# Newborn calf won't suckle



## Tom in TN

This topic has been discussed many times before and I appreciate the responses. I have a 48 hour old calf that won't suck. I've watched him closely. He approaches his mother's udder, but simply won't engage it. I've tried bottle feeding and he won't suck. I've put my finger into his mouth. His palate seems fine and his tongue seems fine but he won't suck.

I've tube fed calves a couple of times before, but I always feel very uncomfortable about inserting the tube and only did it as a LAST resort.

So, my real question is, what do you do to insure that the tube is into the stomach, not the lung?

Thanks for any advice. I feel compeled to tube feed the little guy tomorrow.

Tom in TN


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## gone-a-milkin

At a certain point You just have to take your chances. 
I pretty much do just what this guy shows. 
Let the calf swallow the tube down, not forcing it. You have to be assertive, but not forceful.
Good luck with him!

[YOUTUBE]tL0k398r2j4[/YOUTUBE]


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## Cheribelle

The tube needs to go down on the calf's left side of the throat. Mine has a natural bend in the tube, I aim thet to the left, take my time, let them swallow. If he coughs you have it wrong, what I was told. Use the length of the tube, make sure it's down where it belongs. After, wait and make SURE all the liquid is out of the tube before pulling it out. HTH.


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## Ronney

Tom, I don't think anybody likes tube feeding unless absolutely necessary but you have already gone past the threshhold of getting colostrum into this calf so your going to have to do it.

I once had a vet tell me that it was almost impossible to get the tube into the wrong place - and he was right. Not that it makes me anymore confident about doing it but I think that is bound up in the idea of inserting something into the body in that manner. As Gone-a-milkin says, you need to be assertive but not forceful and you will find it will slip down easily. I always bend the tube before retracting it.

Good luck with him, I hope he makes it but if he doesn't, don't blame yourself.

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## momagoat61

I have something eles to add to this from being raised on a dairy and now all beef cattle farm my entire life and tubing several calves each year you have to be very careful when the calve is not able to stand for what ever reason. Tubing a standing calve is much safer and easier then if the calve can't not stand. If the calve is down your chances of the tube going into the lungs is almost 100% chance of that happening. So be very careful and be mindful of this.


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## 7thswan

Feel the air at the top of the tube after putting it in-make sure you do not feel any breath coming out. The is also a birth defect, a calf's esophagus will not allow the calf to nurse, One would have tube it's entire life.It's pretty rare tho.


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## Cheribelle

Have you tried a "dumb calf" shot?

My vet had me use it before, have everything ready, give the calf the shot then stick a nipple in his mouth. 

I don't know what's in it.


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## Tom in TN

Cheribelle,

Wow! I've never heard of any such thing. I'll see what I can find out.


Gone-a-milkin - Thanks for the video of inserting the feeding tube. I knew what to do, but that video really helped cement the process in my mind. I've been tube feeding the little guy for the last two days. He's good sized, strong, but he simply won't suck. I hope that I can keep him alive long enough that he will "come to his senses" and start sucking.

Tom in TN


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## southerngurl

In goats this is selenium deficiency and a shot of bose and some oral vitamin E takes care of it fast.


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## topside1

First few paragraphs should be helpful...Good luck Tom.
http://www.brahman.com.au/technical_information/general/poorSuckingReflex.html


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## oregon woodsmok

Mark the length of tube that would reach the stomach. If you insert all that length, you are in the stomach.


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## Tom in TN

Thank you all again for your help with my "dummy" calf. There might be some hope for him. When I went out to feed him tonight, he was active - jumping and running around in the box stall. He and his mother are in a large box stall in my barn.

The cows two front teats were clean and reduced in size. While I was watching them, I saw the calf enclose his mouth around one of the front teats. He wasn't nursing vigorously, but I believe that I saw him making sucking motions.

I tube fed him nonetheless. Tomorrow morning, if I don't see him nursing vigorously, I'm going to try a bottle to see if he'll suck it.

Obviously, he's not "out of the woods" yet, but I was encouraged when I saw that he apparently knew what to do with his mother's teats. That's the first time I've seen him put a teat into his mouth. He's now four days old.

Tom in TN


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## gone-a-milkin

That is wonderful news. 
Hopefully now that he is a bit stronger the lightbulb will come on.
They sure do grow better when they can nurse normally. 
<keeping my fingers crossed for him>


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## randiliana

Here is what I do with a non-sucker. It requires a bit of work, but it is less stressful, and has worked for me every time.

I have never yet been able to force a calf to suck. If the instinct is not there, it seems it is not there.

So, rather than fighting with them, I simply tube them. Make sure they get at least one, and preferably 2 good feeds of colostrum in the first 12 hours. Then I move them to either cow's milk (if I can easily milk her) or milk replacer. Mama cow's milk is preferable, as it reduces the chance of you having problems with her accepting the calf later. But if she is really hard to handle, I go the easy route and use milk replacer.

Tube the calf for 2-3 days, depending on how strong it is. I usually feed 3 times a day, morning, early afternoon and mid evening. On the last day (day 2 or 3) I don't feed them in the evening. Leave the calf in a small pen with mama, and in the morning he should have gotten hungry enough for that instinct to kick in. 

So far, this has worked for me every time I have had to do it. It is a pain in the butt, but it works. You don't get stressed, and you don't stress either the calf or the cow. 

The reason I feed for 2-3 days, is to give the calf a chance to build up a bit of reserve, so that when you leave it overnight, it has enough strength to last the night, and to get up and look for dinner. If you were to do this on day one you may end up with an even weaker calf that you would have to mess with for even longer.

Some calves are oxygen deprived from a long birth and it takes some time for them to figure things out. 

Some can be Selenium deficient, which causes muscles to not work correctly so a shot of selenium can be beneficial, and won't likely hurt anything.


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## Tom in TN

Please let me thank all of you again that gave advice on how to treat my "dumb" calf. He's doing better. He was born a week ago yesterday. On Friday he finally found a teat. He's been improving with his nursing skills since then. I tube fed him twice a day for 4 days and then when he started nursing I cut back to one tube feeding a day, then one bottle feeding a day, and today, he's on his own - nursing only.

I took him to the vet's office yesterday. The vet listened to his heart and lungs and said that they are functioning normally. The calf still has a slight fever (102 degrees), and a highly elevated heart rate and respiration rate.

I'm treating him with antibiotics and benamine to see if he might have some respiratory infection. His situation is still a bit tenuous, but it is so gratifying to see him nursing normally.

I'm supposed to check back in with the vet on Friday to see if he thinks I should continue with the antibiotics.

Thanks again,

Tom in TN


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## randiliana

Good, glad he's coming around!


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