Twin calves not sucking cow

Dunedin

I have twin calves that were 2 weeks old yesterday.

Neither of them are sucking the cow - well at least where they should be. They constantly suck on the cow's neck and never go near the udder. The cow is quiet and gives them every chance.

I am feeding the calves at a minimum to keep them alive but also to keep them hungry hoping they might suck.

i have tried everything - put tit in mouth, held them in, all to no good.

I put mustard on the cow's neck hoping that might deter them away from the neck but to no avail either.

Any suggestions???

ellewood

Dunedin wrote: »

I have twin calves that were 2 weeks old yesterday.

Neither of them are sucking the cow - well at least where they should be. They constantly suck on the cow's neck and never go near the udder. The cow is quiet and gives them every chance.

I am feeding the calves at a minimum to keep them alive but also to keep them hungry hoping they might suck.

i have tried everything - put tit in mouth, held them in, all to no good.

I put mustard on the cow's neck hoping that might deter them away from the neck but to no avail either.

Had 2 sets of twins born on saturday morning - and a conformation to go to at 11 - so was hectic for a while
All were bottle fed about a litre after they were born and then lifted up to cow to suck you'd think i was trying to poision the feckers they would do anything but suck and keep backing away from cows .The 2 cows are very quiet I dont know what youd do if cow was mad as well
With a mixture of bottle and holding them to cow to suck they eventually - yesterday evening - managed themselves 1 thing that did help was not letting them with the cows the whole time just an hour morning and evening and then they are hungary when cow comes in and they are mad to go suck They take a lot of time and effort but 2 weeks ?? I donno if they dont suck when hungary? I had a calf before that was slow to suck and when vet came out he just gave him a multi vitamin shot and it seemed to work might be worth a try!

Dunedin

ellewood wrote: »

Dunedin wrote: »

I have twin calves that were 2 weeks old yesterday.

Neither of them are sucking the cow - well at least where they should be. They constantly suck on the cow's neck and never go near the udder. The cow is quiet and gives them every chance.

I am feeding the calves at a minimum to keep them alive but also to keep them hungry hoping they might suck.

i have tried everything - put tit in mouth, held them in, all to no good.

I put mustard on the cow's neck hoping that might deter them away from the neck but to no avail either.

Had 2 sets of twins born on saturday morning - and a conformation to go to at 11 - so was hectic for a while
All were bottle fed about a litre after they were born and then lifted up to cow to suck you'd think i was trying to poision the feckers they would do anything but suck and keep backing away from cows .The 2 cows are very quiet I dont know what youd do if cow was mad as well
With a mixture of bottle and holding them to cow to suck they eventually - yesterday evening - managed themselves 1 thing that did help was not letting them with the cows the whole time just an hour morning and evening and then they are hungary when cow comes in and they are mad to go suck They take a lot of time and effort but 2 weeks ?? I donno if they dont suck when hungary? I had a calf before that was slow to suck and when vet came out he just gave him a multi vitamin shot and it seemed to work might be worth a try!

nothing wrong with the calves sucking reflexes - it's just they won't suck the cow. They are like 2 pet lambs when i feed them on the bottle:mad::mad:

pakalasa

Strange one! Milk the teats a bit and rub the milk on the outside of the teats. Put the teat in the calves mouth and squirt some milk into the mouth at the same time. After that a lot of patience.

bbam

Stuff like this is so frustrating and timeconsuming..

I would be thinking of starting to hold the bottle along the udder and get them used to feeding in that area.. Moving it closer to the teats as you go..

Also what sort of teat has the cow compared to the bottle teat, sometimes calves find big fat teats hard to manage.. I be making sure that the bottle teat is as similar as you can get to the cow..
Some of these bottle teats have no resistance, the milk practically flows out - i think calves get lazy with this if its harder to suck the cow they dont want to..

I'm presuming your milking the cow and feeding her milk to them?..

Also rather than a milk feed try 2l of electrolytes, then in a few hours try them onto the teat, the electrolytes will keep up their energy so an hour or two later they will still be strong but starving..

Mac Taylor

I had a similar problem with lmx heifer calf. Noticed the calf humped after about 3 days. Everytime I checked to see if she was sucking, she was hanging off the cows neck. I never seen a calf doing this before. Unfortunately the only cure that worked for me was to put the cow in the crush and keep trying to get the calf to suck. I kept squeezing the teat so that she was getting a good lash of milk. Thankfullly after about 3 days of this, I found the calf sucking of her own accord. Touch wood no problem since.

redzerologhlen

pakalasa wrote: »

Strange one! Milk the teats a bit and rub the milk on the outside of the teats. Put the teat in the calves mouth and squirt some milk into the mouth at the same time. After that a lot of patience.

Ya thats what I do too, a bit annoying when they suck for 30 seconds and you have to go through the whole routine again though :mad:

Dunedin

Mac Taylor wrote: »

I had a similar problem with lmx heifer calf. Noticed the calf humped after about 3 days. Everytime I checked to see if she was sucking, she was hanging off the cows neck. I never seen a calf doing this before. Unfortunately the only cure that worked for me was to put the cow in the crush and keep trying to get the calf to suck. I kept squeezing the teat so that she was getting a good lash of milk. Thankfullly after about 3 days of this, I found the calf sucking of her own accord. Touch wood no problem since.

unfortuately i have been trying this for 2 weeks and it aint working :mad::mad::mad:

mf240

You will have to let them go 24 hours without milk then they will suck her, if that dont work you may hand rear them alltogether.

Dunedin

mf240 wrote: »

You will have to let them go 24 hours without milk then they will suck her, if that dont work you may hand rear them alltogether.

believe me, I have tried that too.

I have tried everything................. :(

pakalasa

Is the cow dirty at the udder or something. Strange that both won't drink her.

Dunedin

pakalasa wrote: »

Is the cow dirty at the udder or something. Strange that both won't drink her.

I wash the udder every evening when I am milking her - I even use warm water!!

Bizzum

That's hardship when they go like that. It's strange that both behave the same. I've seen an odd calf go a week or ten days before the penny drops and they suck on their own.
Does the cow have a low elder or big spins that they get it hard to manage?

mf240

Did you try suckling them without washing her?