Is this right? Please give advice.

[juliemom26]

I posted earlier about how on Monday our Ancient White Park had twins. She accepted on and rejected the other. We have been bottle feeding the baby calf here at our house. Monday night we got 3 pints of colostrum replacement in her. Once she learned how to suck she went at it like crazy. Yesterday was different though. I went out there five different times during the day and she really did not want the bottle. We changes nipples a couple times and the flow from the nipple. She will suck for a bit and then push it out with her tongue. Last night we got a whole other pint of colostrum replacement in her and she did well with that.

The calf looks "good." As of last night she would stand and wonder around and nudge at things (our leg, etc.). She is not dehydrated, her poop is solid, she appears more wobbly on her legs than her twin, but all in all she seems ok. We are hearing different things from the two vets we contacted and a couple local farmers. One vet said this calf's chances are very minimal if we do not get real colostrum in her and one vet seemed to think the colostrum replacement was ok. One farmer said it isn't all that odd that she isn't gobbling down her bottle because she ate a huge meal Monday night and she is a small calf. The 3 pints may have upset her stomach a bit. He expected her eating to pick up today. One of the two vets was ready to tube her yesterday afternoon even though she was standing and walking around and sucking a little.

We do not know what to expect. We have never done this before and we are getting really conflicting opinions. My plan this morning is to call a few local dairy farmers and see if anyone can spare some colostrum. If she continues to suck and could get some of that down I think that would be best. I am not sure how receptive they will be. We tried all night last night to get mama cow and the twin she has with her into a stall. We are concerned about the twin she has because she doesn't seem to be nurses and at any rate we figured it we could get them in the stall we could monitor them and maybe even milk mama for our bottle calf here. After much effort we could not get her in. We lost daylight hours and had to call it a night.

Could you with experience please help out?? We really, really want to save this calf!

This is her yesterday morning.



Julie

[7thswan]

She looks good. The farmers around you should be quite receptive to giving you some colostrum,they have been around here. Is it possible that you cow is letting the calf suckle?(it might be nursing and you don't know it) Sometimes the cow takes a couple of days to come around to let the other twin nurse.It is confusing for the cow to "see" 2 babies. At least your 1 calf has some colostrum, get the calf some good medicated milk replacer.

[randiliana]

Your calf looks good. At this point, I wouldn't worry about the colostrum. You got some into her on Monday when it was really needed. Now her gut is closed to it anyways so feeding it is no longer necessary. Get a good quality milk replacer for her and she will be fine.

The colostrum replacement may not be ideal, but it should work. It is always better to use colostrum from your own herd because it has antibodies specific to you herd. But in a pinch the other stuff is OK.

[linn]

There is a product called ImmunoBoost that is recommended on another forum. You might want to check this out. It won't hurt the calf and may help.

[myersfarm]

I would tube feed it...colostrum for the first 6 feedings.....if not tube feed it milk...it needs something 3 pints 2 times a day....later 4 pints 2 times a day....

when starting bottle rub your finger on roof of mouth see if it will start sucking finger the give bottle

[mamahen]

Your calf looks good. Perky eyes & ears, interested expression. Is her mouth warm?

Agree with everyone about the colostrum. She had the substitute when she needed it (first 24 hours). Switch her to the milk replacer.

What kind of replacer did you get? Make sure it's made with milk only!! No soy. They do soooo much better. Yes - it will be more expensive. But better that than a sick calf. In our area it's about $50 a bag.

The other calf that is with mom is probably nursing. She will tell it to lay in one place & only nurse a few times a day. Can you silently observe her where she cannot see you? Just sit and watch for awhile.

[juliemom26]

Thank you all for your replies. Our bottle calf looked good this morning and with some coaxing she ate a pint of colostrum replacement. A local dairy farmer gave us some frozen colostrum. I know it is a little late, but I figured better late than never. It won't do her any harm. I am warming it up as I type.

Your replies make me feel a little less worried and more hopeful that she will make it.

Julie

[springvalley]

While it is very important to get the colostrum in the calf in the first 12 hours, it sure does not hurt to give it some later. And the colostrum from your neighbor will be so much better, but also don`t over do it. Your calf does look good, so keep doing what you are. I wouldn`t feed medicated MR unless you need to, problems is all I can say. > Thanks Marc

[momagoat61]

Colostrum replacements have saved a manya calf. I bet your calf is taking to the bottle by now just fine. Nice looking heifer you have there..

[RoyalValley]

I know that our local dairy feeds 1 gallon of colostrum to each of it's holstein calves by 12 hours age. Those are much bigger babies. I don't believe they feed any colostrum after that. just regular milk.

It sounds like you are on the right track. Best to you!!