No colostrum

What does a calf act or look like that did not get first milk soon enough?

they lay flat and look half dead.

On what kind of time line. 5 hours or a day or so?

Dead in a few days.

agree with GC.. after about 24 hours thjey lay out half or more dead.. get the colostrum in them and warm them up and we've had gopod luck giving them some karo syrup to get some quick electrolytes into them

They are the ones that get sick their whole life, you put $300 worth of drugs in 'em... $400 worth of feed....  The morning you have a load of fats going out they are the ones laying dead in the corner of the pen!

jbw- that sounds like my luck!

frostback said:

What does a calf act or look like that did not get first milk soon enough?

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How soon 'did' the calf suck?  Or did it suck at all?

The calf was born in the night in the snow. Sure thought she sucked before I got to her and put her in the shed with another calf that was born earlier in the day. We only have one shed so we put the calves in there with a calf panel and let the moms see them but not get in there with them. Not sure how much she has sucked since then. I have put the mom in the chute twice and the calf has nursed then. I think it is more of the little girl not being very aggresive.

Talking to my vet over the years and from my expeirence i like that calf to get the colostrum in them within two hours max.  Of course i check cows every four hours or more if one is in labor or showing signs. Most are up sucking within 15 to 30 mins unless it is a hard pull or c section then i milk the cow and tube the calve so can get some sleep.  I also give the calves scour medicine oral when they are born or within a few hours.  Vet says best to be absorbed into their system the first four or six hours but can still get some at 12 hours.  Had one last year took me 12 hours before i could get the cow away without kicking my ---.

has anyone ever purchased frozen colostrum from a dairy to use if the calf does not nurse right away?  Any problems with that?

the only issue with buying frozen colostrum fro mthe dairy is the antibodies in the milk are specific to that dairy, not to your herd, if the dairy is next down then you'll probably have similar strains of pathogens the cows are immune too, but if not you can one type of Ecoli and the milk has antibodies to a different kind.
We like to use Colostyx ( i think thats the brand) for those down and out calves after a hard pull or if momma doesn't have much of an udder to milk out and tube the calf

I would call the vet and ask about some possibly IV passive immunity if past 24 hours old,  its expensive but its better that hoping the calf got colostrum in the first day


JWW

mdb1985 said:

has anyone ever purchased frozen colostrum from a dairy to use if the calf does not nurse right away?  Any problems with that?

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There has been a huge discussion about this in another thread... dairy herds are known to be infected with Johne's. Not a fun disease to deal with and it CAN be spread by colostrum. Do a search and I am sure you wil find all the arguements.

It is easier, and much safer to by a powdered colostrum REPLACER, (not supplement).

If they are not up nursing in an hour we help them nurse or milk out the cow and tube it in so the calf gets its antibodies and builds up its strength so it can nurse on its own.  Knock on wood, haven't had to touch one this year.  But I also have ZERO tolerance for poor udders and large teats and poor mothers than don't get that calf going.
I always keep a couple bags of Clostrix on hand just in case of emergency or for a heifer that doesn't drop her milk right away.  It's pretty good stuff.
<cowboy>

Agree with jbw, it won't kill them, they just don't have the immunity system to handle anything and it more puts them at a disadvantage for life, but they don't really act any different.
We have purchased from a safe dairy here locally, but it is easier to just keep a couple of bags on hand and mix as you need it.

We had a set of WMW twins which isn't turning out too good. The heifer calf didn't make it through the night. It was a cold night and we made the mistake of not getting them under shelter. The bull calf never got up and milked right away and when it tried the momma cow kicked her leg out. He is still alive and probably will make it (he was born Sunday night). We got colostrum pills in him the day after he was born. To top it off he was born blind in one eye. He's separated from his mom and have gotten electrolytes in him but he won't suck down a bottle - just has no energy

Good news on this guy: this morning I tried to feed him a bottle and he wouldn't take it. He was up and walking around bawling, so I took him over to his mom and he started nursing right away. So it looks like he might be alright.

I try to keep at least 1 gallon of frozen colostrum on hand, our first cow to calve every year has enough milk to feed 4 calves, and she loves grain, so i ususally put her calf on one teat and strip out milk on the other side, she will stand without being tied as long as the grain lasts, fortunately we used be dairy farmers so i got pretty good at milking by hand.
As to colostrum from a neighboring dairy it isn't a good idea as was stated previously due to the differences in antibodies between farms, we found that out the hard way last year, i was out of colostrum and had acalf that wouldn't nurse so we got some colostrum from a big dairy we deal with, but 4 days later the calf was dead due to uncontrollable scours that draxin, exenell, and baytril couldn't cure
milking a cow by hand may be a pain but lossing a calf is worse

we use to work for a dairy that use to do tests for colleges and they would take ten calves and give no colostrum electrolytes vaccines or naything and i remember when i worked there the one time they did it 6 out of 10 lived