Recently we ran a page of calving tips.
Two readers sent in suggestions that arrived too late to include in that package so we’ll run them now, along with a tip from our Animal Health columnist, veterinarian Jeff Grognet.
Fanny pack
Lisa Holte of Hughenden, Alta., writes: “When my husband is checking calves on his horse, he wears a fanny pack to carry the bottle of medicine. He says it works great because after roping a calf, the medicine is right there handy with him. This works better than carrying the medicine in his coat pocket or in the saddle bags and there is less chance of breakage.”
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Stomach tube
Jeff Grognet writes: “Rather than spending valuable time enticing a calf to nurse from a bottle, many producers get the job done quickly by using an oral feeding tube. This is also a useful device for administering colostrum to a calf that is slow to develop its suck reflex or to a calf that is too weak to suckle.
“Feeding tubes are available from your veterinarian or animal health supply houses.
“The best type has a plastic bulb on the end that helps to stimulate the calf to swallow. This bulb also helps reduce the risk of wrongly passing the tube into the trachea (windpipe).
“The calf should be given its own dam’s colostrum if the cow can be milked. When collecting colostrum, it is important to draw it from all four teats rather than milking one or two teats dry. Antibody concentration is greatest in the first milk drawn from each quarter and it is the antibodies that are critical to protecting calves from infectious disease.
“Start by laying the tube on top of the calf and measuring the distance from the calf’s mouth to just behind its last rib. Mark this distance on the tube with tape or a felt marker. This is how far the tube should be inserted to ensure that the tip is in the stomach.
“A clamp should be put on the tube to prevent the flow of fluid while the tube is being positioned.
“To pass the tube, put one hand in the calf’s mouth just behind the front teeth. This keeps the mouth open enough to slowly introduce the tube. Have a second person put a hand on the left side of the calf’s neck. That person will be able to feel the tube pass down, confirming that it is in the esophagus. If the tube can’t be felt, it may be in the trachea.
“Once the tube is inserted to the mark, it will be in the stomach. The bag of milk or fluid can be held up and the clamp released to allow it to flow down the tube into the stomach.”
Calf hood
Roxy Johnston of Fillmore, Sask., writes: “For over 12 years we have been using a calf hood.
“We came up with this idea in 1984 when we lost our first set of ears on what was to be a show animal. My family would not be without them.
“The hood covers the calf down to the shoulder. Even if the ears are touched by frost, by holding the ear against the neck, it draws the frost out with body heat.”
