Steer Planet - Show Steers and Club Calves Forum

I had a calf born sometime saturday night, I found it sunday morning and penned cow and calf up after finding them. Calf weight was 98lbs. I have not seen the calf nurse nor does it look like the bag has gone down any. Calf seems fine when I get it up but everytime I check on them it is laying down and doesn't get up unless I pick it up. Calf weight was 92lbs at 8 p.m. monday. Is that weight loss normal even if the calf is nursing? Calf isn't interested in a bottle and doesn't really suck on your finger. No bawling from the calf.

I tried the bottle again last night with little luck, she only chewed on the nipple. Went ahead and tubed it with clostrum. Calf was down two more pounds this morning. Calf was still a hand full to get a good hold on to tube. Seems as if it wasn't nursing it would be on its last leg by now.

  Turn the cow out for 4 to 6 hours, then turn her back in and watch what happens. You may want to get the calf up B4 you turn the cow back in to speed things up, but at this age if the calf has been nursing, it will nurse. I would turn out for 6 hours personally.

Good advice here. You will want to make sure and this is a perfect way to do that. Never assume a calf is nursing until you have 100% confirmation. Good luck!

Gave the calf a shot of vitamin e and dex. Cow got a shot of oxy to drop her milk. I hand milked her out some and put the calf up to the teet and it could careless. Still no interest in sucking. A slight pressure when it sucks on your finger.

Nothing, she could careless. She was actually standing up on her own a few times yesterday. Tubed her again this morning and acted like she was on deaths door step. Hardly put up a fight. I turned the cow out so we will see if she wants to eat when I get back home from work. Going to try some banamine tonight.

Hopefully you have went to a vet to get the dex and banamine, as both have side effects if given too much especially in very young animals.
Certain bloodlines are known for "dumb calves", so that might be a consideration to look into or avoid in the future. 

As for your situation now.... I am surprised the cow does not show any maternal instinct to get the calf up and nurse.  Moo'ing, nudging, aggressive licking, and even pawing at the calf to encourage nursing.  At this stage, I would just keep tubing it with a high quality milk replacer that has an all milk component (no soy, no whey).  Tube it twice a day, 2 qrt each feeding.  Before tubing, always offer it so it can nurse if it wants.  It might take a week or so, but hang in there.

happy endings are the best.
 
EF