calf not sucking

[rustynail]

I have a bull calf that is on day 4 today. A smokey from my charlais cow and neighbors angus bull. Anyway found him shortly after he was born and banded him. It was cold and he was curled up and warm so I did not kick him up to see him stand up.
Day two he had not moved. went to check on him and all four legs had contracted tendons, not sure if he had sucked or not at this point. Was trying hard to get up but all hooves turned under. Splinted all four hooves to try and straighten them out.
Day three still not up and mama cow lost interest seems like. Put in the barn and tubed him with colostrum (yeah I know kind of late so don't beat me up too hard). He will not suck at all and have a hard time even getting a nipple in his mouth. Navel clean and not infected, warm and dry, still full of spunk and will try to stand up. Splints off of back legs and they are doing better. Front legs coming along but still need more time.
Day four he was up and standing with his head in the corner for some support I guess. Still will not suck at all. Tubed him again. Looks good and has plenty of spunk and strength. Just can not get him to suck at all. He can open his mouth when he bawls but refuses to open for a nipple or fingers.

Really stumped on this one. Was wanting to put mama cow in there with him, she can feed him better than me!

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Ho55]

I always feel if their mouth is warm. It's the best way to tell if they've suck if you can't tell by looking at her utter. Maybe quit tubing him. He may not be getting hungry enough to want to suck. If he's got as much spunk as you say he probably already sucked.

 

[redrobin]

On these calves I use an old oil can that had a little sharp funnel shaped spout on the screw on lid. The end was cut off the spout years ago at about the right size for a 1/4 inch neoprene hose to slide over. I then taped the hose to the lid. The hose is about 6 inches long. Long enough for the calf to get the hose toward the back of his throat. I stick it in his mouth and crack the lid open and let it drain slowly till he starts sucking then open the lid more. If it's running out his mouth I close the lid. They will usually swallow if there's a trickle of milk running down their throat (dont drown him). Works for me usually.

 

[gcreekrch]

Some of those dummies have a touch of Meningitis. We treat them with Trivetrin or Borgal for 3 days. Have had a couple calves I fought with and tubed for 2 or 3 days until I gave them the antibiotic. It did turn the light on.

 

[Faster horses]

redrobin, that sounds like it works good.

gcreek, interesting post and good to know. I had never heard of using antibiotic to get a calf to suck. Luckily, in almost 50 years, we never had too many that wouldn't.

I've found that if you can get the calf to SWALLOW and the milk goes down, you are on your way to him sucking. I used an old plastic baby bottle with screw on lid/w nipple. Put some milk in it and squirt it into the back of the throat. Sometimes you have to hold their head up and run your hand up and down their throat to get them to swallow. Usually after they swallow a few times, it will trigger the sucking mechanism in their brain. Sometimes it is from them not swallowing/sucking soon enough after being born.

You are right about being careful. Too much and they can drown because of it going down the wrong way.

Good luck, rustynail! Let us know how it goes.

 

[rustynail]

checked on the little feller for his night time feeding. We tried tickling the back of his throat with a finger while squirting a little milk replacer in his mouth. no go. He almost tried to suck a little. Will try again in the morning and dribble a little in his throat with the tube.

He will swallow, when the tube through the nose hits the back of his throat I can feel in his throat him swallow and then the tube will slide on down into his stomach.

Will try the antibiotics also. Do you think nuflor would work just as good?

Thanks for all of the advice.

 

[gcreekrch]

checked on the little feller for his night time feeding. We tried tickling the back of his throat with a finger while squirting a little milk replacer in his mouth. no go. He almost tried to suck a little. Will try again in the morning and dribble a little in his throat with the tube.

He will swallow, when the tube through the nose hits the back of his throat I can feel in his throat him swallow and then the tube will slide on down into his stomach.

Will try the antibiotics also. Do you think nuflor would work just as good?

Thanks for all of the advice.

I don't believe NuFlor contains both sulpha and tetracycline so no. I would be like substituting sugar with flour in your coffee, the thought would be good but the effect different. :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

Probably won't work on this calf now- but on all those that we find chilled or have to warm/help to suck in any way, we give them a tube of Nursemate ASAP... Besides giving them a quick shot of vitamins and proteins/energy it seems to make them hungry and want to suck...

If I throw a calf in the calf warmer or under the pickup heater - I give them a tube right away-- and then usually in a couple of hours when they are warmed they are hungry and looking for mom....