5 day old calf not eating, not active... Cause for concern?

[redtailgal]

HOw does his poop look?

 

[redtailgal]

ya know, on second thought......

Unless his poop is just plain nasty watery, or is bloody looking, go ahead and offer him milk replacer without electrolytes. Dont mix it full strength, mix your full amount but cut your powder in half.

Try to get him to suck your finger, put a little syrup on it if he doesnt. If that doesnt work, then dunk his little nose in there (dont drown him but make him get a taste....sitck your finger in his mouth and splash some in there)

If he doesnt take the milk, put it in the fridge and warm it to slightly above room temp in the morning. (some calves dont like their milk real warm) and try him again withthe bucket, and then with the bottle if he doesnt take it.

If you cant get it in him in the morning, dump the milk, and dont tube him unless he is acting weak. (be strong here, its for his own good)

Find some B12 if he doesnt start eating by tomorrow. Go ahead and get two doses, give him one tomorrow and one the next day. (you can probably find b12 injectable at the farm store)

Try him again tomorrow about supper time, and if you still cant get anything in him, go ahead and tube him some electrolytes. Dont fill him way up, you want him hungry.

If it makes you feel any better, this is pretty well normal for a jersey calf. They can be LAZY little buggers, esp when they have been tube fed. It's like they think "why should I go to the trouble of eating by myself, when those two legged ones will just pour it in for me". You wanna keep him healthy, but be careful that he is not training YOU.

I've raised out more calves that you can shake a stick out and those lil jersey buggers make me pull my hair out about half the time, lol.

Your doing great with him, keep it up.

 

[BigMac]

...But BOY are they attractive looking little buggers!

 

[BigMac]

His poop is yellowy-tan in color and about the consistency of thick soft-serve ice cream. It does seem runny (relative to a healthy people poop), but I haven't really got a good baseline reference for what a healthy calf poop looks like. Taking the analogy a little bit further (probably too far), I'd say his poop right now could easily be confused with home-made banana frozen custard.

 

[redtailgal]

lol, yes they are.

I am smitten by each one I end up with. Something about that face that just melts your insides into a big puddle.

 

[BigMac]

Another thing you may be able to give us some feedback on... dehorning. What's your opinion? He has tiny little buds now, and I anticipate they'll grow into big, sharp, pointy things, but I can't stomach the idea of dehorning, the same way I can't stomach declawing a cat. IS it a terrible idea to let him keep his horns?

 

[redtailgal]

If he were MY steer, I would have him dehorned. I have a friend in OKlahoma, who had a gorgeous longhorn steer. He had been bottle raised, was well behaved and gentle. I led this fellow around by his ear with no problem. He was a big baby, not a mean bone in his body. Last year, he had a horsefly land on his rump. He swung his head around to swat the fly off of him, and in the process disemboweled the horse my friend was sitting on. The horse was killed and my friends ankle was broken in two places. Because of a fly.

Your jersey wont get great big horns like a longhorn, but I PROMISE you, at some point in time, he will swat a fly with his horns. Are you sure you wont be in the way?

 

[BigMac]

Wow... POINT taken. (haha) I'll share with the missus and see if that little story changes her mind. Dehorning something you do yourself?

 

[CochinBrahmaLover=)]

You can but vets will do it. If I were just raising one steer at a time for food and not really 'getting into' cows, I wouldn't bother to buy a dehorner and all

Oh gawd Red... I love texas longhorns but after hearing that...

 

[redtailgal]

I'd suggest using the vet since you only have one.

I have, under desperate measures, used caustic paste. If the nubs are small, they can be burned. If they are starting to protrude, he may need to be scooped. Either way, I'd call a vet ASAP if this is what you are gonna do. It will save him some pain and you alot of $$$.

You can ask the vet to put a small injection of lidocaine at the base of each horn to minimize his pain.