Calf not making any effort at sucking

El Gato De Negocios · 07-09-2025 09:51PM #1

Had a calf arrive 2 weeks early this past Friday. Didn't see him being born as mother was in field but she's in good fettle so assuming run of the mill birthing.

Got them both up into a shed however calf was / is quite weak and was not making any effort to suck. Got beastings formula and tried him with teat but no effort to suck so just tubed him. Same yesterday and same today. He's still quite weak and when he does manage to get up himself he's a little unsteady. He'll go towards the cows teats and nose around but no effort to suck, likewise with bucket and even finger dipped in formula.

His tongue was hanging out of his mouth quite prominently until today. Got a load of shots from the vet which have been administered but no real improvement.

Feeding tonight and his ears and nose were quite cold. Oul lad gonna go back to vet in morning but just interested if anyone had any experience with getting a totally disinterested calf sucking. He doesn't even appear hungry as any calves we've had to bottle feed in the past went bananas as soon as you went near them but this lad doesn't seem to care.

pure breed · 07-09-2025 09:55PM

Try Madigans Squeeze, tis a great job to reset a calf, replicates the birthing process again I think. Here's a video link via Instagram if any good to you.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DI9_TImsgl2/?igsh=MWhicms3cXJ1dHNkag==

Aravo · 07-09-2025 09:56PM

The vet can give a injection to make them feel thirsty. Would often put sugar on calfs tongue to help them with the bottle. Would keep calf seperated from cow for a while. Maybe have calf other side of a gate for a day or two. Try the bottle and let out to cow for a while.

whelan2 · 08-09-2025 05:00AM

If the calf's nose is cold you're in trouble, do you have a red light or calf jacket to warm it up a bit?

Lime Tree Farm · 08-09-2025 08:31AM

Give the calf milk from it's mother, formula is no substitute for cows colostrum within the maximum of 6 hours after birth.

whelan2 · 08-09-2025 12:24PM

How's the calf today?

El Gato De Negocios · 08-09-2025 01:07PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123795963#Comment_123795963

Still alive anyway. Oul lad milked mammy earlier and bottle fed him nearly 2 litres. He got further shots off the vet and we are going to try the madigans squeeze when i finish work.

893bet · 08-09-2025 01:09PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123796122#Comment_123796122

As in tubed him or he sucked from bottle?

Did ye check temperature. Cold nose never a great sign.

El Gato De Negocios · 08-09-2025 01:12PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123796133#Comment_123796133

Tubed. Still no effort at sucking but Ive been in meetings all morning so couldnt try the MS. Didnt take temp but his ears / nose dont appear to be cold this morning.

Jb1989 · 08-09-2025 01:29PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123796140#Comment_123796140

The milk will warm up the nose, didn't get enough quality yesterday I imagine.

Shadow Dancer · 08-09-2025 03:27PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123796140#Comment_123796140

Hope it all works out for you. I had this before with a calf not sucking. Was advised to give the calf natural yoghurt which helped. Had a neighbour who went out of his way to help us out. It takes a lot of perseverance.

El Gato De Negocios · 08-09-2025 04:33PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123796581#Comment_123796581

Willing to try anything tbh! When you said natural yoghurt, is it literally just feeding it to the calf?

WoozieWu · 08-09-2025 05:10PM

have you tried a tablespoon of honey on the calves tongue

Lime Tree Farm · 08-09-2025 05:43PM

I've sometimes put this onto a calf's tongue to get it to drink. It's a strong menthol scent - I don't think the calf likes the taste but it gets the tongue active.

https://www.tirlanfarmlife.com/shop/product/Calf-Aid-Paste-30ml/9092870?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=18256886633&gbraid=0AAAAADsVk8Hl9L7aNF5qhXBQp-RufMv7X&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI64LTtNnJjwMVpZZQBh0BLBNmEAQYCCABEgI5o_D_BwE

Shadow Dancer · 08-09-2025 07:35PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123796748#Comment_123796748

Sorry yeah, just get some into his mouth. If he's not sucking, he might not take a lot. It definitely helped before with a calf we had. Also, had to resort to putting cow in pen and literally putting cows teat into his mouth. It's all a bit trial and error. It's hard going to be honest, very disheartening when they don't suck.

tanko · 08-09-2025 08:19PM

As others have said keeping the calf warm under a red lamp is very important, the fact that he drank two litres from a bottle is great.

patsy_mccabe · 08-09-2025 09:03PM

The Infra red heat lamp is a great job. It's like lying in the sun. It warms them to the bone.

El Gato De Negocios · 08-09-2025 10:18PM

Just home after spending an hour with him. Did the MS for 20 minutes, gave him some honey and with a decent bit of coaxing, he drank about 1 litre of mothers milk from the bucket. He made several attempts to feed from mammy but couldn't figure out the latch despite giving her several dunts of annoyance with his head. Baby steps but huge progress made since this time yesterday.

pure breed · 09-09-2025 01:22PM

Don't be afraid to try Madigans Squeeze more than once if not happy with initial outcome. Does no harm to them at all and give it a good 20mins.

Great you've made progress, never nice to see calf struggling..

El Gato De Negocios · 09-09-2025 01:33PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123799048#Comment_123799048

He drank another litre of mothers milk himself from the bucket earlier but still no latch. Oul lad said hes alot brighter today. Will head up later and suss it out, maybe try it again.

Just also want to say to all the contributors and those that offered advice, thanks a million, its stuff like this that make boards irreplaceable, even if the shutters get pulled.

patsy_mccabe · 09-09-2025 08:42PM

If you're trying to get the calf to latch onto the cow and he won't stand, put him across a small bale. Saves you back.

Also try pinching the calf's tongue, to get the sucking action going.

Gudstock · 09-09-2025 09:12PM

Great work and perseverance!

El Gato De Negocios · 10-09-2025 07:59AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123800952#Comment_123800952

Oh he's standing no bother and in the main is not fit to get up unassisted too.

We did the MS again last night. He devoured a bucket of milk with very little coaxing but still hasnt quite grasped the latching part on mother. He did suck her a couple of times for maybe 30 seconds at a time but seemed to get frustrated and give up. Still, huge improvement in him. When we first put the rope on him last night he made several little jumps / attempts to get away which was great to see as previously he was very compliant. Will keep at it anyway.

893bet · 10-09-2025 09:35AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123801859#Comment_123801859

Are you able to give the mother a good draw before hand so that the milk is flowing well?

El Gato De Negocios · 02-10-2025 08:20AM

Well folks. Just to update. Unfortunately "Henry" (as the kids christened him) died yesterday afternoon. He had been going downhill since the weekend and the vet reckoned it was some form of brain injury. Despite best endeavors it wasn't to be. Its the first animal we have lost in well over 5 years and as the saying goes, when you have livestock you'll have dead stock. Thanks again for all the advice.

becfrm · 02-10-2025 09:52AM

Ah sorry to hear that, was following the thread

Calf not making any effort at sucking

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