newborn bottle calf

[birdbrain5]

oh wow ok i had no idea i had to measure the temp of the milk, i havent been.. i will from now on. can i measure it with like a meat thermometer or a regular thermometer?

i went to check on her just now, she got up when i went in and was trying to suck on my finger lol. she was following me around the stall and even got a few spunky hops in there! too funny.
however- when i went in she had more mushy poop, and when she was standing she did the "pee out her butt" like you described danischi

it wasnt a ton, but enough. it was thick kind of, but came out in a stream and smelled real bad. sorry i know its gross but im just trying to be real specific.
so she ate at 9am, a qt. then at 3pm another qt. i was thinking of waiting until morning to give her a next feeding, should that be alright? say 6:30am? (usually when i am up) or is that too long to wait?
she did have a few sips of water which she did on her own, i thought maybe that was good for hydration.

 

[Katy]

I've raised a lot of bottle calves over the years and I've never once measured the temp of the water I used.

 

[arabianequine]

I nor my friend have ever checked temp of milk. I just use luke warm water and check on my wrist like I would a baby's bottle if it burns your wrist it is too hot.

Mushy poop is not bad....and understand cow poop is never really formed like ours or horses. It is like yogurt consistency when normal....and usually a lot once full grown each time they poop. Have you heard of cow pies.....it is because their poop is so thin it spreads out like the shape of a pie and not very thick. If the calf has diarrhea it will be like see through colored water out their rear end. Any normal calf will and should easily suck down a 2 qt bottle am and pm daily.....I feed 10-12 hours apart.

So you mentioned the calf had one quart at 9am and one at 3pm they need another 2 quart bottle tonight at a min. and like I said the calf should willing suck it down in about ten min. if they are healthy and strong at every feeding.

I always have this on hand. You can buy a 1 gal jug of keo-pectate at your local feed store for $10 to have on hand....that is what I do. It is a lot but a heck of a lot cheaper then getting from the vet. It is ok for cats, dogs, goats, and horses.

Some calves need to be tubed if not drinking their quota for the day typically only when really sick and not getting up/ water like stool etc., this will give them liquid and their milk. If nothing else at least water....sometimes they will take sugar water or 50/50 water and gatorade if they won't drink the milk. This will give them a boost of energy. If I know they have scours I will feed just water and gatorade with scour treatment pills from vet and keo-pectate every time I see them shoot out water from their rear for the first 24 hours.....and a min of the 2 bottles in them daily. When they are sick they are loosing liquid too fast and in this heat it is very dangerous. I will do the clear liquids 24 hours then milk 24 hours and switch back and fourth. While still giving the meds like they should be given. Usually this only happens when they are sick. You will need to find someone in your area to help to do this more then likely if it comes to being necessary.

If you see water like stool....you need to get some scour meds in the calf. Some are sold at the feed store and of course my vet just gives them to me cause they know I have calves. They give me two kinds of pills and I give at the same time and can give it every 3 days for a total of 3 treatments.

There is so much to learn and take in. Really ask your vet or someone that has cattle by you to help you. Sorry I can't.

Good luck!

 

[danischi24]

Here's a resource for you, especially if you like researching things: http://www.calfnotes.com/ Look on the left hand side of the page for
It's more for professionals than the average person with 2 or 3 calves but it has great info & can tell you everything you ever wanted to know & then some. I use a system fairly similar to how they do things.
You can raise a calf without checking the temperature of it's milk but why would you want to when small variations make a difference & it's so easy to do. You can use any thermometer as long as it has the range of temperature that you need.

 

[miko]

good for you, new life.

 

[she-earl]

It is very important to mix the milk replacer according to the directions. The water should be around 105. Feeding "cold" milk will give the calf a belly ache. If the calf drinks her fill, I would not tube her. Tubing makes the throat sore and then she will be less likely to drink. If she looks bright eyed, shows interest in you, etc. versus just laying, not wanting to drink, droopy, etc., I would let her drink what she wants of the milk. Make sure there that she has access to calf starter feed and water. If you are concerned about the way she is acting, take her temp. It should be between 101-102 degrees. If it gets to 103 or over, then I would treat her with antibiotics. What kind would depend on her symptoms. At this point, the things you have said about her don't seem to indicate that she is sick. She just needs to get started. I have also found that going to straight milk replacer right away can cause them to scour also. I gradually switch from milk to milk replacer and have not had any issues with scours.

 

[she-earl]

I took a picture of the splints. The splint on the top is of the outside. The one on the bottom is the padded inside. Place on the calf's leg beginiing just below the knee. Then use vet wrap to snuggly attach to leg. I have never used an ACE bandage but that might work if you don't have access to vet wrap.

 

[Katy]

Quote:
That's a good idea. We always use a peice of plaster lathe, an old sock, and duct tape.