Help with bottle feeding!!!

[SKF]

We have a little heifer calf that we are having to bottle feed and I am lost so I need some advise. The calf is a week old today we brought her in last thursday when I relized that she was not nursing at all. We gave her a shot of multi vitimans and on thursday she drank half a bottle of colostrum and the next day she took a whole bottle but it took her all day, then on Sat. she drank a whole bottle in the morning. We still keeping her with her mother and I thought that her mothers udder looked a little smaller later that day and she was refusing the bottle so I assumed that maybe she nursed. Sunday she refused the bottle all day and we weighed her and she weighed 73lbs. Today she came running to us and appeared sunk in so and the mothers udder was huge. So I fixed a bottle and she took it but only drank one pint. She took another pint and half today so for today she has had 2 1/2 pints. She is active and appears healthy. How much should she be eating at a feeding? When can she start eating grain? Should I vaccinate her now? She I still keep her with her mother? Also do you think she would take to another cow?  She ahs not taken any intrest in mothers udder today so I don't know if she would try nursing a cow that was not her mother.  Sorry this is so long but I am clueless!! ??? 

 

[Jill]

Are you sure she isn't nursing, her mother appears to have enough milk to qualify for dairy status?  Have you tried milking her mother down to maybe make it easier for her to get on?

 

[SKF]

When we brought the calf in she was real weak. I kept thinking that maybe she is nursing but I have never seen her nurse all I ever see her do is suck on the sides. The mothers udder appears engorged I will get an updated picture in the morning and you can see the difference. I tried to milk her but she tried kicking every time.  The cow is a Braunvieh and she always milks like that but this is the only calf that seems to have a problem she does not appear to the smartest calf.

 

[SSIMMENTALS]

Just a thought, but are the bottoms of her teats larger daimeter than the top half? She kinda looks that way in the picture but I cant tell for sure.If so when the calf goes to latch on the teat will turn up on them and they can't get it in their mouth. We have never had any like this but my grandfather swears by it.

 

[common sense]

Try putting the calf and the cow in seperate pens where they can still see each other but so the calf can't reach through and suck.  Then every four hours put the calf with the cow.  Give the cow a bit of feed/hay so she is "occupied" and then see what the calf does.  If the calf gets hungry it will suck especially if it has been eager to suck a bottle.  I would say that you are just not seeing this calf suck.  This way you will know for certain that it is indeed being fed. You will also be able to see how the cow is reacting.  I have a cow that will throw a fit if the calf dosnt' suck often enough.  She must just get sore enough that she will kick at the calf sometimes.  When they are in the pasture it was longer between when the calf would suck and we had some problems.  When we put them in a more confined area the problem stopped.

Hope this helps.

 

[farmboy]

what happens if you have a cow who qualifies as "dairy status" but theres no way you can milk her out and she totally ignores the calf.... yea my new baldy has a terrible mother, the babe is in the hallway sleeping under a cover lol she drank about a gallon of colestrum today

 

[Davis Shorthorns]

Did she get any colestrum before you brought her in???

 

[farmboy]

im sure she did or shed be dead, born friday

 

[dori36]

what happens if you have a cow who qualifies as "dairy status" but theres no way you can milk her out and she totally ignores the calf.... yea my new baldy has a terrible mother, the babe is in the hallway sleeping under a cover lol she drank about a gallon of colestrum today

Put the mother in the chute, swueeze her down enough (or catch her head if she acts like a butthead!) to keep her from turning around, bring the calf over to her (drop the lower side of the chute), and help get the teat into the calf's mouth.  That is one huge udder with very large teats.  Until the calf is nursing on a regular basis, it will engorge as a newborn calf can't possibly nurse it down.  Newborns don't really nurse for very long each time so you very well may not see her nursing.  Also, I have found that the calves I've raised seemed to have the "favorite tit" and nurse prety exclusively on that one when they're tiny (the calf, not the teat).  So, the other 3 quarters may stay large and engorged for a while.  Does the mother try to kick the calf off when it's searching and trying to latch on?  If not, and if the calf seems satisfied, whe's probably nursing, but I'd still put mom in the chute and see what's going on.

 

[knabe]

the problem with low bags and big teats is when the rookie calf pushes on them, they fold at the base of attachment and they can't get them in their mouth as they don't have independing xyz movement like human hand.  when they push on the teat or bag, instead of the teat coming towards them, it goes away.  another obseration is that if the teat doesn't move towards them, they can't reach their tongue to the other side of the nipple and bring it towards their mouth and if that teat is too big, if they even do get it near their mouth, they can't get it in their mouth, at least the level they are trying to open their mouth.  what makes matters worse, is the little seal on the nipples that is hard at first to break.  this breaks sometimes usually on on nipple, but then they have to search for that nipple from the front end of the cow, the other four teats etc cause dribbles of milk are everywhere.  the mother gets frustrated, the calf gets frustrated etc.  the teats get bigger cause they ain't sucked on and the cycle keeps repeating and getting worse.  milk that lady down and put the calf back on her.  not milking that cow down, especially 4 quadrants can invite mastitis.  onthat first milking, it's obviously important to get that colustrum in them.  not trying to be an expert on that part, just my observations watching calves suck on low bags and big teats.

this is why it is EXTREMELY valuable to have a 10 year old or greater cow with great nipples.  teats that get stretched are mastitis magnets at some point.

then start looking at teats, especially on the mothers of the daughters you want to buy.

 

[fluffer]

Does the cow have Mastitis?  Probably not, but you may want to double check.  Calf only weighs 70 some pounds-  Those teats look pretty big for a calf that size. 
I would temp the calf #1 and make sure there isn't any fever.  Then I would put the cow in the chute and milk her down and see if the calf will nurse one the teats are a little smaller and milk is flowing.  Have you ever seen the calf nurse?  Then I would do what someone else suggested and seperate them so you can see if the calf will suck on its own.

good luck
Fluffer

 

[SKF]

We tried to milk her last week but was unable to due to her kicking. The cow seems to feel fine she is eating and not running a fever. The calf no longer takes any intrest in trying to nurse at least when we're there. She does take the bottle but she still needs to eat more. She is up running, playing and appears healthy just a little thin. I hoping she will start eat grain soon she does eat hay. The pictures below are updated pictures I took yesterday of the cows udder and the calf the last picture is from her calf two years ago so you can see she always has a large udder. We will not be breeding her anymore. When should we vaccinate the calf? I worry about her immune system since she is one the bottle. I have notice that one of our heifers that just had a calf a few weeks ago is letting all the calves in the pasture nurse her so I am going to try and get her to see if this calf will nurse. Do you think she will try or has she been on the bottle to long? Thanks!!!

 

[farmboy]

the problem i have is ...

1. we already took the calf away, and the mother acts like she hasnt noticed (no bawling etc etc)
2. i have no where to put the cow to milk her out.
3.she slightly flighty
4.calf drinks milk out of a bucket, wants nothing to do with the bottle

and what exactly is mastitis?

 

[dori36]

We tried to milk her last week but was unable to due to her kicking. The cow seems to feel fine she is eating and not running a fever. The calf no longer takes any intrest in trying to nurse at least when we're there. She does take the bottle but she still needs to eat more. She is up running, playing and appears healthy just a little thin. I hoping she will start eat grain soon she does eat hay. The pictures below are updated pictures I took yesterday of the cows udder and the calf the last picture is from her calf two years ago so you can see she always has a large udder. We will not be breeding her anymore. When should we vaccinate the calf? I worry about her immune system since she is one the bottle. I have notice that one of our heifers that just had a calf a few weeks ago is letting all the calves in the pasture nurse her so I am going to try and get her to see if this calf will nurse. Do you think she will try or has she been on the bottle to long? Thanks!!!

Just from the new picture of the cow, her udder is very unbalanced to the left and the calf 'may' be sucking the left rear quarter.  No personal criticism intended, but the cow has an example of a very poor udder (poor suspension, balloon tits, very low hanging). There is some heritability for those traits and I think you're wise not to breed her again lest she pass her genetics along.  I'm gathering from your not saying anything about restricting the cow in a chute that you don't have one.  Again, jmho, but to me even if you only own one cow, to be able to treat and handle it safely and for the cow's benefit, you need a chute or at least a headgate in a good alley setup.  If the calf is vigorous enough and wants to "hang out" with the other little rogues nursing on the benevolent cow in the pasture, you may be in luck.  I'd give it a shot but I'd be sure to also put the mother in that pasture with her.  Also, be sure to be able to get the calf separated out if need be.  I'd not be inclined to get the cow that is letting the other calves nurse in but rather to put the new calf and her dam out with her (the benevolent cow) and the others

Regarding her immunity/immune system - how long had she been born when you gave her the bottle of colostrum you talked about in your first post?  If it was more than 24 hours post birth (one hour is optimum, some believe much is lost after 4 hrs), I'd check with your Vet to get an opinion.  Good luck!

 

[fluffer]

Mastitis is an infecion in the quarter of the udder.  When you milk the cow out the milk is chunky and bloody.  If you put the milk in a bottle it looks like chocolate milk.  Its really gross.  A lot of time you can not tell the cow has it unill you get your hands on the cows udder.  Usually it will be really hard.  If you let it go long enough it usually damages that quarter and that cow will never be functional out of that qtr.  We have had cases from mild infection in 1 qrt to all 4 qtrs full blown infected.  We had a bad time if it this year due to all the rain and mud.  If we had a calf that wasn't doing well and we never saw it nurse we got them up and 100% of the time the cow had mastitis.  We lost a couple of calves too before we started really watching it.  Once we saw a cow had it she got milked totally out 2x a day and a heavy dose of antibiotics.  Once we got the calf going he/she would usually nurse enough to keep her clean.

As far as the calf in question.  Your vet may be able to do a simple blood test to see if she has the antibodies she needs from the colostrum.  If she does not you can do a transfusion from a healthy bull or cow.

It would depend on where you live what type of vaccinations you would need.  For example black leg is one you give early but only if your in an area that has it.

Good luck
Fluffer

 

[txguy]

If your still trying to milk the cow, and you have a squeeze chute tie a calf halter/rope around the cows back feet and dally them off tight enough so that she cant kick you and then you will be able to milk her pretty easy. And then you will for sure be able to tell if the cow has mastitis. Also if your are able to do this they make needles called tit/teet needles that actually go into the tit and drain that quarter. So you could still feed the calf the mothers milk instead of that crappy milk replacement.

 

[debtramm]

Hi, just noticed your message.  We recently had the same problem.  Cow didn't have mastitis but just a poor quality to her udder.  Large teats, large bag.  A newborn calf can't latch onto the teat when it's so large and hangs so far down.  As mentioned, the same situation applied.  We couldn't milk the mother, etc.  If you haven't already, just taken the calf away and bottle feed it.  It the calf isn't drinking enough, then tube feed it for a few days.  I promise you, it will learn to bottle feed.  You can purchase a bottle type container w/ a tube on it from Tractor Supply.  You can't push it down the wrong way on the calf.  Just follow the directions w/ the bottle/tube.  (it takes two people to conduct the tube feeding unless the calf is extremely weak).  Another word of advice - sell the cow.  Her udder will only get worse with subsequent calving.  The calf will begin to eat small amounts of grain in a few weeks - just take is slow.  There are starter grains on the market (Calf Manna is one).  Good luck.    FL MOM.