Calf question

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Riverrose28

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Not mine, accross the street but I'm still worried. Guy that lives half a mile from me came over an hour and half ago and said one of the neighbors cow had a calf, and it was on the wrong side of the fence. Buzzards were eating on the placenta. Anyway his sister was freaking out and after turning off the electric they were able to get the calf up and under the fence, it tryed to nurse, but fell down and hasn't moved since. It has now been two hours since birth. Do any of you know how long before they become too weak to nurse? I know with foals if one of mine hadn't found milk by now, I'l tie up the mare and milk her and syringe the foal, but this cow is not letting anyone near her or the calf. What to do? They do have stocks over there but how would we get the cow away from the calf to be herded into them? The calf is small enough to carry, but the cow is not happy right now.
 
Calves can go a little longer than foals, but it needs colostrum sooner rather than later. If the calf can be picked up and carried, even from the outside of the fence for safety, the cow should follow. The cow following its calf is how we move the young ones short distances.
 
Well I need to report, the calf has been up and seen nursing, Praise the Lord. Now we are having thunderstorms, so the cow has moved the calf to the words. Thank you for your response, I was so worried, now I don't need to drive back and forth.
 
No worries... Calves are tough. I wouldn't worry just yet. They sometimes lay awhile. When it gets hungry it will nudge and find the momma. If the mom is a seasoned cow and has calved before she will nudge the calf and get it up and nag it some because she will begin to get tight in the udder and will need to be milked or nursed. . If the mom is a heifer she might need some help getting the calf on, not uncommon for first calf heifers to not know what to do with the calf, they sometimes kick at it. . I have had calves go 12 hours before drinking... on those calves, I typically give an antibiotic shot to make up for not getting the colostrum in quickly and I give moms milk for a couple of milkings. We switch to calf milk replacer after a few milkings on mom since we have a dairy and the cow is milked twice a day. If the calf gets a bit hollow looking you should step in and get some milk into it, but if the calf is healthy, it will be up and kicking and ready to eat and will turn into a sucking nudging little monster in no time. Nothing like horses. I had one born yesterday around noon and she ate a big bottle at 9 pm last night and she was following me all over. Still full this morning, she only ate about a half bottle for her morning meal. By tonight she willl be a little alligator again. We feed two big bottles per day. take care!.
 

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