Orphan 3 day old calf

[kaseandlauren]

I've become the accidental mommy to a 3 day old calf.

His mommy belongs to our next door neighbors, who own about 100 head of cattle. She never stood back up after she had her calf and, after 3 days, they have euthanized her.

On day 2, I ran out to Tractor Supply for a bottle and milk replacer. I have NO idea what to do with a calf this small. He weighs maybe 50lbs. The calves we've always gotten have been weaned.

So, question one: How much should he be drinking? It seems like he's not drinking much at all. He's gotten about a pint and a half in the past 12 hours. I try to convince him to drink about every two hours, but the past couple of times I've tried, he's just tired. He never got any colostrum because his first day was spent with his down mommy, so I'm a little worried. Usually, when I try to feed him, he fights me a little, but I get him to suck on my finger and do the "bait and switch" with the bottle and he's fine.

Question two: This is going to sound gross, but he doesn't seem to know how to poop. I haven't seen him poop yet. He puts his tail up and kind of walks around listlessly, but it just doesn't seem like he knows what to do. Should I try to stimulate him like a baby puppy?

Third Question: Is there anything else I should be giving him aside from the milk replacer? I know after they get a little older, you can offer them calf starter. Yogurt for the probiotics? I'm so lost!

He's SO sweet. When I first started working with him, he was so depressed and hungry, he would hardly pick his head up for me. Now, he head butts me(which I'm sure will become increasingly less cute as he grows LOL), rubs himself all over my legs, wags his little tail at me, lays down right where I park him until I come back for him. He's some kind of angus/holstein mix, I think.

Any tips would be great! I'm trying so hard not to get attached to him because I know he's only 3 days old and he might not have the best chances, but it's hard!

Thanks in advance!

 

[Farmer Kitty]

He should be getting aquart to a quart and a half twice a day. With his start into the world it could take him several feedings to get it into him instead. You are doing just fine feeding him every 2 hours until he gets stronger and can drink more at a time. If he is having trouble with the calf nipple, try a lamb nipple or a reg. infant bottle if that is to hard for him.

You can start offering grain anytime but, only put out a little as he probably won't eat much or any of it for a bit yet.

You can try to stimulate him. A rectal temp check, if you have a thermometer for it or try rubbing under his tail for stimulation. Make sure he has the proper opening too. It could be that he hasn't gotten enough to eat either but, you do need to be concerned about it.

and good luck with him.

 

[kaseandlauren]

He should be getting aquart to a quart and a half twice a day. With his start into the world it could take him several feedings to get it into him instead. You are doing just fine feeding him every 2 hours until he gets stronger and can drink more at a time. If he is having trouble with the calf nipple, try a lamb nipple or a reg. infant bottle if that is to hard for him.

You can start offering grain anytime but, only put out a little as he probably won't eat much or any of it for a bit yet.

You can try to stimulate him. A rectal temp check, if you have a thermometer for it or try rubbing under his tail for stimulation. Make sure he has the proper opening too. It could be that he hasn't gotten enough to eat either but, you do need to be concerned about it.

and good luck with him.

Thanks so much for getting back to me so quickly! I've been hanging out hoping that someone would come online.

Okay, so he's not drinking nearly enough! I'll start working at it a little harder. I'm just afraid he'll aspirate the formula.

I've had time to check out your profile info too. Do you think the probiotics would be helpful to him? I'm trying to be proactive instead of waiting until something goes wrong with him.

I feel like I'm obsessing, but are cow gums supposed to be a rosy pink? His are a little pale, so I was thinking he could be anemic from eating so little? I have liqui-tinic 4x, a vitamin and iron supplement, that I can slip him.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

This board isn't very active overnight. I try to check in before I head out to the barn, which I will be heading to right after this.

Yes, a probiotic will be good for him. Either live cultured yogurt or probios. Usually once is enough but, you could give it to him once a day for a couple days.

Gums usually are pink, not real bright.

He may take a bit to work up to the right amount of milk replacer. I had one born a month early that I fed using an infant bottle every two hours. She would only drink a couple ounces at a time and then after a few days was drinking a couple infant bottles at a time-that's when I put her on a calf bottle and things went fine after that. So, give him a few days of every couple hours of feedings. Go by what he seems ready to take at a feeding. Do feed him when he's standing if at all possible and make sure he is swollowing and he should do okay.

I'll be back in an hour to hour and a half.

 

[kaseandlauren]

Baby cow seems to have taken a turn for the worse, and I'm not even sure when or how it happened.

He ate fine all night but this morning he seems to be weaker, unsteady on his feet, and when he goes to lay down he almost does a nose-dive. His gums are now almost white.

I gave him some of the tinic I have, some pedialyte (thought he might be dehydrated and, if not, it can't hurt him) and he hate about as much as he normally does after I made him stand up and walk around a little. Is there anything else I should be doing?

I can also hear his tummy grumbling while eats, so maybe he doesn't feel well?

I heard somewhere that, if they crash, you should give them Dexamethasone, which I have, but it's a steroid and I'm not sure how I feel about giving it to a three day old calf when I'm not even sure what's wrong with him.

Should I just call a vet?

 

[Farmer Kitty]

Call the vet. He needs a good look over and we can't do that here. They maybe able to give him something IV or with a tube.

Good luck.

 

[wynedot55]

1st q is did the calf ever get any clostrum milk the 1st 24hrs of life.since the cow went down calving im betting he didnt.an he will go down an die within 3 to 4 days himself.only because he did not get clostrum.so its not your falt.so dont feel bad if he doesnt make it.

 

[MReit]

I agree, there may be nothing you can do. I had a twin from my brothers beefers. The mom helped the larger one, but not the smaller, I took care of her for about 5 days, I even woke up twice a night to check on her, but then her vision was going and so I called the vet, here she had meningitis. Despite drugs, she didn't make it. First time I seen that in a calf, and I've seen some pretty interesting things. I kinda wish the vet would have told me what a wicked death she would have, I would have ended it for her..Not cool.

 

[kaseandlauren]

I'm good friends with a great large animal vet, so I called him and he came right over, thank goodness. The vet and I decided to get really proactive with this baby.

He tube fed him some milk replacer right away which I think really helped.

The vet has me giving him a 12ml syringe of yogurt to him 2x a day, the tinic once a day, he's now on antibiotics, and he gets a baby bottle of pedialyte every time he gets his bottle.

The vet said there wasn't anything apparently "wrong" with him. He checked him over thoroughly and seems to agree with you guys -- the lack of colostrum puts him at a huge disadvantage. He also said that this is one of the smallest calves of his breed that he's seen and that his mommy might have had him prematurely.

The good news is, it seems to be working! (I know, I know, at least for now) My "test" is to get him nursing, then walk a few steps and see if he follows the bottle and how "spunky" he is. He's much improved from earlier this morning. I can't believe how fast he crashed.

Oh, and Houston, we have POOP! and PEE! I was so excited to see that all the "plumbing" worked right LOL... I now have a wealth of cow cookies ; )

Thanks everyone for getting back to me and I'll definitely keep you updated on his progress... Day 4 is halfway over and I hope I don't have another one like it any time soon!

 

[Farmer Kitty]

I'm glad the vet did tube him some milk replacer. You were concerned about the lack of colustrum in your first post so you knew it was a concern but, nothing you could do about it. It doesn't mean a dead calf just a more challenging one.

All you can do is follow the regimine and keep close watch on him.