# Newborn Calf Question



## nomad7inwi

We have a Jersey bull calf that was born at about 8pm last night. (Its now 11am) He gets up & walks around, I have seen him poop & pee, my concern is I have not seen him nurse. My son saw him nurse for about 2 seconds. I've shown the calf the udder and given him a taste of the milk. He is not going for it. Now obviously if he's nursed while I'm not looking he's not hungry. If I had seen him nurse I would have no concerns. No fever, runny nose, etc.

We've had bottle calves before, but this is our first calf born here. Its our cow's 3rd calf. Her udder is huge, and at times leaking.

Does this sound normal or is it time to tube feed him? With bottle calves they are always hungry unless they are sick. It makes sense to me that being with his mother he might not be hungry all the time, but I'm just checking.

Thanks!


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## francismilker

I've found in order for them to poop, they've most likely had to eat enough to push it through. Unless you stayed up and watched him all night without glancing away for a few minutes, odds are he's most likely eaten. If your son saw him nurse for about 2 seconds, the bull calf knows where the source of his groceries come from and has more than likely got a full belly. Does his stomach area appear to be full? Or is it really sunken in?


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## jerzeygurl

what color is the poop?

black is the color of the first poo, but usually requires it to have eaten to push it out

milky poo will look like melted cheese, yellow orange, or if he is getting scours whiteish grey.


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## randiliana

First off, they don't need to eat to pass the meconium. They can do that before they are even born, in a difficult birth. But that stuff is black in color.

A few ways to tell if he has sucked, 
-yellow or orangey manure
-he looks full, not sunken in at the flanks
-stick your finger in his mouth. If it is nice and warm (might almost feel hot) then he is getting food. A calf that hasn't sucked will not have a warm mouth, unless it is really, really hot out.

If he is acting bright and alert, he is probably just fine. If you are really concerned, get some food coloring and put it on the cows teats. If he is sucking, he will clean them off, and probably get some on him.


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## Tom in TN

Nomad,

First let me commend you on your concern for your calf. I have 40 head of black Angus cattle and I consider each of them a blessing from the Lord. I revel in the fact that I am allowed to care for them.

As to seeing them nurse, in the past I used to get anxious when I didn't see them nurse. Over the years however, I've finally learned that I commonly don't see them nurse for long periods of time. They apparently nurse at night and for relatively short periods of time when I'm not watching. I still watch for it, but I don't get concerned if they are healthy and active.

I wouldn't force feed a calf unless I felt there was a compelling reason to believe that it wasn't being fed. 

Good luck with your baby.

Tom in TN


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## nomad7inwi

Thank you everyone. With dial -up I'm not always able to reply quickly.

Thank you for the encouragement. The poop I saw was NOT black, but it was more solid than a milk one. I did do the food coloring thing, it seems 1 teat is lighter colored than the others, so he probably figured it out. I saw him attempt to nurse many times yesterday, everytime at her chest or in front of the udder. Her udder is so huge I wonder if its too low for him. Its a foot from the ground. I milked her for some colostrum yesterday, but stopped before she was even slowing down. I'll try to get more today, if my wrists can handle it.

Last night during a thunderstorm he was under the shelter standing next to mom. He seems pretty good now, sleeping a lot like a baby. So I am probably just being a paranoid first timer.

Thanks again everyone!


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## nomad7inwi

The calf is now about 40 hours old. Whether he had nursed from her, he definitely is not now. Sunken belly and acting weak. Like I wrote before I see him looking for a teat, but not in the right places! I did bottle feed him and he really perked up, which confirmed my thought that he just isn't finding what he needs. He can suck and its not the taste, once I got the bottle in his mouth he took a pint of the cow's milk in about 30 seconds. So is this my only choice to bottle feed? Didn't want to bottle feed, but at least its not milk replacer. Thoughts on how to get him to find the teat? I have tried. I've put the teat in his mouth, he sucks about twice and lets go & then can't find it again. Thoughts & experiences are appreciated!


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## randiliana

Hmm, what you are doing, sounds about right. Some calves are just dumber than others. I would bottle feed him for a day or two, maybe try to hold the bottle at the level that the cow's teats are at. Then, let him get a bit hungry, just miss a feeding. Once he gets strong enough, you can essentially force him to learn how. It might take time, but suddenly the little light will come on in his head and it will work.


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## wr

Sorry, I have no idea how that happened!


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## luvrulz

Kathy..... I think you posted that in the wrong place.......here we're talking cows and you pop in with something totally unrelated... Can someone move this?


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## luvrulz

As for the young calf... Is there any way momma can stand higher on a hill and the calf be downhill to nurse? Any place on your farm that would put mom up higher so junior can get to the udder? Worth a try, better than bottle feeding a bull calf.......

Good luck with him! And feeding....... How is he this morning?


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## nomad7inwi

Yes he appears a little... ahem.... dumb.
This morning, I saw he had a normal orange/brown poop semi solid, normal in my opinion. He was all flopped out on his side. He would not get up on his own, so I had to help him up then he could stand. I milked a pint from Momma Cow, fed him. I have to force his mouth open to get the bottle in, but then he sucks fine. After that he walked around close to momma for about 15 minutes and then went back to sleeping.

I do not know why I thought having a cow raise her own calf would be easier. 

There might be a spot I could try to set her up on. Nothing to lose. Maybe use the bottle to get him where he needs to be.


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## randiliana

you need to be feeding him more than a pint at a time, and at least twice a day. If you don't it won't matter whether he sucks the cow or not. Problem with putting the cow higher than the calf, is that when you have her lower, he will still be confused. One suggestion, have you given this calf a shot of Selenium? It is a long shot, but it might help.


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## nomad7inwi

I've been feeding him a pint 6x a day. I'll call the vet for some bose.
thanks


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## randiliana

That's good, I just wanted to make sure. Good luck with him.


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## nomad7inwi

I asked for advice, I appreciate getting it!

The BoSE might be helping already. He actually stood up on his own, less than 4 hours after I gave it to him. Now maybe he'll find some milk.


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## nsouthwell

Hi, I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing. I just registered and I recently purchased a calf. He's probably about 3 weeks old. He's on formula that he drinks out of a bucket. He has water available, even though he's not too interested. He's very active and shows good interest in feeding time. We feed him 2 quarts, 3 times a day. He looks a little thin, you can see his ribs a little. He just pooped green and it was very runny. Is this normal? When do you start grain. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks! Sorry, I haven't figured out how to ask my own question!


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## francismilker

nsouthwell, 
you have come to the right place. There's a sticky thread on the cattle homepage of this forum called "sale barn bottle calves" at the top of the page. There's a wealth of info there on various stages of calf growing. 
As to your questions, I'd say you're overfeeding him. Cut back to 2X per day feedings and if he's three weeks old get some grain in front of him. Some use calf starter. I use plain ol' sweet feed. As far as the poop being green, if he's got any access to green grass it doesn't take much green grass to dye the milk in his stomach to a beautiful shade of green, thus green, runny stools. 
Keep roughage, (hay or grass), free choice mineral with salt in it, and water in front of him at all times.


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