when they don't want to eat.

Is the calf attentive and energetic, and able to stand? What does the scat look like? If loose, it needs to be treated for scours or it could go down fast.

More info would help.

[Dieselrider]

I have not seen it's skat as yet. It is up and attentive, moves around ok, not running and bouncing or anything like that. I have watched it eat a bit of grain and some hay. It will drink from a tub of water. What other info can I provide?

[Wilhelm]

I assume it has been nursing from mom, so the whole bottle thing is odd. We seperate the calves right away, and get them on the bottle with at least 2 bottles of colostrum in the first 24 hours.

If it is eating grain and drinking water, it is not such a big deal, but keep trying with the bottle. Look for the scat and if it is loose, you can treat it with a medicine called spectin. We put a capful in each bottle and it seems to do pretty well.

When a calf won't hold itself up and just sprawls, you need to jump in real quick and treat with antibiotics. We use 5cc of naxcel over 4 days seems to work pretty well. If the scat is firm just keep trying with the bottle, or the tube feeder even, just to get some nourishment into it. It will eventually get the hang of the bottle and be sucking them down in no time. We wean at 2 months anyway, so just keep going with the grain and hay as well.

Good luck with your new calf!

[Dieselrider]

Thanks Wilhelm, I will keep trying and keep a close eye on her . I have written down the meds, just in case. Thanks again.

[tyusclan]

Is the calf still with the mother and you're trying to feed it a bottle or have you seperated it from the mother and are trying to get to eat?

If the calf is still with the mother I would not be trying to feed it more. You can overfeed very quickly and cause it to scour. It's very rare that a cow won't produce enough milk to grow the calf. If the coat's shiny, the eyes are bright, it's moving around okay, and it's defecating and urinating, it's fine.

If you've seperated it and are trying to get it to eat that's another matter entirely.

[Dieselrider]

Yes it is separated from the mother. I bought four calves from a fella not too far from me. He sent heifers, I wanted steers. The other three are older 300 pounds or so and are doing well on grain, although they are still bawling for momma- less now then when they arrived.

The good news is I did get a pint in HIM this morning. The guy told me they were all heifers and he is a cattle guy so I took his word. This morning, while holding him and trying to convince him to eat, he peed. I thought wait a minute, he's peeing from underneath not from the back. (being the bright guy I am- picked right up on that). So, I felt around and sure enough he has balls. I will have to band him too but, at least I am aware. I am going to call the guy I bought them from and ask if he doesn't know the difference from a boy and a girl. I have not seen his skat as yet but, he is pretty alert and was more rambunctious this morning then yesterday.