Post by kellyinco on Apr 22, 2011 17:45:48 GMT -5
Hello everyone,
I have a jersey calf that was born on Sat evening (6 days ago). My DH thought he saw him nurse on the first night but I've never personally seen him nurse. He never seemed lethargic until this morning so I figured he must be OK. But I went out to check on him after I milked this morning and noticed that he was very skinny (skinnier than when he was born) and dehydrated (dry nose and mouth).
We brought him in with his momma into one of our stalls and tried to get him to latch. After working with him for a while he finally seems to know where the teats are and that they're the source of milk. He gets one in his mouth and tries to suck but never really gets all the way underneath to get the full teat in his mouth. So, it's like he's bending it and pinching it. He makes smacking noises and bumps his head up on her udder but I don't think he's getting any milk. We got him to ingest a few ounces from a bottle but, although he latches fine on the bottle, he doesn't seem to suck very effeciently on that either. He just doesn't draw the milk and swallow.
We have them together in the stall so that we can watch them more closely now. He's not so weak that he can't stand but after about an hour of encouraging him to nurse and him giving it a good try, he finally just gave up and curled up on the ground. I'm realizing that this has probably been his pattern this whole week. Trying but never really getting a full feeding.
Any suggestions? Our hands-on efforts haven't seemed to help much. I'm thinking he must have been getting some milk over the past week otherwise he wouldn't be alive still, but I'm not sure how much time he has left if he keeps on this way. He's definitely dehydrated and weak.
Thank you.
I have a jersey calf that was born on Sat evening (6 days ago). My DH thought he saw him nurse on the first night but I've never personally seen him nurse. He never seemed lethargic until this morning so I figured he must be OK. But I went out to check on him after I milked this morning and noticed that he was very skinny (skinnier than when he was born) and dehydrated (dry nose and mouth).
We brought him in with his momma into one of our stalls and tried to get him to latch. After working with him for a while he finally seems to know where the teats are and that they're the source of milk. He gets one in his mouth and tries to suck but never really gets all the way underneath to get the full teat in his mouth. So, it's like he's bending it and pinching it. He makes smacking noises and bumps his head up on her udder but I don't think he's getting any milk. We got him to ingest a few ounces from a bottle but, although he latches fine on the bottle, he doesn't seem to suck very effeciently on that either. He just doesn't draw the milk and swallow.
We have them together in the stall so that we can watch them more closely now. He's not so weak that he can't stand but after about an hour of encouraging him to nurse and him giving it a good try, he finally just gave up and curled up on the ground. I'm realizing that this has probably been his pattern this whole week. Trying but never really getting a full feeding.
Any suggestions? Our hands-on efforts haven't seemed to help much. I'm thinking he must have been getting some milk over the past week otherwise he wouldn't be alive still, but I'm not sure how much time he has left if he keeps on this way. He's definitely dehydrated and weak.
Thank you.