Calf not drinking / sucking

whelan2

hows the calf?

lanod2407

whelan2 wrote: »

hows the calf?

She's still alive!!
The vet believes that something of an achievement - says that most people would have given up by now. I guess if I was doing this on a commercial scale she'd be a goner by now.

Still getting 4/5 litres a day of maverick with a dosing gun, but the morning feeds are now being reduced as they move onto nuts. I've put so much time into her now that I'm gonna stick with her until the weaning is finished in a couple of weeks and then she's going to sink or swim - a couple more weeks of milk and nuts is small money compared to what's already spent.

Standard process now is that she gets reduced volume of milk in the morning. Then they all get a mix of calf muesli and Suckler Mate nuts - mixing them as I move from muesli to nuts over the next week. She eats that when she's done with the milk, albeit somewhat slowly - like an aristocrat child who's been taught to eat slowly and delicately!!!
Hadn't seen her drink water, which was a concern, but yesterday I passed by and there was water dropping from her gob - so looks like that's OK.
They've all got access to a paddock during the day now, and she's eating grass when she's out. Looks OK, but no real life in her at all compared to the rest of them.

Will she make it? Not sure - she's still very scrawny - and the rest of them are ploughing ahead, so she's looking even smaller compared to them now. Vet gave me a tonic for another calf who is looking a bit miserable, and he's picked up great after a couple of days - I'm giving that to the heifer calf also to see if it does her any good.

That's it for now - TBH, she's after taking all the good out of it for me over the past 6 weeks - keeping a humorous outlook, but the reality is that she's been a right pain in the ass. Searching for positives - great learning curve, great interaction from you guys & gals.

patsy_mccabe

Fair play to you for keeping at it.

kowtow

lanod2407 wrote:

Still getting 4/5 litres a day of maverick with a dosing gun, but the morning feeds are now being reduced as they move onto nuts. I've put so much time into her now that I'm gonna stick with her until the weaning is finished in a couple of weeks and then she's going to sink or swim - a couple more weeks of milk and nuts is small money compared to what's already spent.

Would she take yoghurt from a trough or did you try that?

lanod2407

kowtow wrote: »

Would she take yoghurt from a trough or did you try that?

Didn't try it - gave her a few feeds of yoghurt to see if it'd settle her stomach or get her going - nothing doing.

GiantPencil

Been a while since we heard an update - is the calf in the clear now?

lanod2407

Apologies for the late reply - been travelling with work for a bit.

She's doing fine - in the context of getting on with life, eating, drinking and being out in the field with the rest of them.
Weight-wise - I'm wondering if she's much bigger than the day she arrived. Very small compared to the others, and not showing any sign of really thriving. But - she looks to be happy out, so I'm thankful for that.

They're out in the field, and getting Suckler Mate nuts twice a day.

lanod2407

September - and the little calf is .............. still quite little!
Doing fine with the rest of them - separated the smallest 5 for a while and gabe them extra feed and some milk I'd left over from weaning to see if it'd give them a boost.

She's working away with the rest of them, but alas I fear she may not make it into the ring at Tullamore next Summer!!

L1985

Took serious amount of patience-well done . She should have died by now so that was some achievement!

_Brian

Great stuff.
She may not make money but at least alive she'll cover most of her costs, dead she'd be a total loss.

White Clover

_Brian wrote: »

Great stuff.
She may not make money but at least alive she'll cover most of her costs, dead she'd be a total loss.

Spot on. As the saying goes, "There's no loss like a dead loss"

KatyMac

Great that she is still going .... I had one that sounds similar. My father bought her on a whim (left over in the trailer when the dealer brought me my 'proper' calves), she was so miserable looking that I think he felt sorry for her! Anyway, I put her in the shed in mid August that year in deep straw bedding as I thought she wouldn't survive even the cooler autumn nights. She made it and I kept her, more coz she wasn't worth selling at the time the rest were ready for off than any other reason.
That was 8 years ago.... she is still small and miserable looking, is even missing half an ear which really adds to her look, but rears a great calf every yea.
I hope your calf keeps going ... small and alive beats big and dead any day.

lanod2407

October and she's still making progress.
Herd test this week, and the vet thought she was grand - typical of an animal that has a difficult start - not up with the rest of them, but doing quite well for herself.
She was last to the trough this evening, and sped up like a prop going into a maul for the last 5 yards to get her position - no fear of her when it comes to feeding time.

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

Thrilled to hear!!!!!

Track9

Had the same problem with a calf recently ( difficult calving & she had no desire to suckle )
I used those calf bottles with a teat on the end.
Used whole ( Shop Milk ) mixed in Glucose Sugar & Spoon of Bread Soda.
I would put the teat in her mouth & squirt it down her throat, whilst giving her time to swallow. Over a few days, she developed a taste for the bottle milk until she grew stronger. Then moved on to the mother after a few days.
I find Calves are either getting better or worse ( if they are the same, looking a bit worn out, one needs to take action & get the vet if needed ) The vet gave me two four day shots ( ie she was getting shots over eight days ) & reckon that's what saved her. Best of luck & hope this helps.