Post by Lannie on Aug 2, 2014 13:00:50 GMT -5
Actually, we're in a high selenium area, according to that selenium map someone posted a while ago. .72 I think is what it said for us.
The fact that he's too heavy for me to lift doesn't mean he weighs a whole lot. It just means I'm not as strong as I was once not too long ago. I can pick him up, but when he's floppy, he's hard to hold onto. And after all my exertions yesterday, it's even harder today.
There's no chance he's from an earlier breeding date. There was only one trip to the bull, and we have no bulls here that could have got her. Just on the off chance that one DID fly over the 5-foot field fence, nail her, and fly back over, it would have been a Hereford, and this calf is half Angus, most definitely. And the closest Angus bulls are the neighbor's where we took her for breeding. He's definitely premature, but so far he's holding on.
If he weighs 50 pounds, then I should have gotten 5 pounds of colostrum in him, and I know it wasn't that much. I got maybe a quart in him the first time, and then the next two times, probably a pint total. This morning, it's only been about a cup, but I'm going to do another cup here in a few minutes. I figured out we're doing the tubing wrong, though, and I'm going to fix that, so maybe he'll take more. The tube feeder we got is defective, naturally, because I've never used one before and don't know what the heck I'm doing. The "waterproof zipper" at the top of the bag isn't, and the clamp to shut off the flow doesn't. It still runs through in the OFF position, but slower, so I've been having Rich hold the bag and crimp the tube while I get the end in Oggie, then he lets go for a few seconds. Oggie will swallow until he can't keep up with the flow, then thrashes and starts spitting it out. Well, duh.
So, I'm warming up some more of this morning's milk (which is looking fairly like colostrum, but not thick and orange) and I'll have Rich uncrimp the tube only a LITTLE bit, and let it dribble slowly in. If I could get the thing all the way into his stomach, that would help, too, but it won't fit yet. Anyway, as little as he's been getting, his tummy looks and feels full when I'm done, and he seems comfortable afterward. I don't know how big his abomasum is, but maybe it won't hold more than a pint at a time. I just don't know. Right now I'm going by what his tummy looks like.
We have to go pick up the other girls in a little while, but after that mayhem settles down, I'll put Bandit in the pen and we'll barrow Oggie out for a visit. I'm hoping she'll show some interest in him.
And there he goes! He woke up and he's trying to stand again - I can hear a lot of thumping upstairs, so I'm going to go help him up and see how it goes.
Oh, and there's no trick to getting him to suck? I just have to wait for it to happen? I hope it happens SOON!
Thanks, you guys!
~Lannie
The fact that he's too heavy for me to lift doesn't mean he weighs a whole lot. It just means I'm not as strong as I was once not too long ago. I can pick him up, but when he's floppy, he's hard to hold onto. And after all my exertions yesterday, it's even harder today.
There's no chance he's from an earlier breeding date. There was only one trip to the bull, and we have no bulls here that could have got her. Just on the off chance that one DID fly over the 5-foot field fence, nail her, and fly back over, it would have been a Hereford, and this calf is half Angus, most definitely. And the closest Angus bulls are the neighbor's where we took her for breeding. He's definitely premature, but so far he's holding on.
If he weighs 50 pounds, then I should have gotten 5 pounds of colostrum in him, and I know it wasn't that much. I got maybe a quart in him the first time, and then the next two times, probably a pint total. This morning, it's only been about a cup, but I'm going to do another cup here in a few minutes. I figured out we're doing the tubing wrong, though, and I'm going to fix that, so maybe he'll take more. The tube feeder we got is defective, naturally, because I've never used one before and don't know what the heck I'm doing. The "waterproof zipper" at the top of the bag isn't, and the clamp to shut off the flow doesn't. It still runs through in the OFF position, but slower, so I've been having Rich hold the bag and crimp the tube while I get the end in Oggie, then he lets go for a few seconds. Oggie will swallow until he can't keep up with the flow, then thrashes and starts spitting it out. Well, duh.
So, I'm warming up some more of this morning's milk (which is looking fairly like colostrum, but not thick and orange) and I'll have Rich uncrimp the tube only a LITTLE bit, and let it dribble slowly in. If I could get the thing all the way into his stomach, that would help, too, but it won't fit yet. Anyway, as little as he's been getting, his tummy looks and feels full when I'm done, and he seems comfortable afterward. I don't know how big his abomasum is, but maybe it won't hold more than a pint at a time. I just don't know. Right now I'm going by what his tummy looks like.
We have to go pick up the other girls in a little while, but after that mayhem settles down, I'll put Bandit in the pen and we'll barrow Oggie out for a visit. I'm hoping she'll show some interest in him.
And there he goes! He woke up and he's trying to stand again - I can hear a lot of thumping upstairs, so I'm going to go help him up and see how it goes.
Oh, and there's no trick to getting him to suck? I just have to wait for it to happen? I hope it happens SOON!
Thanks, you guys!
~Lannie