# Bottle calf won't eat



## BoldVenture

I just got 2 Holstein Bull bottle calves yesterday. They both had scours when I got them, I gave them each half a scour pill yesterday... One of the calves is super healthy and crazy about his bottle, the other calf showed no interest at all in eating yesterday when I got him home (they were both up and alert when I picked them up) and just laid curled up in the straw shivering and wouldn't even stand up, I didn't know if he'd make it through the night. Got up this morning and he was up and acting hungry, he took his bottle and drank about 1/4 of it and stopped and hasn't eaten any more all day, he's acted interested today but would take the bottle and eat. I force fed him 1 bottle this afternoon. Any advice?


Bold Venture Farms
Buffalo Valley, TN


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## BoldVenture

*would NOT take the bottle and eat


Bold Venture Farms
Buffalo Valley, TN


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## DoubleR

First off how old are they? 
What scour pill did you give them?
Are they still scoured up?
Do either have a fever?
What's the housing like for them?


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## BoldVenture

They are about 2 weeks old. I don't know if he has a fever... I don't know what kind of scour pill I gave him either :/. I just asked for some at the feed store and they put them in a paper bag so I don't have the packaging. They are in a barn stall with no drafts and 2 heat lamps on them and plenty of straw to lay in and some fine stem hay and water if they want it.


Bold Venture Farms
Buffalo Valley, TN


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## BoldVenture

I don't think they are scoured up anymore. I'll check in a bit.


Bold Venture Farms
Buffalo Valley, TN


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## DoubleR

If they are 2 weeks old a bottle twice a day is WAY to much! 
That in itself will scour them up and make them lethargic.
Think the best all you can eat buffet twice a day.  
Cut them back to 1/4 bottle 3 times a day for best results/growth. If you don't have the ability to feed 3x a day then 1/2 bottle max 2x daily. 
A happy healthy calf is the calf that is vigorously demanding food at each feeding and still begging for more after they drink their bottle.
Add some probiotics for a few days to help stabilize their gut and add a good quality calf starter for them to munch on as they develop. Great job on the fine hay. A lot of people forget that. 
Be sure your milk is milk based and not soy also. Soy based replacers are known to give scours and extremely poor growth and pot bellies.
Get a quick read thermometer to have on hand so you can take temps when things like this come up. Helps greatly in diagnosis and treatments.
Lastly be sure to write down what meds and how much you give. It is very important if you or a vet need to treat farther.
Hope this helps.


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## BoldVenture

Ok! That's good to know!! I thought it was a lot but that's what the guy I got them from was feeding them. I'll cut it back. The one calf is doing great. Super healthy and looks to have no more scours. The other guy which is smaller (and possibly younger) is still scoured up and now has a runny nose. His eyes are still bright and he will get up some. I've force fed him twice today ( he still won't take a bottle). I gave him another half a scour pill today. I'm heading to town to pick up a thermometer and some calf starter to have available right now.


Bold Venture Farms
Buffalo Valley, TN


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## BoldVenture

Oh and I added pro biotics this morning to his replacer.


Bold Venture Farms
Buffalo Valley, TN


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## BoldVenture

And I've just gotta say thank you DoubleR for everything your doing here. You've already given me some great advice and I've read through most of the posts on here and you've helped a lot of people. Thanks again. 


Bold Venture Farms
Buffalo Valley, TN


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## DoubleR

BoldVenture said:


> Ok! That's good to know!! I thought it was a lot but that's what the guy I got them from was feeding them. I'll cut it back. The one calf is doing great. Super healthy and looks to have no more scours. The other guy which is smaller (and possibly younger) is still scoured up and now has a runny nose. His eyes are still bright and he will get up some. I've force fed him twice today ( he still won't take a bottle). I gave him another half a scour pill today. I'm heading to town to pick up a thermometer and some calf starter to have available right now.
> 
> 
> Bold Venture Farms
> Buffalo Valley, TN



Your doing great! It's all a learning experience.  We've raised quite a few of them over the years. Love them babies . 
Good job on the healthy one. Keep it up. 
As for the smaller one I have some suggestions/comments.
Watch for dehydration first off. If you need pointers on that ask. 
Obviously cut back on the milk to both. Skip a meal if he's not eating. See if he has an appetite after that. Only give him a 1/4 of a bottle. Get him HUNGRY. 
Here's the thing about force feeding or tubing them. They get lazy. I've seen people tubing calves and continuing to because the calf wouldn't "eat on its own". Only to find (once they've brought it to me) that the otherwise healthy calf, gets a real appetite from lack of food (after a few missed meals) and starts to ravenously nursing from a bottle on their own. It's easier for them if we do it for them  He really needs the sucking though. Gets the saliva flowing and helps the gut in so many ways.
I'd recommend keeping them on the probiotics. Especially on the smaller one. I'd be suspicious (remember I haven't actually seen them) that the amount of milk is what's scouring up that baby. 
What color is his stool and is there any blood in it? This can tell me a lot. 
My hope is if you cut back in the food and get probiotics in him the scours will clear up "on their own". 
Also if he were here I'd give him Vitamin B injection. These 2 things will do wonders for appetite and getting his stomach balanced out.



BoldVenture said:


> Oh and I added pro biotics this morning to his replacer.
> 
> 
> Bold Venture Farms
> Buffalo Valley, TN



Awesome! You'll have him turned around in no time. 




BoldVenture said:


> And I've just gotta say thank you DoubleR for everything your doing here. You've already given me some great advice and I've read through most of the posts on here and you've helped a lot of people. Thanks again.
> 
> 
> Bold Venture Farms
> Buffalo Valley, TN



Well thank you  That's really nice of you. Your more than welcome. We're a very young forum so it takes a bit to get responses from other members at times. Just be patient.  
If you have any forum issues feel free to PM me. 
Keep up the great work with those calves.


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## BoldVenture

He's still w little slow and still has the runs but he ate on his own this morning!


Bold Venture Farms
Buffalo Valley, TN


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## DoubleR

BoldVenture said:


> He's still w little slow and still has the runs but he ate on his own this morning!
> 
> 
> Bold Venture Farms
> Buffalo Valley, TN



Every little bit in the right direction counts! 
This is after you cut down on the quantity of milk?


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## BoldVenture

Yes it is. Feeding him 1/2 a bottle at the most twice per day. 


Bold Venture Farms
Buffalo Valley, TN


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## BoldVenture

Bold Venture Farms
Buffalo Valley, TN


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## DoubleR

So cute! Keep up the great work!


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## gumcreek

If you have one with a runny nose I would temp them. Double R is giving you good advice on the feeding but if you have a sick one it may need antibiotics to get over it. It's best to build a relationship with a local vet if possible for the meds.


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## BoldVenture

Thanks. I just had a weaned Angus calf die this morning. His hip was out of joint or broken not sure which, I had planned to take him to the vet to see if they could fix it (I bought him like this) but never got the chance. Pretty bummed about his dying 


Bold Venture Farms
Buffalo Valley, TN


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## BoldVenture

He was acting normal, eating, drinking, up walking around, dry nose clean tail, and was just dead this morning


Bold Venture Farms
Buffalo Valley, TN


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## DoubleR

Bummer! Sorry to hear that. Did he have a temperature?


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## BoldVenture

I don't know if he had a temp, I never checked it as he never acted sick


Bold Venture Farms
Buffalo Valley, TN


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## DoubleR

In cases like that, especially when gotten with a problem, a temp can save a life.  Just an idea to store away.  
If he had a break or dislocation he could have an infection going you didn't realize. A temp can show you something's going on you weren't aware of it. Just a tip for you  
Sorry you lost your calf


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## DoubleR

How's the slow calf doing?


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## BoldVenture

Good info I'll keep that in mind. Slow calf is doing great! Thanks!


Bold Venture Farms
Buffalo Valley, TN


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## DoubleR

Really good to hear! Great job turning them around!  Enjoy them


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## BoldVenture

Thanks for all your help Double R!


Bold Venture Farms
Buffalo Valley, TN


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## DoubleR

You bet! Anytime!


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## BoldVenture

Bold Venture Farms
Buffalo Valley, TN


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## BoldVenture

Update on the calf that wouldn't eat. He's doing great! 


Bold Venture Farms
Buffalo Valley, TN


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## DoubleR

I am not sure shows cuter!!!
Thank you for sharing such a lovely photo! 
Thanks for the update! Great work! Glad you have a happy outcome!


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## Cowlover

This is really good advice here I have two orphan calves with exactly this problem both have scours one is ok the other not wanting to feed. I've scoured the net (no pun intended) and literally not once seen that overfeeding can cause scours or that probiotics can help. A few hours ago however I gave my sickly calf a couple of squirts of probiotics and also had begun to wonder if overfeeding was a problem for scours. (I've tried everything else had the vet out given antibiotics, stool sample analysed and given a course of electrolytes) I may reduce the milk replacer intake on the healthier calf as well as the less agile one. The instructions on my milk replacer pack say give 2 x 3 litres/ day by day 8 (which seems a lot to me). I think I might wait til day 20 or so until I go to 3 litres. Some questions if anyone can help:

-What volumes of milk replacer do you recommend for calves in the first two months and
- What probiotics to use are best for preventing scours?

Thanks


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## Hilary

I also have a heifer calf who has scours. She’s 2 weeks old, beef dairy cross. She has very watery poop but is still getting up and sucking down a bottle. But then she goes and lays back down after she eats. She acts pretty lethargic. She also has a runny nose. No coughing or anything though. I’ve had a hard time getting her to always take her bottle. The guy I got her from told me to give her 3 pints of water with 4-5oz of replacer until she gets used to it but I feel like she’s not hungry after I feed her that much. I also get her some Arrest with the gelling agent but she doesn’t seem to like it much. The package says to give her 2 pints of milk then wait 15-20 minutes to give her the electrolytes. I tried it this morning. She was still hungry and looking for food after her 2 pints of milk so waited 15 minutes and then she was over it and wouldn’t take the arrest. 

I guess my question is can I give her the electrolytes right after the milk or maybe even before until I get her diarrhea under control? Should I be very worried about her runny nose? It’s not too bad but she sounds snotty sometimes and her eyes are clear and everything.


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## Nate

We have a 4 day of calf-we found it in the pasture-mother had given birth early that day and when we found her she would not let calf get near her and would not let her nurse-we brought calf home and went to a nearby dairy barn to get some colostrum milk but now wondering if that was what they have us-we gave her that as soon as we got her to the house and she has been drinking milk replacer and running around -she is 4 days old but now we can't get her to eat and she is lethargic-she has been having bowel movements-no diarrhea and seeing-what could be wrong with her-our vet is on vacation and won't be back until next week.


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## Nate

Any advice would be great-I really feel like if we don't do something today to try and turn her around we will lose her-


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## Cowlover

Hilary said:


> I also have a heifer calf who has scours. She’s 2 weeks old, beef dairy cross. She has very watery poop but is still getting up and sucking down a bottle. But then she goes and lays back down after she eats. She acts pretty lethargic. She also has a runny nose. No coughing or anything though. I’ve had a hard time getting her to always take her bottle. The guy I got her from told me to give her 3 pints of water with 4-5oz of replacer until she gets used to it but I feel like she’s not hungry after I feed her that much. I also get her some Arrest with the gelling agent but she doesn’t seem to like it much. The package says to give her 2 pints of milk then wait 15-20 minutes to give her the electrolytes. I tried it this morning. She was still hungry and looking for food after her 2 pints of milk so waited 15 minutes and then she was over it and wouldn’t take the arrest.
> 
> I guess my question is can I give her the electrolytes right after the milk or maybe even before until I get her diarrhea under control? Should I be very worried about her runny nose? It’s not too bad but she sounds snotty sometimes and her eyes are clear and everything.


My advice would be to skip the milk feeds and just feed the elctrolytes ( I know nowadays they say give both) but farmers used to just give electrolytes to get the diahorrea under control and if the calf isn't hungry what can you do? The important thing is to get the diahorrea sorted and then get her back on milk, calves should be slightly hungry and not over fed. As long as the calf has fresh water, hay and cake to nibble on I wouldn't worry about the lack of milk for a day or two. Thats just my advice others will differ. Probably feeding both is a better option but feeding milk and electrolytes is very time consuming, try dropping the ration amount of the milk to keep the calf hungry! Just don't over feed it and try to avoid sticking a tube down its throat.


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## Cowlover

Nate said:


> Any advice would be great-I really feel like if we don't do something today to try and turn her around we will lose her-


You should have taken the calfs temperature get a thermometer for the future, but in this case a vet was really needed to diagnose the problem.


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## mystuff

Cowlover said:


> You should have taken the calfs temperature get a thermometer for the future, but in this case a vet was really needed to diagnose the problem.


Hi everyone


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## Kristen Thompson

I have a three week old bull calf.....we got him 10 days ago. He has had a fever, scours and respitory issues from day 1. Vet did exam day 1, lungs sounded clear but he was dehydrated and recumbent. We did 2 liters IV fluids and naxcel antibiotics. He does not have much of a suckle MOST of the time and others he will suck down a bottle fast. I am trying to alternate between milk replacement and electrolytes. I have added a probiotic to whatever bottle he will drink. He lays around much of the time. He is drinking freely from his water buckets so I don't feel he is not dehydrated per say but is definitely lacking electrolytes as his stool is liquid. I have another 10 week old bull calf and he is thriving but this little guy is struggling. Every night his temp goes over 105. We also started nuflor Monday night and still no difference in lethargy, temp and appetite. Can anyone recommend any kind of schedule, I am trying to offer every two hours round the clock but I find myself fading fast, and he looks like skin and bones, I am not sure if the kindest thing to do is put him down....how long can I keep using banamine IV before I am doing more harm then good?


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## backyardfarmer

DoubleR - you mentioned giving vit. B to a calf that was refusing to eat. I have a week-old calf that I think I have been overfeeding, by the sounds of things. He doesn't have a fever, his ears are warm and he is able to stand. He is not bouncing and totally refuses to eat this morning. I'm going to skip his feeding until this evening, but am wondering about the Vit B - how much do you give a young calf? Thank you!.


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