Day 5 and calf won't nurse the cow

[Chap]

We have a JDS Stout bull calf that was born last Thursday out of a first calf heifer of Cowboy Up (angus).  Calf was born unassisted and was about 80 lbs.  He was 10 days early.  The calf did not seem to get the whole nursing idea.  We milked the cow within 6 hours of birth, offered a bottle and he drank from the bottle. This process has been done 2x/day since his birth and the calf does not seem to have the suckle reflex.  he will "chomp" on the bottle and consumption is fine, but will refuse the teat on the cow.  Anyone have any suggestions to get him going?  I hate to have a bottle calf, and the cow is easy enough to work with, but it is getting a little burdensome. 

 

[txguy]

Might try getting her up in a chute and pull off the bottom boards and put something sweet on her teets like karo syrup or something along that line and put a little on his mouth and try to force him to start sucking and if he does start put some more karo syrup on her teets till he takes off on his own. We have always had pretty decent luck doing that.

 

[Chap]

We get her in to milk her twice a day and offer him the chance to nurse on his own every time.  he is getting strong enough that it is tough to force him to do anything, but he will nose around and occasionally get a teat in his mouth, but just bites and does not suck.  I have gone through this many times in the past and usually, even the BIG DUMB ones get it within 3 days.  He is agressive with the bottle, but doesn't suck it,  just chews and swallows

 

[farwest]

Skip a feeding, maybe 6 hrs later when he's good n hungry give him shot of banamine.  I don't know what it does but i've seen it make calves suck the boards off the wall.  Hour or two later try working with him to get him sucking the cow if he hasn't already.

 

[knabe]

let that stomach do the decision making.  have a cup of coffee.  get a donut, shovel some poop, turn your back...

 

[inthebarnagain]

let that stomach do the decision making.  have a cup of coffee.  get a donut, shovel some poop, turn your back...

I had the same problem last fall and ignored the baby all day, she was only 3 days old at the time, by that evening she wanted to eat and nursed like crazy.  Make sure he doesn't have a cleft palate that is eliminating his ability to suck, they can have it and look perfectly normal. 

 

[Chap]

thanks for the words and ideas.  We gave banamine at noon and if he doesn't eat on his own tonight we will let him build up some more hunger and try again in the morning.  I often wonder if sometimes we do too much.  pull them early, monkey with them constantly and fail to let mamma and mother nature do their part.  Unfortunately, doing nothing and losing a calf seems to leave you with a pretty empty feeling.

 

[dori36]

thanks for the words and ideas.  We gave banamine at noon and if he doesn't eat on his own tonight we will let him build up some more hunger and try again in the morning.  I often wonder if sometimes we do too much.  pull them early, monkey with them constantly and fail to let mamma and mother nature do their part.  Unfortunately, doing nothing and losing a calf seems to leave you with a pretty empty feeling.

Well, you have a point, but you did exactly the right thing by getting the dam's milk/colostrum into him fairly quickly.  That's the real important part of the whole picture and you have done that well.  Now, since he's had milk for 5 days, I think he can go all night or all day without drinking to get him 'really' wanting the milk.  Barring the cleft palate consideration, I'm thinking he should be pretty willing to nurse after several hours with no milk.  Thank heavens the heifer is gentle and easy to work with!

 

[angusbreed]

i agree, let it be and the calf will start nursing when he is hungry enough

 

[CM Cattle]

Let nature take its corse, he'll eat when hes hungry.

 

[Show Heifer]

Chap.... I had a calves like this several, several years ago... tube fed one calf for 4 weeks, until it got sick and died. Sent in a "requested" sample to a "famous vet" and found it had a heart defect. I just prolonged its death. BUT, neither of these nursed a bottle either, never did suck.  I do agree with the banimine, although my vet told me to mix some vit. with it.

I am all for "letting nature take its course" but find it an odd view in light of the "how do you induce a heifer" and "had a hard pull on a little 120 pounder" and "recovery after a c-section" discussions that have been on this board.  I think this falls under "its all fun and games (and free advice)" until it is YOU.

Wish you luck Chaps....I sent you a PM.

 

[Jill]

I'm guessing something is wrong, if it won't suck a bottle or your finger it isn't going to suck the cow no matter how hungry you let it get.

 

[Chap]

We have officially made this calf a bottle baby.  My partner has been doing the dirty work with him and I finally got a chance to look at him last night.  The calf is full of vigor and is aggressive. I put my finger in his mouth and noticed that his would suck, but his tongue would not cover up his teeth and it hurts when they chomp on your finger.    I just stood back and looked at him for a little while and noticeced that his head was different than most.  stepped way back and saw the problem.  HIS NOSE IS CROOKED!  Looks like Rhianitis in a pig.  His right nostril is in line with the center of his head and is twisted to the left.  almost like a partial monkey mouth.  When he nurses the bottle the nipple is long and stiff enough that he can still keep it in his mouth when he cocks his head far enough.  THe cow has a perfect udder, teats about the size of your pinky finger and about that long.  Not enough for him to keep it secured in his crooked face.  ARRRRRGH!  Thanks for all the help.  Just another example of sometimes not being able to see the forest for the trees.  Took a fresh set of eyes to really notice, and now it is Glaring!

 

[dori36]

Wow!  I'd love to see a picture of his face from the front if you're so inclined to share!

We have officially made this calf a bottle baby.  My partner has been doing the dirty work with him and I finally got a chance to look at him last night.  The calf is full of vigor and is aggressive. I put my finger in his mouth and noticed that his would suck, but his tongue would not cover up his teeth and it hurts when they chomp on your finger.    I just stood back and looked at him for a little while and noticeced that his head was different than most.  stepped way back and saw the problem.  HIS NOSE IS CROOKED!  Looks like Rhianitis in a pig.  His right nostril is in line with the center of his head and is twisted to the left.  almost like a partial monkey mouth.  When he nurses the bottle the nipple is long and stiff enough that he can still keep it in his mouth when he cocks his head far enough.  THe cow has a perfect udder, teats about the size of your pinky finger and about that long.  Not enough for him to keep it secured in his crooked face.  ARRRRRGH!  Thanks for all the help.  Just another example of sometimes not being able to see the forest for the trees.  Took a fresh set of eyes to really notice, and now it is Glaring!

 

[CAB]

Chap, sounds like Monkey Mouth/Parrot Mouth. Cowboy, which bull is it that you think carries and spreads most of the Monkey Mouth? I had a Parrot Mouth calf last year, not to this degree probably, but he did well and was growthy and everything. The only mistake that I made was to tell the sale barn that if they sorted him I would just as soon pick him back up. Those buyer's made someone good money on that calf. Can you say half-off sale? Chap, I would say, make sure that the calf is worth all the extra work he's going to take. If you need one for the freezer, he maybe the one. Brent

 

[Chap]

Power Plant is a notoriuos culprit of Monkey mouth and JDS is a son of Power Plant.  I thought the same thing after I analized him.  Another genetic defect to watch out for!  Seems to me Monkey Mouth is not necessarily a recessive trait.  this cow is mostly angus and i have never seen an angus calf with monkey mouth. 

 

[Chap]

ol' crooked nose nursed his momma yesterday!  NO BOTTLE CALF!!!!!!!  took him 9 days to figure out how to use that screwed up mouth of his. 

 

[VJ]

I had a Wonder (Reflector son) steer a few yrs ago just like this. He took about a week to master nursing but he did prosper. Even though he had a crooked face we still kept him and showed him at our county fair. He was easy feeding and pretty stout. Didn't win but made some money. I have pics but can't figure out how to post them. Help me and I'll post them.

 

[OH Breeder]

I had a Wonder (Reflector son) steer a few yrs ago just like this. He took about a week to master nursing but he did prosper. Even though he had a crooked face we still kept him and showed him at our county fair. He was easy feeding and pretty stout. Didn't win but made some money. I have pics but can't figure out how to post them. Help me and I'll post them.

Notice below the box you type there is an additional options. Click on it. then you will see a browse box. Click on it and find your picture. post

 

[VJ]

Here is crooked faced Lil Wonder.