Bottle calf help-RIP Harley

[missa]

I went to the horse auction last nite and came home with a dairy calf (that they were trying to advertising as an angus cross). He is a wee little thing. I can pick him up and tote him where I want him. He loves his bottle but isn't drinking the recommended amount. He will not touch grain or hay. He has a full row of front teeth but no molars. I bought electrolytes for the scours, milk replacer, wormer, and priobis. The vet had me give him a shot of antibiotics but has not personally seen him. He is a steer. I have him in a makeshift stall in my dining room right now bedded down in shavings (double folded tarp underneith and lining the walls). Any tips on helping/raising him?

[kanoo32]

I raised a calf when I was younger....not my area of expertise, but did get it accomplished......we gave him unimilk and bottle fed him until we could get him "eating" calf food from a bucket of milk......wwe would mix it up like a very very wet gruel in a bucket of milk and let him slurp around in that until he learned to eat.....It was quite an experience....he grew up thinking he was a dog!! I ended up having to get rid of him when he started jumping on cars because he would get excited when we would come home!!

Anyway.....the person I would want to ask about this would be Quarter Cow Girl.....she would probably be the best bet to tell you how to raise a calf......Good luck with him!!

[Joker]

He might be too young for hay maybe grain did they say how old he was sounds like only a couple days old he might be part angus as many farmer cross their dairy heifer with a angus for easier calveing. Is he sickly or just not hungry usually they only feed 2-3 times a day unlike beef that are with the mom 24/7 for months A B-12 shot might be needed keep the electro lites in him there is stuff you can ad to the milk replacer or instead of milk replacer for poor do'ers good luck

[missa]

I got the stuff to help with energy/electrolytes/scours. They didn't say how old he is but he still has a cord stump. They did say he was a 'left over' from the cattle auction, so he had been there at least 5 days. He smells really bad but it is getting better. It is unusual to see any cow/calf that looks dairy around here, this is beef country. In 24 hours he has drank (6) 8oz baby bottles and 2 pints out of the calf bottle. He seems to be perking up. I take him to the back yard every time he wakes up to let him walk around (and potty). I have yet to see him get on his feet alone. I have to pick him up to the standing position. He moves his legs into position but doesn't seem to have the strength to push himself up yet. If I am not there to lift him up he will just pee/poo on himself. Would Calf Manna be a good starter feed for him when he is ready? I have only had one other bottle calf years ago and he was already eating grain/grass and the bottle was more for my amusement than any need on his part. Never had one this young.

[farmergal]

How much are you giving him per feeding and how many times a day?

I purchased two day old calves a couple weeks ago and am thrilled to say they both made it. My secrete....goats milk. That is what hubby says. I'm not sure how they survived to be honest. But I can tell you what I did.

As soon as we got them home I injected them with oxytetracycline (200mg/ml) under the skin. Then I made a homemade electrolyte. The next day I gave them a bottle of milk replacer made half strength and added a pint of fresh goats milk once a day. (That was all I have as my goat is drying off.) Between feedings I gave them a bottle of my homemade electrolytes with probios. Every day I made the formula a little stronger until I had it full strength.On day three I injected them again as they weren't doing well. I gave one calf some of my goats Nutri-drench in one of his bottles. He didn't like it any better than my kids. By day five I switched from the injectable antibiotic to a powder and gave it to them daily for the next three days in their electrolyte.

My day old auction calves usually die on me between day 7 & 9. Let me tell you I was thrilled when day seven rolled around and they had the scours. Before that they were pooing pure water. Two weeks have gone by and they are very vigorous!!! They are drinking water from a pail, eating hay and grain with some milk replacer sprinkled on top. The calf that was the sickest head butt me tonight so hard.....ouch!

I don't know if it would work as I did not try it but a farmer from hubby's work told him to feed the calves a handfull of dirt. I hope you are able to pull your calf through.

[missa]

I am feeding him free choice, as long as he is sucking he gets all he can hold. When I got him home I gave him a baby bottle of cannned goats milk cut with unflavored pedialyte. He only got about half that down. A few hours later he ate another baby bottle full of the goat milk mix. Six hours later he ate 3 full baby bottles of the goat milk mix. That is when the farm supply store was finally open and I went and got actual electrolyte, priobis, milk replacer and a calf bottle. He refused to suck the calf bottle. I mixed a bag of the electrolyte into the calf bottle and poured it into the baby bottle, got one baby bottle down him. Then he didn't eat for 10 hours, he refused to eat. I finally forced 2 oz of pepto down him (mixed with 1 oz of the electrolyte). About an hour later he drank a pint out of the calf bottle. Three hours later he drank another pint and went down for the nite.
This morning I was woken up by a calf trying to stand up and was kicking the "stall" wall in his efforts. He still didn't make it up on his own but he was fighting for it. I got him stood up and fixed a full calf bottle of milk replacer. He sucked it down like there was no tomarrow, even head butted and tail swished. So I fixed another 3/4 full calf bottle and he drank about half of that before he was done. I then took him outside for his 'walk'. He peed for the longest time, had a little river going. Then he pood and it actually went down instead of out.
While writing this he got up on his own . Took him outside and he peed again but no poo this time.

[Karen Cole]

It sounds to me like you are feeding him way to much. Replacer is hard on them, when we mix it up we don't follow the directions because they scour so easily. We use a bottle of warm water (normal sized calf bottle) and 3/4 of the amount of formula recomended on the bag. They get that 3 times a day and have free choice water in the stall. I also add a raw egg to each bottle twice a day.

Karen

[missa]

Since this morning he has had 2.5 calf bottles. One and a half was replacer, one was electrolyte. So how much should I be feeding him (one bottle full X3)? He has one more feeding before I go to bed, which is set to be replacer. I expect it will be a full calf bottle.

[Slim Pikkens]

We used to submerge a clean hand in a pail of milk, thumb upwards just enough that the calf sucks milk as it sucks the thumb. It doesn't take them long to drink from the pail altho it doesn't do much for a strong need to suck.

[farmergal]

How is the little guy doing today?

[hielema10]

Hi It sounds like you are doing a great job! We feed our calves one calf bottle in the morning and one and night and if you are feeding him electrolytes just put it in with the milk. We also give them free choice of calf starter and hay. He probably will not eat too much of the grain and hay yet though. Keep a close eye on him because they can turn around in a heartbeat. Keep him dry (which sounds like you are doing great) and keep an eye out for anything unusual so that you can treat right away. Our opinion is that when they start eating hay and grain then they are on a good track and you do not have to worry as much. Hope this helps. Good luck!

[missa]

Harley is doing great. His naval fell off two days ago. I have been putting a handful of alfalfa pellets in with his milk to help firm up his poo (and it worked, he had normal poo all day). I bought him some Purina Stocker Grower Chow and a small trace mineral salt block. I did find out he does have molars. I was putting one pellet at a time in his mouth for him to try and about the fourth one he bit my finger. That was a couple of hours ago and I just caught him nosing in the grain. I don't know if he ate any since I know if he sees me he will stop and beg for a bottle (he isn't due for another for 45 minutes). I am hoping it means he is on his way to being a little more independent. Today he was chasing me around the back yard, it was the most energy I have seen him have. He is acting like a normal calf.

[missa]

Harley passed away this morning. He was fine last nite when I locked him in his stall, was down and struggleing when I got up to give him his morning bottle. Called vet and explained what was going on, he said I could bring him in for IV fluids but in his opinion it would be a waste of money since the calf was already limp.

[Red Gate Farm]

I'm so sorry to hear this. You did all you could, Missa.

[Hideaway]

I'm sorry

[BarnBum]

I am so sorry, you tried and did everything you could.

RIP Harley

[gailfinney]

i know exactly how you feel missa...we lost a little bottle fed heifer last weekend. she was fat, energetic and healthy on her mom for the first 9 days of her life then started looking weak and thin. we tried giving her bottles of milk replacer but i guess it was too late.
she ate 3 pints the first feeding then drank her electrolytes and antibiotic/vitamins fine. then progressively drank less each feeding until she finally refused to drink at all. she developed scours.

she died in a nice warm barn stall lying on a thick nest of soft second cutting hay, wearing ricky's insulated thermal jacket. ricky and i both laid beside her and hugged her and cried for her the night she died.

her name was isabelle and she was papa's third black baldy calf..she was beautiful with a full bald face and shiny jet black coat. ironically this same cow lost her baby the same way last year...when we milked her out we discovered her milk was pink, so i guess her milk had some sort of infection, maybe she had mastitis. the vet gave the mother treatment for mastitis

we wont be breeding this cow again..

[missa]

His appitite had increased. He was drinking up a storm and eating his calf pellets. Running around the back yard with the dogs. Head butting the heck out of me at every chance. He had even started mooing. But then this morning he was down, and had been struggling. I don't know what happened but the vet said it is not uncommon to just have them crash like that.

[chery]

i just raised a calf this summer and the exact same thing happened to him he was fine when i went to work he was playing and running around and when i got home two hours later he was dead i was so sad i got attached to the little guy, the weird thing was i had him for two weeks and he was doing so good.

[horselady]

seems like you did all you can do. at least he had a couple of weeks loved on and fed. still so sad.