Calf not sucking

thegreatgonzo

Had the vet pull a calf Friday evening, a huge calf but a real dope. Wasn't surprised that he needed to be tube fed. He had trouble standing up and it wasn't until yesterday evening (24 hrs) that he managed to get up by himself and stay up. Overall he is in good shape but still has practically no suck reflex and so we've had no success getting him on the mother.

How long have people here had to tube calves until they got the hang of what they are supposed to do?

Mad4simmental

thegreatgonzo wrote: »

Had the vet pull a calf Friday evening, a huge calf but a real dope. Wasn't surprised that he needed to be tube fed. He had trouble standing up and it wasn't until yesterday evening (24 hrs) that he managed to get up by himself and stay up. Overall he is in good shape but still has practically no suck reflex and so we've had no success getting him on the mother.

How long have people here had to tube calves until they got the hang of what they are supposed to do?

What breed is it?
We ust to have pb bb, they might have to be minded for a week until they were hardy anof. They would walk on their knuckles and be very dopey. Big mussel calves have big thungs and take a day or two. Takes sum patience and then sum more patience!

Tomjim

in my experience it normally takes 3 days

on the river

get him near the tits and squeeze the milk out. he will then cop on and start sucking . when he gets good strength lay off the tude feeding gradually or else he will become dependent on it.

Practise makes perfect. keep him near the tits and he will get the hang of it. good luck

GrandSoftDay

Give him 2cc of vitesel (selenium) under the skin. It's not fool proof but has worked for me on several occasions.

thegreatgonzo

Thanks all. He's a limousine. We've had plenty of calves that you would have to spend ages under the cows with them but we would have had success after a day and half. Just because he is coming up on 48hrs and isn't moving around much is making me concerned.

whelan2

GrandSoftDay wrote: »

Give him 2cc of vitesel (selenium) under the skin. It's not fool proof but has worked for me on several occasions.

this or honey or glucose and the patience of a saint

on the river

whelan2 wrote: »

this or honey or glucose and the patience of a saint

and a prayer to reilig of saint martin

thegreatgonzo

on the river wrote: »

and a prayer to reilig of saint martin

I think my mother has the prayers covered:)

The Cuban

did yee use the jack to pull him? He could be hurt, cracked ribs ?

thegreatgonzo

Hi Cuban. The vet did pull him with a jack but physically he seems fine. He does have weakness in the front legs but that's been improving. I've handled him a lot and he is isn't in any pain that I can see and his breathing is normal. He's pretty hard to tube feed and I'd be worried that repeatedly tubing him I could hurt him.

cristeoir

Is his tongue swollen which would put him of sucking , if it ok I would try him with a teat on a bottle - a plastic dosing bottle with a lambs teat will do lovely.
It will take perseverance but eventually he will suck it and then get him on the cow, constant stomach tubing can create big problems also the calf doesnt learn where the food is coming from . Make sure the calf is really hungry before you try him with the bottle and gently squeeze it so all he has to do is swallow the milk to begin with but again just be patient and persevere with it and remember HE WILL SUCK:), he just has to learn how its done.

thegreatgonzo

Thanks. No nothing wrong with his tongue. Tried him with the bottle a few times but he's not into it and don't want to risk aspiration. I'm off out now to try him again though.

Greengrass1

thegreatgonzo wrote: »

Thanks. No nothing wrong with his tongue. Tried him with the bottle a few times but he's not into it and don't want to risk aspiration. I'm off out now to try him again though.

He will be grand with the tube.
I tubed a calf for a week before and she was fine

Genghis Cant

thegreatgonzo wrote: »

Thanks. No nothing wrong with his tongue. Tried him with the bottle a few times but he's not into it and don't want to risk aspiration. I'm off out now to try him again though.

It aint simple. Selenium like GSD said will help, or at least won't hinder him.
Though you may end up having to tube him for a week or more, I'd still be inclined to try him under the cow a couple of times a day. Put the spin in his mouth, strig a drop of milk into him, try and get him a taste for it. I don't know of a quick fix solution, keep at him and hopefully the penny will drop with him!
Best of luck.

thegreatgonzo

It's not so much a quick fix I'm looking for but just some opinions on what's usual so this thread has been helpful :-) Gave him a bit of honey like Whelan said and he did suck a little.

Phil Iam

There is dose at the vets called CALF KICK START which encourages calves to suck and vets have an injection to encourage a calf to want to suck as well one or the other should help.

thegreatgonzo

Thanks I'll look for this in the morning. Have you used it?

Phil Iam

Yes I used kick start and it helped, about 10 minutes before offering him a bottle and teat and it worked, done same for a few feeds then he went on the cow no bother

thegreatgonzo

Just went out to try him with the bottle there, he jumped up and we got him over to the cow and after a bit of persuasion he started to sucking:-) wasn't expecting it at all tonight, he was such a dope the whole day.

whelan2

great news, the other thing is hunger, when they get hungry they cop on