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Bottle Calf Help

C

Cjackson5351

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Apr 12, 2025
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6
A client gave me a calf yesterday (i work for a large animal veterinarian) because he didn't want to bottle feed it.
He was born 2 days ago. He's a black angus bull calf.
He's got a contracted tendon on one front leg so he can't stand right now, yet. Yesterday he received colostrum via tubing, IV oxytetracycline to help relax tendon, a liter of fluids, and his leg was splinted. Obviously i'm having to bottle feed, but this little guy can't get the hang of the bottle. He has a suckle reflex but when you put the nipple in he just calls out and wallows it around in his mouth. We've tried honey on the nipple, rubbing his nose, stimulating his backside, letting him start sucking on our finger and transitioning to the nipple and he still will not take it.
Any tips? We've been tubing twice a day to keep him fed but I know that's not ideal. I'm sure if he could stand he might be more willing but that's not an option at this moment. He's a super lively calf so I'm not too worried…. yet.
 
What I do with those kind, (understand, I haven't had to do it for years) is get a baby bottle that screws on
with a nipple; old fashioned kind.
Make a bigger hole in the nipple. Open his mouth and squirt some milk from the bottle into the back of
his mouth (not too much til he learns to swallow it) and hold his mouth shut til he swallows. Then do it again.
He'll try to turn his head and back up, so you might need someone to help you. I've found that once they taste
the milk they learn to suck and swallow. Good luck! Let us know how it goes.
 
IMG_2887.jpeg
this is the little guy! You can see how his leg is contracted at the carpus. It's a little harder to splint this one too. Has anyone ever dealt with these?
 
I've splinted them with sticks and duct tape, and I've done nothing and let them hobble around and tough it out. They seem to get over it and improve in about the same amount of time either way, so that leads me to believe that it's the time and space to exercise it that actually fixes it. It might be painful for you to watch, but letting him have some room and encouraging him to move around will be good for him.

Welcome to ranchers.net and good luck. That's a nice calf and considering the market now, that's a very, very nice gift. Keep at him with the bottle and eventually that bulb will turn on for him.
 
Texan said:
I've splinted them with sticks and duct tape, and I've done nothing and let them hobble around and tough it out. They seem to get over it and improve in about the same amount of time either way, so that leads me to believe that it's the time and space to exercise it that actually fixes it. It might be painful for you to watch, but letting him have some room and encouraging him to move around will be good for him.

Welcome to ranchers.net and good luck. That's a nice calf and considering the market now, that's a very, very nice gift. Keep at him with the bottle and eventually that bulb will turn on for him.
Click to expand...
Thank you! He can't stand up so i'm having to help him and put him in a sling every day so he can gain some strength back. I'm already seeing improvements and I think duct tape and PVC might be my next move to hold it better in place.
 
Sorry I posted the same photo twice. I have used every bottle known to mankind it seems but this one works the best! Called "Peach Teats". The milk comes out the side of the nipple not the tip.
I agree with Texan. They need to run and try to keep up with the other calves (and their mother) and before you know it, they can! I would stand him up and make him exercise.
 
Lots of good advice and info above from folks that know more than I do. My experience is from many years ago buying half dairy half beef calves at a few days old. I would have them within a few days to a couple of weeks, drinking milk out of a bucket. It cut back on labor and also problems from keeping bottles and nipples sanitary.

I used stainless steel buckets. With just one calf no biggie using a bottle, but you might find he prefers to drink from a bucket. Put warm milk in a bucket and use your finger like a nipple finally lowering it out of his mouth as he sucks up milk.
 
Older Whiskey said:
Lots of good advice and info above from folks that know more than I do. My experience is from many years ago buying half dairy half beef calves at a few days old. I would have them within a few days to a couple of weeks, drinking milk out of a bucket. It cut back on labor and also problems from keeping bottles and nipples sanitary.

I used stainless steel buckets. With just one calf no biggie using a bottle, but you might find he prefers to drink from a bucket. Put warm milk in a bucket and use your finger like a nipple finally lowering it out of his mouth as he sucks up milk.
Click to expand...
That's what we used to do with a milk cow calf; but if we want to put a calf on a cow at some point,
we want the calf to suck.
 

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