1 week old calf w/ tongue problem-updated!

[rideaway]

We were given a calf yesterday that is about a week old. *He'd been on pasture with momma and she wasn't taking care of him and didn't appear to have any milk. *When we caught him, he wasn't very strong. *His tongue is hanging slightly out of his mouth on one side and he appears to have a suckling problem. *He really doesn't seem to have the idea to suck either. *

We are trying to get milk down his throat by tipping head back and squeezing bottle and occassionally he will suckle or swallow. *I am worried about getting milk in his lungs. *Supposedly he'd been seen eating some of the alfalfa they threw to the cows. *

I am not sure what to do with this guy. *Thought about trying bucket feeding with the milk in a bucket. *

Any suggestions appreciated...

[harvester]

sounds like a stroke. bucket feeding is what i would try. If that doesnt work then you could tube feed him. If you want to invest more into him you could have a vet put in a permanent feeding tube.

[momma_to_seven_chi]

Are you confident enough to tube him? *If so, that would be my first choice. If not, I would have my vet do it for a couple of feedings to raise his strength. Then I would make him a bucket calf.

Did he get any colostrum at all? If not, it may be a loosing battle no matter what you do.

[momma_to_seven_chi]

A CD T vaccine would also be a good idea especially if he has been eating pasture. I know it is 2cc for caprine, and I think 5cc for bovine. *Clostridia can be nasty in babies weaned early. You can buy a whole bottle, or just get one vaccine at the vet's office for about two dollars.
I vaccinate all my bottle kids at one week for overeating.

[Anon001]

The only problem with a vaccine is that if he is sick then some vaccines can worsen the problem. *

Does he have scours? uh.. runs? *are they bloody? *These are things to look for. *If so, *he needs scour boluses for calves. *If not, it could be something else. *

If he isn't sucking you MUSt get some into him. *If you know how to tube, you can do it with a piece of garden hose. *If you aren't familiar but want to try, go to your coop or farm and home and be a tube feeder. *They will have a "ball" on the end and you can feel it as it goes down the esophagus to prevent going into his lungs. *

The other thing is to try and bucket feed him if you know how to start one. *But, if he has no interest in sucking he will only get weaker. *The problem with a sick calf is that they can go from "feeling ill" to dead very very quickly. *For now, Mix up a quart with a few raw eggs and white Karo syrup. *THat will give him some nutrition and the syrup could give him just that boost of energy he needs to suck.

But, if you aren't comfortable with doing what ever it takes to get nutrition into him than call the vet ASAP. *Calves that are that young go downhill very quickly.

I've seen this happen many times. *A stockman gets a sick calf and rather than mess with the money and time it takes to devote to him and knowing he will be dead before the nex barn sale, they will find a "newbie" to take it and deal with, knowing that it most likely won't survive.

So, call I would call the vet to at least get recommendations. *I think I would do that anyway... There are a number of things it could be. *It could be blackleg BVD, scours that could be caused by many different problems. *

Just like Momma_to..... said. *If the mama cow wasn't milking then he got no colustrum... I doubt the owner gave him any. *You can buy colustrum but they have to receive it in the first 24 hours. *After that, it does the calf no good.

By the way... chances of it beinga stroke are nil....
Good luck,

I just thought of something else. If the calf is alive at one week old, then he was getting some milk.... So, I would say he probably has one of several bacterias. The most common problem with a calf is scours, or diahrea. The scours can be caused by one of several illnesses. With you being new to it, I would just call a vet and ask him what you should do.

[momma_to_seven_chi]

Albon (Di-Methox) works well for both coccidia or clostridia. *In baby animals those would be the most common issues if he does have scours. *In ruminants injections are better than PO, but either would be better than a dead calf. You can usually get the generic Dimethox at a feed store for less than ten dollars.

Also I would use cow's milk or goats milk rather than the powdered soy replacer. It is just better. And have you considered it might just be a nipple issue? It's hard to switch a baby from Mama teats to rubber nipples.

I hope he makes it.

[rideaway]

Update...

He seems to be sucking better tonight. We fed another 16 oz or so this am, minus what ran out of his mouth. Got home at 5:30 pm and he did another 16 oz slowly, with lots of breaks and some drips, then discovered the alfalfa hay and was happily munching on that. Hubby went down just now to the barn (7:45 pm) to force another pint on him and we'll do it again before bedtime at 10 pm or so.

I talked to our vet, who said given his age and the fact that he was still alive and kicking (ouch), he was certain he had gotten colostrum from mom, and was getting enough milk on a daily basis to stay alive. He said just keep trying the bottle and forcing the issue with him. Because he is used to mom's milk, he isn't going to like the taste of the calf milk replacer, plus the nipples are strange of course. We are trying two differerent nipples, right now the smaller one seems to work better. Dr. John also said wait on shots at this point-don't want to cause anymore stress than he needs.

He has been named Bubba due to the tongue sticking out. He doesn't look like the sharpest tool in the shed, my 13 year old daughter says...lol. But he is sweet and is much calmer (or weaker? ) tonight.

I've raised many bummer lambs, but this is definitly a different experience...maybe if we'd got him first off it would have been easier. I've been able to get the lambs convinced the bottle is their friend, so it should work with him. I'll keep you all posted and thanks for the advice.

[rideaway]

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i275/rideaway_63/april5048.jpg

The head gets pretty heavy.

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i275/rideaway_63/april5049.jpg

Ooooo...Alfalfa

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i275/rideaway_63/april5045.jpg

Relaxing

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i275/rideaway_63/april5047.jpg

[momma_to_seven_chi]

He's beautiful. I'm glad he is doing better.

My daughter brought home a baby kid yesterday from a sale. He hates the nipple too. *I don't know why people leave kids/calves, etc on Mommas for any period of time unless they plan to leave them on Momma for at least 8 weeks. You either bottle feed or you don't. *Once they have Momma, they hate any other nipple. I bottle feed all the does, and just milk Momma for colostrum/milk for them. *They never nurse on Momma, just the bottle. It's too hard to try to switch an udder baby to a bottle, and I want to bottle feed does to imprint them if I plan to milk later in life.
I do vaccinate for overeating as early as possible for any baby being bottle fed. *It's too easy for them to have issues without the vaccine. Ruminants have too many issues with sugar/bacteria when you bottle feed and supplement early.

[backlash]

I went to the sale a couple of week ago.
They sold the first day old mixed breed bull for $5.00, the next one went to $7.50.
I still wasn't tempted to buy one. My wife would have raised him and we would never get to eat it.
Good looking calf.
AC
AC

[rideaway]

I dunno what to think...not much luck with bottle today or early evening. He was shaking down in the stall, so we were going to bring him up into the house and put him in the laundry room. Hubby had to set him down cause he weighed so much and he immediately started grazing. We went ahead and let him wander in the yard and he grazed for a good half hour or so, kicking at the dog, etc. Took him back down to stall since he wasn't shaking any more. Went down tonight and tried both calf nipples again with not much luck. Tried the lamb nipple again and he amazingly got a good latch and got about 3/4 of a pint down in about 4 minutes. Bottle was empty so I went to go fill it and he followed me and was bumping me with his head looking for the bottle. Then when I tried to give him the bottle again, no luck and it was a fight again. Maybe tomorrow it will "catch" again.

He is still chewing on the alfalfa in the stall.

[Anon001]

He's thinking you're momma. He bumps you looking for a teat not a bottle nipple. It will take a few days to get the teat idea out of his little mind and then he will take off on that bottle.

One thing I've always done when I've had to bottle feed is that I straddle them just behind their front legs and that way I can hold their head better ...in the beginning. Once he takes off on the bottle, he will get very aggressive with it...to the point of almost knocking ya down! lol

I would also get a high protein calf starter and start putting that in front of him. For awhile, he will just sniff it before he starts nibbling at it... a couple days or so. Leave it out all day if you have to until he starts to eat. That will allow you to get him on feed and off the bottle sooner. But... keep in mind that he will be about 300 pounds when his rumen is developing. So, anytime after about 300 pounds you could wean him.

[momma_to_seven_chi]

I went to the sale a couple of week ago.
They sold the first day old mixed breed bull for $5.00, the next one went to $7.50.
AC

Bucket calves have been going for about ten dollars in this area at the auctions. Male Llamas went for less than ten dollars a couple months back. Nobody wants them.

[rideaway]

Yippeee....he drank 16 oz in about 4 minutes tonight. We're gonna try another 16 in an hour or so. He has had alfalfa and creep feed since we brought him home...he's much like the lambs we've raised, just slower to catch on, which has worried me, but maybe now we're seeing some light at the end of the tunnel!

[rideaway]

Bubba's been with us a week now, and since Saturday has acted like a pro on the bottle. He is drinking 2 quarts a feeding, am and pm and grazing some and eating alfalfa hay.

He was wheezing a bit so we gave him 4 doses of antibiotics and that has cleared. He coughs a bit after the bottle because it is hard to get him to slow down. Pretty friendly now, loves his butt scratched. We are not letting him get too affectionate back, so as too hopefully prevent any aggression problems later.

He is sooo cute-it's a good thing he will be leaving the property in July and going to a friends pasture-make it easier to eat him when the time comes. LOL