# Calf growling stomach, not eating after castration



## AnnaK (Jan 23, 2015)

Hi everybody,
I hope this is not a double post, could not find similar one.. sorry if it is.

I have a calf which is born Jan 11 this year. Healthy nice brown swiss. 
Had all vitamins etc. I had him castrated on day 5-6 like all the other ones, he was eating great before that. Then after castration he just stopped taking the bottle. Strange thing though he ate constantly hay and grains even fresh straw. But I never saw him drink water. I was very concerned that he would dehydrate, so after talking to the vet, tried different things out: feeding only milk instead of usual mix whole milk and milk repl., different bottle.. nothing seemed to work. So started to tube feed him and each time tried to stick my finger into his mouth before tubing. No interest.
Now after some days of that I tried again with bottle, got a Liter in barely.. I heard his tummy growling..?? Tubed him with electrolytes just now and again his stomach makes noises... 
I am stumped. No diarrhea, no heavy/ fast breathing, no nasal discharge, only thing he is standing with arched back and doesn't like to walk around anymore. But when I touch his back he stands up, and stretches. 
Something digestive I think.
In between I gave him vitamins shots, and yesterday a broad spectrum antibiotic. 
Anybody had that before? What do you think that could be? And what to do?
Thanks
Would appreciate any thoughts


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

did you medicate the calf following the castration?


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## ksfarmer (Apr 28, 2007)

What type of castration do you use?


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## AnnaK (Jan 23, 2015)

I usually do not medicate after castration, unless there is a problem, so far I had no problems regarding castration itself. 
I use elastrator/ rubber rings. Quick and easy.
I just checked on him. He had a Liter (2 pints) of milk with yogurt (read supposed to be good for gut flora) chewed on the bottle with tongue hanging out.. made sure the milk landed where it was supposed to. 
What bothers me he doesn't eat anymore on his own and he just looks depressed, kinda sad eyed. If I only could speak their language....sigh
BTW thanks everybody for input


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## myheaven (Apr 14, 2006)

Have you checked to see if he has a fever? Prevail or banimine will perk his interest in food if he is in pain or has a fever.


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## AngusLover (Jan 12, 2014)

Vitamin B injections will stimulate his appetite. Oral probiotics will be very beneficial. Especially if you've given antibiotics. Go easy on the antibiotics if you don't know what's really wrong. 
Does he have a fever?
Was he given Tetanus Antitoxin?
Good luck!


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## CowPoke (Jul 31, 2014)

Mine skip a few days after castration. If I were a guy, I would too. Hope hes ok? I don't give tetanus with banding. only with older ones under the knife. Are you positively certain that you got both testicles into the band?


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## FloydT (Feb 11, 2015)

Dear AnnaK,
There are many people who will argue or roll their eyes at my response but, I turn 57 this year and I have never seen it fail. I looked in the almanac at your castration dates and they were in the wrong sign for castrating and/or dehorning. When cut under the wrong sign I have seen animals bleed to death. They have stunted and had all manners of health problems. While those animals that were castrated under the proper sign have never failed to thrive. The sign should be in the knees and going down. But be careful not to cut them to late if you choose to cut them while the sign is in the feet. They should have a couple of days to heal before the sign moves to the head. Do a little research on the subject and you'll find there is a time or season for all homsteading activities, even getting a hair cut.
Thanks Floyd.


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## AnnaK (Jan 23, 2015)

Hi guys, 
I am really sorry for such a late update
yes I did get both testicles in, I always double check

To FloydT: This sounds interesting what you wrote.. never heard of that. We usually do the castration at a certain age, so for this guy it was time. We don't do it to early because of to much stress and also don't wait too long, because it's not very easy anymore and as long as they are on the bottle. (and we never cut, but use a rubber ring) 

So the update:
this guy is thriving!! I tubed him for a couple of weeks, added yogurt to his milk every now and then, and voila! One day he decided to take the bottle himself!!  He is a handsome one! 

We had a case of pneumonia afterwards so it was very busy lately.. 

It seems like these calves that we pick up at another barn mostly have something going on.. I have again one that was born on the 12 of march and he never took the bottle. A nice and strong one, fights me but as soon as I put my finger into his mouth he just turns away.. or tries to get it out. So again Im trying to figure out what's the deal with this one...

Thank you all for your comments


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## FloydT (Feb 11, 2015)

Anna, you might try dipping the bottle nipple in a little syrup. Cows seem to have a little sweet tooth. It's a good trick to get a nurse cow to take a strange calf to nurse. She doesn't seem to mind the calf sucking if she gets to lick at syrup you poured on the calf's back.


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## AnnaK (Jan 23, 2015)

FoydT: that's what I tried today with this new one. Dipped the bottle nipple into honey and he sucked but once it was gone so was his effort to keep going.. will try again this evening, hope he will be hungry
And what we do is we pick up unwanted bull calves, we do not have own herd, so every one of them is bottle fed. 
thanks for the suggestion


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## TheFarmerMommy (Mar 21, 2014)

It 's interesting what FloydT brought up. I've had an old timer listening to my neighbor's cows bellowing after they weaned the calfs. Wrong phase of the moon, he said. They'd only carry on a short while if timed right. And I've had someone else tell me that sheep and cows tend to give birth on the waning side of the moon's pattern.


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## FloydT (Feb 11, 2015)

I raised a lot of bottle calves from the time I was 10 till I was about 18. I could raise 4 at a time and still get my school work. Sometimes one would be stubborn and I would have to straddle him and hold him with my legs, put the nipple in his mouth and then put both hands around his jaws and squeeze his jaws together in a milking rythm until the milk was gone. Sometimes it would take several days for them to learn. Sometimes made me wonder if they had ever sucked their mamas. I always used buckets with nipples ( in fact I still have them), I don't know if that made any difference. Heard tell that some folks teach their calves to sip milk from an open top bucket. I never tried it. If the calf likes the honey, you might put some in the milk. To " The Farmer Mommy" as l stated earlier there is a time, phase or season for nearly everything and sometimes the old timers had funny ways but they worked. My grandpa could witch a well and people called him from all over. As far as I can recall he never missed hitting water. People would also call him to castrate their John Mules because it was said that a mule can remember somebody hurting them for 40 years and would kick and get even, that's why mule owners hired grandpa to do their dirty work. My grandma would hold a newly hatched chick in one hand and with the other hand hold a needle and thread suspended above their little head. If the needle swung back and forth the chick was a rooster, if the needle rotated in circular pattern then the chick was a pullet. She was seldom ever wrong. Even now I wear copper bracelets for my arthritis. Do they work? I think they do, and that's all that matters. I hope this will help.


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