Quick, need to know. Tube to bottle feeding Zebu calf?

[CatCow]

We have a calf that was born Tuesday afternoon and the mama wouldn't let it nurse. We tried with a bottle & colostrum all day yesterday and this morning, she wouldn't take or suck the bottle. I was finally able to get her tube fed 1 quart of colostrum today. She is a Zebu calf and is very skinny; I doubt she even weighs 40 lbs. My question is, how long should I tube her before i offer the bottle again? How much should I feed her and how often? I fed her at 11:30, so am I right in thinking I should feed her another quart in 6 hours? Or should I offer the bottle 1st every time, and then resort to the tube feeding if she does not take it? I want it to be as low stress as possible. I don't want her to end up hating me or the bottle. New to calves, so any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[WildRoseBeef]

I hate to say this but you gave that calf colostrum too late. You should have tubed her right off when she wouldn't take the bottle that morning that she was born. Right now all you can do is slowly switch over to normal milk replacer--stop with the colostrum, as it's doing her no good anymore--and try to get her to accept the nipple both from the bottle and the cow (even if it means confining the cow so that she doesn't move or try to kick at the calf when the calf tries to suckle) in the mean time. Usually calves are bottle-fed every 12 hours, even at this age. But keep her in contact with the dam and try to get her and her dam hooked up so it reduces the load on you to have to feed the calf all the time. The calf won't hate you, neither will the cow, you just have to be persistent and consistent all the time, no matter how hard this may get.

As for how much, the label on the milk replacer bag should tell you. Usually you'd feed around 2 quarts per feeding, though for this itty bitty calf you may want to reduce it to half that, just see how she does with that.

And don't worry about her being thin. Calves always come out of the womb looking like that. She'll fill out with time.

 

[PoultryQueen101]

I agree with WildRoseBeef. Never had cattle, but im pretty sure it sounds right.

 

[CatCow]

Ok, we've got her on a milk replacement now. Since she is smaller, would she benefit from 3 smaller feedings? I'm a stay at home mom, so I don't mind multiple feedings if it would be better. Mom was already pregnant when we got her; we've only had her about 3 months. She wasn't handled a lot & is skittish - even if we had a chute, we'd have a hell of a time trying to get her into it. Do you think the nipple on the bottle is too big (it's a regular size that holds 2 quarts)?

 

[WildRoseBeef]

If she can latch on and suckle from it, then it's not too big. If it is, then try a lamb nipple.

If you want to feed her three times a day, go for it. Just remember to break up the amount that she should get in a day by three to make it all even. For instance, if she's fine on 4 to 6 quarts a day, break it down to 1.5 to 2 quarts per feeding. Or less, if she seems like she's getting too full too much at each feeding.

But yeah, if she's not taking the bottle because the nipple's too big, try a lamb nipple, it might work.

 

[jhm47]

If you try to feed a 40 lb newborn 4 - 6 quarts a day you will kill it. 2.5 - 3 quarts a day is plenty for one that small. It's best to keep them hungry.

 

[WildRoseBeef]

Thanks for the correction JHM.

 

[CatCow]

Thanks JHM. We gave her a shot of B12 & put her out with her mama. She followed her around for a while but mama never let her latch on. I made the hole in the nipple a little bigger so it just flows out without having to be squeezed & she has to swallow, but she still wont suckle on her own. Do you think she will with time? Or does she just not know how? We got her to drink about a pint that way; of milk replacer & electrolytes. That was around 430. When should we feed her again?

 

[CatCow]

Her head is up and her eyes are bright. She looks a lot better today and is obviously more alert. Not as wobbly when she is standing? Also, is it normal for her to seem a little sleepy after a feeding?

 

[jhm47]

In my 60+ years of raising cattle, I've been fooled OFTEN with calves that I was convinced were not sucking from their respective mothers. I've tried to force-feed some of these calves with little to no success. After basically giving up on some of them, I would come out and find them greedily sucking happily from their mother. Some of these cows are shy and won't allow their calf to suck when someone is watching. This is especially true of "skittish" cows. Don't know if this is true in your case, but it might be a possibility.