Heifers / 1st time calving - getting the calf to feed

[carole]

Late last night, 10.30, our heifer calf presented us with a wonderfull heifer calf, her first calving. Leaving mum and babe in our Barn we then return early morning 5.30 to find a bright little one who has got to her feet but everytime she moves to Mum to suckle, Mum either moves away or kicks her off.

As the day has gone on ,the calf has almost given up trying to suckle and as a consequence we have tried to feed her first by bottle with purchased colustrum and then finally having to tube her to get any amount into her, in the end we may have managed 200ml.

Mum still wont stand still although we did try to halter to the side of the pen and have the calf suckle while she was tied up, Mum was not all impressed with this.

Where are we going wrong, if we are?? and what are our options now. Your advice please.

[Duncan MacIntyre]

In all probability you have done nothing wrong to cause this to happen. I would halter the heifer, examine her teats and udder to make sure there is nothing wrong which might be causing pain or preventing milk from coming out of the teats. If you are single handed the job is a lot more difficult, but if you have someone to help gently restrain her, eg by holding the nose with finger and thumb, or holding the tail up straight behind her, while someone else places a teat in the calf's mouth and encourages her to suck. It mauy be possible to discourage her from lifting the leg by tying the tail to the leg above the hock. It may be that you will have to use the tube feeder for a day or two to get enough feed in. Unfortunately you will have missed the time for peak colostrum uptake by the calf's gut, but getting colostrum in, even by the tube after milking it from the heifer, does give some protection from infection just by the presence of antibody molecules in the intestine before they are digested. The calf will need careful monitoring as it may be prone to scour, nave ill or joint ill as it is unlikely it has had a good uptake early enough. If the calf is vigorous and keen to suck it will be a lot easier to manage, and will get more persistent as it learns how to get feed. If she is not sucking well consider using a bottle and teat for a short time but that may in the end make it more difficult to get her to feed naturally. Use as gentle restraint as you can to get the result, and try to keep everything as quiet and calm as you can. Some feed in front of mother may help too.

And at the end of the day remember that there are occasional heifers which just cannot be persuaded to let the calf suck. I had one myself last year, she did eventually feed the calf if I was stood by her, but she never once let the calf suck unsupervised. I do hope you have more luck than I did.

[Broomcroft]

Carole

How are you getting on? Is the calf suckling?

[happy hollidays]

Carole, hope all is going well with mum and daughter.

[carole]

as an update,

the calf is still very bright and quite strong, we have tube fed last night and again this morning, I cant say she is too impressed with the idea of a tube but she is better for it.

Today, later this morning we will try again with Mum and use your ideas Duncan, and thanks for your very quick response.

I have to say we are really puzzled by Mums behavior as she has the milk, the udders and teats are fine, except she just does'nt get it.

Its the first time this has happended to us, all our other cows are brilliant mums and I suppose we will learn from this as much as Mum eventually will.

[Broomcroft]

Carole

Hope this helps, this is what I do...

A lot of heifers do what you say. I think they're just not used to something trying to suckle their teats or it tickles, and they're also so keen to lick their new toy, they don't feed it. It's not unusual. About 3 of my last lot needed me to get them to feed.

If the cow is VERY short and the calf taller, I halter the heifer up and jam them between two gates tied in a V-shape , and, being very careful with yourself, turn the calf on it's side by pulling it's legs from under it, or however, then get it on the teats...it isn't easy and you need loads of patience and don't give up. Get your finger in the calfs mouth near the teat, and then replace it with a teat. Suddenly with luck, the calf will suckle and then realise that's where the milk comes from. I've had one or 2 heifers out of loads that actually needed this repeating for about 2 days.

You don't need to turn the calf on it's side if it's not a very short heifer.

Another way, if it's a more normal heifer/calf height ratio, is to get them in a confined area and just keep nudging the calf gently towards the udders by pushing his back end slightly, not forcing or grabing their heads because they just fight and the heifer gets upset. And if his head goes too high, gently push with a finger down towards the teats. Probably halter the heifer up again. As Duncan says, all very quiet and calm, and leave them alone if they get upset. I've done all this, given up trying, then as soon as I get out of site, they suckle. Sort of, OK you've shown me what to do, now get out of they way and let me get on with it!

As well as doing this, to make sure, you could milk the heifer and feed the calf by bottle if you have to, just to get something inside him as long as he doesn't come to rely on this. I feed them by bottle with it held close to the udder and at the same height, so they think that's where it's coming from.

[Louisa Gidney]

I have previously done as Clive suggests & milked the mother to bottle feed the calf. If I've not got much time & I'm going to be away at work for ages, I tend to do this to make sure the calf has enough colostrum at the optimum time so I don't spend all day worrying about it. Also as Clive says, by the time I get back both parties show they've got it sussed.

[Woodmagic]

Do hope you have now had success, with all the excellent advice. For the benefit of any newcomers who don’t know, it is advisable to persuade some colostrum into the calf within four hours of birth, so that it can absorb the precious antibodies. In all my years I only remember it happening twice that a heifer behaved in this way. Some calves are a bit dumb though.
If the cow is not very co-operative, having given them around two hours to dry off and make their introductions, I use a small plastic bottle and a reasonable size rubber teat, a bit bigger than a lambs, but not over size Holstein. It is so much easier if you are only struggling with one animal, and not trying to persuade a calf to a moving target. You can squeeze the bottle gently, don’t overdo it and choke the poor thing, usually once it has milk in its mouth, the penny drops, and it realises what it has to do. This seldom fails with a fit calf, and is less stressful to both of you than a tube. I try to keep a reserve of colostrum in the freezer in case.
Once the calf knows what to do, I have restrained the cow with a rope round the middle just behind the hips and pulled really tight, one can buy backing bars but they are on the big size for a Dexter. This is a last resort, the less you upset the cow, the better the chances of it going well. If you have handled the cow often before calving, it will probably be easier, and as Duncan says it is very much better if there are two of you to do it.

[carole]

well thank you all for your advice and Kind Messages.

I am very pleased to say that with your advice we have finally convinced Mum that its a good thing to feed the little one.

This evening we have even got her to allow the calf to suckle on her own without any help from us, so I think we are on our way.


Thanks again for all your help
Carole

[Duncan MacIntyre]

Great news, Carole, it sounds as though things are on the up. Just go carefully and all should be well. Remember though that with less than ideal colostrum you will need to watch for any sign of infection eg scour, navel ill, joint ill, pneumonia in the calf and get treatment for it very quickly. I am not wanting to scare you, it probably won't happen, but if it does the sooner you get treatment the more likely it is to succeed when the calf has less antibodies than it should. It is good that the mum is getting the idea, in all probablility all will be well for subsequent calvings. I am just waiting for the one which gave me bother last year to produce her second calf - she never did learn to let the calf suck last year so I am a wee bit worried about what she will do second time around.

Duncan

[wagra dexters]

Pleased the crisis has passed, but would like to add my tuppence worth.

We haven't had such an experience personally, but a few commercial farmers around here have. When our Murray Grey friend phoned & told me what was happening, I suggested molasses or glycerine carefully down the mum's throat. This folk-lore information would have come to me from my mother, I don't know when exactly, but it does work, possibly suggesting hypoglycaemia in the cow.

It seemed a bit presumptuous of me, he having had a long life time of experience, but he has used the same treatment several times since, with success. The cow will usually settle down quite quickly to let the calf suckle. The cows in these cases were nervous and fidgetty prior to their 'sugar hit'.

We always keep a flo-pak in the fridge, which is injected sub-cutaneously at several sites over the body. That has calcium, magnesium, phosphorus & glucose, so would be used for hypoglycaemia, milk fever, grass tetany and phosphorus deficiency. I have only ever used one on a young doe who went down with milk fever shortly after kidding.

Hope the baby thrives. Margaret

[Inger]

Yes, I've heard it said that a mineral deficiency can affect the mother's reactions to her calf. We had one first calver that didn't want to know about her calf because of low energy, but water with molasses added to it and a trailer full of grass and she was fine. She was the last to calve that year and the grass was late getting going that Spring. I had used all the saved grass in the calving paddocks on the earlier cows and was hoping the grass would hurry up and start growing again.

However the neighbour, with no cattle, had plenty of grass. So I went out with a weedeater and cut a whole lot for her. Its amazing how better food can help a heifer feel better. Once she was feeling better, she wanted her calf and the bonding finally took place. Which saved us from having to milk her and bottle feed the calf.

[Broomcroft]

Inger - Does your neighbour know you've had their grass or did you go round in the dark?

[Kathy Millar]

Thanks, Margaret for the tip! One of my cows is always fidgity after calving and I usually have to tie her up for one or two feedings. The first time, she was kicking so I somehow got a rope around one of her back feet and snubbed it to the fence. Lots of fun! I will try the molasses trick first next time!

Carole, glad to hear your cow has settled down. I was out last night in the dark trying to make sure a new calf would suck. He is a big one and although the mom was cooperating, the boy wasn't. Finally gave up and he sneaked around the other side and all I could hear was all this slurping (it was dark by now!) so I assumed all was well.... He looks real cute in the daylight as he is red.

[Peter thornton]

Many Dexter keepers will be used to keeping sheep and perhaps this can lead to unecessary anxiety about seeing a calf suckle. What I mean is that whereas lambs seem to be continually suckling I find it quite difficult to actually catch a newborn calf suckling.
My cows all calve outside and usually get on with it by themselves. I'll often discover they have calved when there is one missing as they come down from the hill. I'll then go and find mother and baby often the baby is laid up simewhere. I can wait for a long time and still see no suckling. The first couple of times I was quite worried but am now a lot more relaxed.
But perhaps Duncan can help with a question? If a calf was not receiving milk then what would be the early symptoms. (Obvious what the eventual symptoms would be!) And if it is on it's legs, say, 24 hours after birth then does this confirm that it is feeding properly?