Calf Feeding Question *Update on Phillip*

[Bleenie]

Okay, so just about everyone here knows 'we' recently got 3 new calves. (the calves actually belong to my sister but they're kept here) So here's a bit of an update and a few questions...

Phillip is still refusing the bottle/bucket, everything and has started to look a little sickly & lethargic lately. We are looking for a nanny cow or even a goat if we can find one..i would try anything at this point. Phillip is currently about 2 weeks old.

Owen is healthy as can be and a hungry little fart! he's doing really well. Owen is about 5 days old

Avery has begun to get a bit "BLAH" since the other night. My sister did not come by the night before last and i had no idea how to mix the replacer(its a new kind for me), so they missed a feeding the other night. could that be the cause of him acting so blah?? they got fed the next morning but I had to pick him up last night for feeding, after he was up he was fine and finished the bottle. Today he is still a little lethargic but there's no other signs of anything(scours or anything). Avery is about 4 days old.

Currently they're getting fed 2 times a day, 1 whole bottle each feeding. I checked all over the net and it all says 2x's a day is correct, i swear in the past we fed them 3x's though.

My worry is..
#1. Avery being so lethargic
#2. they just look hungry, sunken looking guts and trying to suck on me when i go in the pen.

Should They be getitng fed more often? I am getting more worried about Avery...I know what Phillips problem is but Avery has me clueless.

We have raised countless calves in the past and i know it's never the same & theres ALWAYS a chance of losing 1 or a few even. Some are just worse off than others and some more 'fragile'. Just wanna try and figure this out.

Thanks everyone.

 

[Knight Hawk Ranch]

If they are that young, I would feed more often, like 3-4 times a day. It souunds like they are still hungry. I would also maybe do a bottle of water along with the milk replacer.

When the calf is on the cow, he sure enough eats more than 2 x a day, especially the first few weeks.

 

[Bleenie]

that was my thoughts exactly. everywhere i have looked/read online it says 2x's and it's just got me confused.

 

[Danny39]

Hi there, I just raised 2 calves on the bottle/bucket. My experience was that they would only take the bottle twice a day. They will suckle your fingers or your clothing anytime even after they have eaten. I tried to feed mine 3 times aday when I first brought them home and they would not eat the afternoon meal, but were good and hungry that evening. They should be very excited to see you when you come with a bottle. How long have you had them? Did you pull them off of mom the day you got them or were they all ready started on the bottle? If they start to get watery diarrhea stop the milk replacer and give them straight electrolytes as directed on the package. TSC carries this .....I can't think of the name now, but they will know what you need. Hope this helps...If they are not more interested in the bottle, you may want to get a vet involved. There tough little critters but things can happen pretty fast with the young ones. Good luck.

 

[Danny39]

The electolytes are called Re-sorb...they sell for 2.79 a pack at TSC.

 

[#1California Chick]

Are they also getting plenty of water??

You might try asking this question on www.BackYardHerds.com (a sister site). See the link at the bottom of this page.


Good Luck!

 

[Katy]

Are you still tubing the one calf? That in itself is not good. It may very well be time to let mother nature take over and let him go. He will not survive by being tube fed.

Calves that age shouldn't have a feeding skipped.

If I have a smaller calf it's better to divide the feeding up to three times a day.

 

[Danny39]

Just thought of something else. Are they dairy or dairy cross calves. Mine are Jersey cross and they looked very sunken in for quite sometime, really I think until they were on solid foods for a while. They definately are built different then meat breeds.

 

[Bleenie]

We got the 1st one on the 6th & the other 2 this last Saturday.

They were doing good to begin with and are doing better now that i fed them again. I think we are just going to do 3x's a day for 2 weeks then switch back to 2. We will probably bottle/bucket them for 3 months at least. unless we sell any before then. I really like Owen, so he might stick around, lol.

We havent had a problem with scours yet, although they did have em a bit when they first came home. they came from the Auction so their start is unknown to me.

We have an Electrolyte recipe that has worked Awesomely for scours calves, it usually clears it up right away and they do fine afterwards. we have had a couple that were seriously dehydrated and didn't make it though, even with the electrolytes.

 

[Bleenie]

I have been thinking about this. I am considering putting him on Craigslist for cheap and i think someone might buy him for veal or something. hopefully someone might have a nanny cow, but it's not that likely.

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