Rocky-- Pre-mature calf wanting a second chance----

[americana-chick]

Here is my story about my pre-mature calf that i got from some neibors because they didnt think he would live... but i am trying to give him a second chance at life and make him be the best darn cow ever!
Well the other day our neibors called and asked if i wanted a calf and i said sure! (thinking it was an ordinary calf that they just didnt want) we went over there and i saw that the calf was very tiny... 2 days old and not even standing... we loaded him up, took him home and warmed him up sence our neibor had left him out in the freezing cold the other night... i tried to teach him how to drink but he kept wanting to spit it out! finally i think he got hungry enough to where he finally swollowed! the next day i stood him up to se what he would do and... brovo! it took him a couple trys but finally on day 3 he could stand! he was so pre-mature though that his legs where bent and it made it hard for him to stand and walk, but finally on day 4 he can walk-a bit wobbly i might add...- and sometimes even run if he doesnt fall over, i dont think he is quite right upstairs because he goes over to the walls and trys to find me... i have to yell out his name so that way he knows where i am, he isnt blind i just dont know if its some type of pre-mature affect or something, hopefully he gets over it but if not i will do my best to take the best care of him! there is still a chance he may not survive though just like any other cow on my farm he could die anytime. and i am trying to tell myself that so that way if he does i will be somewhat prepaired for it

i am hoping for the best! and i will post pictures of him later when i get a chance.
thanks!
~Bri

 

[Pumpkinpup]

Bri, did the baby get colostrum after it was born? If not, you may have a fight on your hands to keep the little guy healthy. I have hand raised many babies and it's not a easy road to travel down. I think it is wonderful that you are trying to save this little fellow and I wish you all the luck in the world!

Keep us posted

 

[bargain]

I don't know a lot about cows. We have our first bottle fed calve who is now at 8 weeks old. I do know that you need to have a warm barn and keep him from being chilled and not let him out when it is raining or too cold as they are prone to pneumonia as little ones.

It sounds like you are a wonderful mother. We lost one of our 2 calves with in th first 24 hours because the seller brought us one with scours.....I'll never accept that again. Re. shouting his name, he's probably "sleeping" with his eyes open, Ours can still do that now. Well keep us posted on how he's doing. Best wishes and blessings to you and the little feller.

 

[tamsflock]

Good luck to you. I had a baby cow that was early momma cow left him we worked with him every day. Had him 2 months I didn't think he was all there took him to the vet and they told me he was like a down syndrome baby his top of his head was bigger. He was a sweet little cow followed me around like I was his mommy. Just remember not to feed it to much. Mine would eat like it was going out of style. Had to make sure he didn't drink too much

 

[americana-chick]

Quote:
well i know he isnt sleeping with his eyes open.. he couldnt couldnt do that, as he is to wobbly. We have many calfs that get pneumonia and scours when we least expect it, we always try to save them and give them medicine but sometimes it just isnt enough. he is in our "nursery" right now and he is doing tramendous! i let him out with some of our being weened calfs and he didnt know what to think! he started mooing and one of our dairy cows came over and acted like she was his mother! she wanted in the pen so badly but i didnt know what she might do.. and getting her back out might be a problem! i hope for the best as well because i have already fallen for the little calf... i always seem to do that with the ones who are a bit differnt...

thanks!
~Bri

 

[americana-chick]

Quote:
i think he did get colostrum when he was born because our neibor said he fed him his mommas milk. we are feeding him some of our 'new' mommy cows milk so hopefully he will do fine. i have gone down that bumpy road befor and it is not fun at all... almost always we get at least one calf out of 20 or so brand new calfs not make it. it seems to be the hardest when they are on the bottle. usually ones you get them weened its a bit better

we gave him a calf scours pill the other day as his poop was a bit runny. i think it cleared up though.
thanks!
~Bri

 

[bheila]

Bravo

to you for taking this little one in. I've been in your shoes before except the calf we took was a week old and couldn't walk and he was being starved. The previous owner put the calf in with another cow so when our calf tried to nurse on the cow she kicked him. It was 3 months before he could walk right. Maybe your calf needs a shot of MuSe? Keep us updated

 

[she-earl]

I tend the calves born on our farm. I don't know what breed your calf is but ours are holstein. A 90+ pound calf should get 2 quarts of milk every twelve hours. I don't know what your calf weighs. Let's say he weighs 50 pounds, then he should only get one quart of milk every two hours. Adjust this ratio based on what percent of 100 pounds he is. It is better for him to still be hungry than to overfeed him. Giving him too much milk, will cause scours. It would also be good to dip his navel with an iodine product made for calf navels. Maybe the farmer you got him from would have some. There are calf blankets available. Over the winter, we put blankets on our calves and leave them on for up towards three weeks. Our daughter did a science fair project on calf blankets and found that with a blanket the newborn doesn't feed off its body fat to make body heat. They held their birth weight and then began to gain weight. Another thing to help him, would be to get a calf grower feed and put a little bit in where he can nibble if he wants. Also keep some water accessible to him. You will probably need to put some feed on your hand and put it in his mouth so he learns to eat it. Hope this helps. Sheyl

 

[americana-chick]

Quote:
We have holestein and beef cows, he is way smaller than 50 pounds but we know what he needs to get him through the day just by knowing how a cow acts, and almost every calf seems to need around2 quarts of milk everyday but we adjust our calfs feeding as needed. we have navel dip but rarely use it. we mostly only use dip on milk cows to keep them from getting mastites, etc. We dont use calf blankets, instead we use are warm shop -only if the calf is extremely cold- and on other accasions just make a 'hay bail' shed that keeps his heat in.

its so funny to watch some of our 'new mommy' cows thinking that his call is for them and they try to get in and tend to him.
~Bri

 

[Farmer Kitty]

First I would like to say

It sounds like he is in good hands.

she-earl, the vet would tell you not to force feed grain by using your hand. It should be put into a pail or feeder and let them figure it out when they are ready. This is due to the fact that their stomachs may not be ready for the grain yet.

Dipping his navel is something done when the calf is a newborn. Once it dries up there is no need.

To properly determine the amount the calf needs you judge them by their sides. When their stomach is even with the ribs then he's had enough. It is not better to under feed a calf, especially a premie.

For anyone else that may end up with a premie, one tip I would suggest is use a human infant bottle if they can't handle a calf or lamb bottle. I had one that was a month early and I fed her 2 ounces every 2 hours and worked up from there. Once she was eating 2 infant bottles a feeding (at 3 days old)we tried the calf bottle with a lamb nipple and she was able to use that.

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