# Suggestions for an underweight calf



## heatherlynnky

I assume she is underweight. She looks scrawny. Its pretty sad looking actually. My dad bought her, the people could not afford to keep her I think so he bought her. I no nothing about cows. NOTHING. so I am doing my best to crash course myself. The vet gave us shots to give her. viroshield 6 I think, something for pink eye, something for blackleg I think. Anywho he said it would cover her. I just need to worm her now. I want to get her weight up in the best way possible.

So here are the details she is a female jersey calf who is 5 months old. She has not been handled so medicating and treating her right now is not an easy process. She is more than happy to eat and she has plenty to eat. She is our only calf currently and is running with my goats. She was in with goats with her past owner also, so she seems pretty content with this arrangement for now.  I bought calf starter and a sweet feed mix for cattle. She loves the sweet feed. I gave her half and half.  I am still trying to figure out how much she should get. They do not carry calf grower but I will drive further if needed to find a store that does if that would be better. She is getting an alfalfa mix hay right now and has TONS of green to eat. I am putting probiotic powder on her feed because honestly getting probios down her might be challenging. 

Suggestions on amount of feed or different feeds that might help her put on some weight. It is really sad to see her so skinny and scared.


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## shawnfisher

a 5 month old calf does not need calf starter, or sweet feed.  Sweet feed, to be honest- is one of those things that's promoted to work on everything- but in all honesty doesn't work on anything.  

She needs to be consuming a diet geared for other calves her age- something like 12-15% protein- and all the roughage she can eat.  It would be easiest for you to go to the local elevator, and have them mix something up for you-- instead of people on here telling you 100 different recipes.  

PS- jersey's are supposed to be 'scrawny'- it's in their genetics.


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## redtailgal

YOur starter sweet feed mix is good.  You can also mix in a little calf manna if you want some extra weight on her.

At five months, Id give a about 2 pounds of feed a day until she is at a healthy weight, then slowly wean her back off it.

Could you post a pic so that we can see how bad her condition is.......Jerseys do tend to look a little thinner, but really should not appear scrawny.  Ribs should not show, but hip bons will show (if they dont she would be too fat).  At her age, her belly should be somewhat rounded out and she should be developing a fat pocket under her chest.  Grab between her front legs, you should feel a dense "pad" of fat there.

Also, at her age and her being in poor condition, I would have a fecal run to check for worms and/or coccidia, so that you can treat accordingly.


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## heatherlynnky

I was planning on running poo in to the vet. The vet said we should do a worming now anyway and he went ahead and did full vaccinations. She seemed good today. She isn't bothered really being the only calf which is good. She is enjoying annoying the geese a bit too much but mostly she just eats and eats and eats. I thought she was going to try to crawl into the hay manger. I will take a pic tomorrow.  The calves we had years and years ago were much more filled out but they were Simmental. Even at that I did not nothing with them and have no clue what I should be looking for. All I know is compared to them she looks like just bones. I can see her ribs though so I am not totally off base from the sound of it but she might not be as poorly as I think. I'll post pic tomorrow.


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## WildRoseBeef

She's a dairy calf, dairy calves are supposed to be thin. As a matter of fact all dairy cattle are typically thin.  And it's no surprise that she's going to be considered terribly thin compared to those fat an' sassy Simmental cattle.  

But looking forward to pics.


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## MrsKK

She really needs to be getting good grassy hay, rather than alfalfa.  Please post pictures so people who know dairy cattle can tell you whether she is too thin or not.  Comparing her with any beef breed and thinking she should be as filled out as they are is likely to end up in trouble farther down the line.  A fat dairy heifer may not come into heat properly or may not take when bred.  At calving time, if she has fat on her internal organs, she can have a LOT of trouble getting that calf out.  Too much fat on a heifer can also lead to a fatty udder that doesn't produce well.


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## shawnfisher

MrsKK said:
			
		

> She really needs to be getting good grassy hay, rather than alfalfa.  Please post pictures so people who know dairy cattle can tell you whether she is too thin or not.  Comparing her with any beef breed and thinking she should be as filled out as they are is likely to end up in trouble farther down the line.  A fat dairy heifer may not come into heat properly or may not take when bred.  At calving time, if she has fat on her internal organs, she can have a LOT of trouble getting that calf out.  Too much fat on a heifer can also lead to a fatty udder that doesn't produce well.


Why? Until our calves reach 8 months of age, they get the 2nd best Alf hay on the farm...  The best of course going to the milk cows.


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## greybeard

Alfalfa shouldn't hurt it except in the case she was badly mal-nurtured at her previous home, and if that is the case, watch her a lttle closer. Suddenly changing diets, including lots of green lush forage where she was not used to it before can cause digestive problems. Diahrrea can come on fast and you will need to act just as quickly if it does. 

How much do you estimate she weighs?

I'm not a dairy person, but not a big fan of sweet feeds either, and unless an animal just won't eat anything else, I don't use it. Sweet feeds came into common use way back when, as there was lots  of less nutrious and not very palatable feed stock used then  than is readily available today. 
Molasses was added to these feeds, such as cotton seed meal and hulls to make it more palatable to the cattle, but IMO, ya don't really need it nowdays. The last couple of calves I got wouldn't touch sweetfeed.


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## WildRoseBeef

MrsKK said:
			
		

> She really needs to be getting good grassy hay, rather than alfalfa.


Why??  Grassy hay tends to have more fibre, less protein and calcium than alfalfa, things which a growing calf doesn't need.  Growing calves need feed with high protein and calcium to help them grow, and what better feed to feed them with, especially with this Jersey heifer calf, than alfalfa hay? Grassy hay is more for horses, not for growing young cattle, IMO.


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## WildRoseBeef

MrsKK said:
			
		

> She really needs to be getting good grassy hay, rather than alfalfa.


Why??  Grassy hay tends to have more fibre, less protein and calcium than alfalfa, things which a growing calf doesn't need.  Growing calves need feed with high protein and calcium to help them grow, and what better feed to feed them with, especially with this Jersey heifer calf, than alfalfa hay? Grassy hay is more for horses, not for growing young cattle, IMO.


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## heatherlynnky

I have the horse hay out which is a mix and I had some pure alfalfa left. She eats on both. The sweet feed I got simply because every other animal on the farm seems to love the stuff. The calf included. I have a goat and molasses is the only way I got her on a bottle after rejection from her mom. I will try again on pics today. It was so hot yesterday and I had a goat having a rough time so I was wicked busy. I feel like I carried a water hose around all day. She is a healthy little eater and is letting me touch her finally. Hopefully that will help me in checking on her better.  She is mostly munching away in the field but she does sit in the shade and much on the horse hay alot. If good hay is what she needs then we have that and she is welcome to it. I don't have anymore pure alfalfa so she got the last of that yesterday. Its not something we usually have, I just happened to have a single bale of it.


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