Do you give sucker calves beastings?

just do it

Another poll!

Edit: Made a liathroidí of adding the poll. I'll try again

simx

When suckling used to give 2l ASAP after calving, then monitor if calf gets up and sucks after that,the odd time with a slow calf we'd give another bit of it to them

reilig

Some of the "better farms" stomach tube 1 litre of beastings into every calf born just minuted after he hits the ground. They claim that it gives them more sleep and less worry.

hugo29

will latch calf on to cow if they dont suckle themselves, if that fails milk cow into bottle

BTW but how many lads can stomach tube, I cant but must learn,

just do it

How often do you give calves beatings?

Rovi

Getting colostrum into a fresh calf is of secondary importance only to having the calf alive in the first place.
Any calf here that wasn't suckling by itself within a half hour or so of being born got a couple of litres via a stomach tube.

onyerbikepat

I used to stomach tube when I couldnt get a calf to drink, especially when a cow might calf during the day, when I'd pop home from work. With the calving camera, I just put it on record and play back then later. I always try and make sure they get that magic drink, and ASAP aswell.

just do it

Got it this time. Tip - don't hit the back button when putting up a poll!

I've started routinely milking the cows and tubing the calves between 500ml and 1L once they hit the ground. Takes feck all time really once you develop the routine.

simx

Rovi wrote: »

Getting colostrum into a fresh calf is of secondary importance only to having the calf alive in the first place.
Any calf here that wasn't suckling by itself within a half hour or so of being born got a couple of litres via a stomach tube.

The problem I would see with that is that if calf isn't up after an half an hour and you didn't start to thaw out beastings you'll be waiting a good bit longer then, because if you put beastings in boiling water doesn't it take goodness from it?? Then I've had the problem of starting to thaw out some when cow starting to calve then calf up and sucking very quick when out, having to waste some beastings, hard to win ha

GrandSoftDay

just do it wrote: »

Got it this time. Tip - don't hit the back button when putting up a poll!

I've started routinely milking the cows and tubing the calves between 500ml and 1L once they hit the ground. Takes feck all time really once you develop the routine.

I'd do it if I had to do it but would give the calf every chance to suck itself first. If it was a big dopey calf that had a hard calving I would tube it for the first feed to avoid infuriating myself trying to get it to suck :rolleyes:

Rovi

simx wrote: »

The problem I would see with that is that if calf isn't up after an half an hour and you didn't start to thaw out beastings you'll be waiting a good bit longer then, because if you put beastings in boiling water doesn't it take goodness from it?? Then I've had the problem of starting to thaw out some when cow starting to calve then calf up and sucking very quick when out, having to waste some beastings, hard to win ha

We'd always try to give the calf its own mother's colostrum. Might or might not be possible depending on the temperament of the cow and how much help you might have with you at the time.
The next option would be colostrum from another freshly calved (and more cooperative!) cow, third option would be thawing frozen stuff.
We kept colostrum frozen in 1 litre blocks, and would expect to have a block thawed in an hour or so using hot (not boiling!) water. Not ideal timing, but still better than not getting colostrum at all.

moy83

Only if he had a hard pull or the cow wouldnt let him at her .
The suckler cow doesnt have a big workload throughout the year , bonding with her calf would be a part of it so I would rather her do the work in her own time rather than me in mine .
Say the calf doest suck for the first couple of hours while he is finding his bearings does it reduce his liklihood to suck or thrive over the next few days ?
I got a tiny whitehead bull calf of a lad that said to take him out of his sight from a fattening heifer that hadnt let him suck since he was born , I got him on the second day without a drink , bottled him for about a week and then let him at a milky quiet cow . He grew into a normal weanling that wasnt huge but wasnt tiny either . €780 in the mart at 9 months old so I was happy with him despite his poor start

blue5000

Only if a cow is dead or unable to get up. I calve at grass, so try to let nature look after them. I think that cows have a natural instinct to suckle the calf, if we go interfering with it the cows won't know what to do when a calf is born after a few generations.

Dozer1

Like plenty others here I'm depending on my dad to be there at calving, if the cow and calf are ok I told him to leave them at it, I don't have time to be there feeding them and I don't want him injured, after a few hours most calves are fine you'll always have the odd one that needs a hand.

Changed from a CH to a LM bull a few years back and there is definitely more get up and go about them.

Miname

I will try as far as possible to get beistings in straight away. I only had issues with two calves last year. Both calves had very temperamental mothers and I couldn't get beistings into them. It's the most important part of rearing a calf imo

Figerty

blue5000 wrote: »

Only if a cow is dead or unable to get up. I calve at grass, so try to let nature look after them. I think that cows have a natural instinct to suckle the calf, if we go interfering with it the cows won't know what to do when a calf is born after a few generations.

I think the instinct go further than a few generations. We have had cows that shed calved for year. I have had a few of these girls who were outside the shed and will make a bolt for the land to calve on their own. Same thing applies to sucking, the instinct is almost genetic.

I think we interfere in nature by assisting calving and ensuring calves will suck. In nature some animals will just up and leave the newborn as if they don't want to bond.

Ever watch a dog doing circles before lying down...supposed to back to checking for snakes etc. and sure we haven't had any of those since St. Patrick sorted them out..

Nature vs nurture... a bit like the chicken and egg debate..

I picked up sachets of the powder beastings today. My local dairy farmer who I normally get a few bottles off has yet to calve anything and the chalrois heifer that is due to calve isn't showing any sign of showing a good springing even though 15 days overdue..

just do it

Johnes disease - one good reason not to get beastings from your neighbour's dairy farm.

manjou

just do it wrote: »

Johnes disease - one good reason not to get beastings from your neighbour's dairy farm.

Vet said the same to me this year other dieases also as calf will absorb everything at that age.Only give some if twins or problem with cow let nature sort it out also culled any cow with swinging bags and dont breed from them as find this can be a problem as calves will suck anywhere only where they are supposed to.

Figerty

just do it wrote: »

Johnes disease - one good reason not to get beastings from your neighbour's dairy farm.

Never heard of that before. good point. Then again I have never seen or heard of johnes disease in this area.. doesn't mean it isn't there either.

just do it

Figerty wrote: »

Never heard of that before. good point. Then again I have never seen or heard of johnes disease in this area.. doesn't mean it isn't there either.

It's here, there and everywhere! Have a look on the animal health Ireland website...

Viewtodiefor

Calf usually left to be looked after by cow once its on the ground alive and all ok. Would check after few hours or next day that it drank if not then help it out.

onyerbikepat

On a calf's sucking instinct. I dunno how many times I have wrestled with a lively newborn to get it to drink. Often spent a good 10 mins at it only to let them off into the field and as soon as they are outside the gate, the calf starts drinking straight away. Sometimes you just cant force them.

Blue Holland

Rovi wrote: »

We'd always try to give the calf its own mother's colostrum. Might or might not be possible depending on the temperament of the cow and how much help you might have with you at the time.
The next option would be colostrum from another freshly calved (and more cooperative!) cow, third option would be thawing frozen stuff.
We kept colostrum frozen in 1 litre blocks, and would expect to have a block thawed in an hour or so using hot (not boiling!) water. Not ideal timing, but still better than not getting colostrum at all.

Freeze it in zip-lock bags, not much more than inch thick and will thaw pretty quick.

Bizzum

Blue Holland wrote: »

Freeze it in zip-lock bags, not much more than inch thick and will thaw pretty quick.

Thats a good idea. From a biosecurity POV, we should probably all be freezing a drop from within our own herds. You know what you're getting and its particurarly important if your vaccinating your cows EG Rotovec Corona.