slow calf..am I doing something wrong?

I had my 2nd winter calf born wednesday morning. Some time between 5am and 7:45. Calf was cold, very cold, about half dried off. Couldnt tell if mama had been nursed or not, covered calf with blanket to warm a bit, after an hour she was still laying there shivering. Brought her inside for an hour and half to warm up. When she moo'd for mama I brought her back out. She tried to nurse but mama kicked at her. Calf was very stumbly, and just laid down. All she seemed to do was want to sleep. about 4 pm, I hadnt seen her up and nursing so I gave her a dose of Colostrix, which she seemed to suck good. I noticed mama was dripping white milk, the next morning, am I to assume the calf did get the colostrum from mama? I still have yet to see baby nurse, I have witnessed her going around trying to get a suck from other cows, she goes to mama, on the rare occasion she actually gets up and mama seems to not kick at her at all any more, but I still have yet to witness the calf actualy lock on a teat and nurse. Been giving the calf 1.5 quatrts of milk replacer due to I dont think she is nursing. She is still always droopy eared, clumbsy, and just want to lay down, but sucks down the bottle fast and seems very hungry. What should I do? If I feed her too much she wont be hungry enough to be aggresive getting at mom, if I dont feed her and she isnt getting any mama milk, she wont last long. She is out of my fanciest black heifer. Mama seems to be very concerned about baby and mothering. Bad weather coming this early week and I cant get mama and baby together alone in any shelter. Any advice?

Put her in a squeeze chute or whatever you have and milk her of a couple of quarts first then put the calf up to suck while she is still restrained, if calf sucks let it get after it and save what you milked for later or freeze it for a future calf. Sometimes with a heifer it is as simple as her bag and teats are sore and she does not know that nursing or milking will ease the congestion, after she is milked a little she figures it out, if she's leaking milk her bag is most likely congested, if she has swollen teats cut her feed back a day or two and let the calf get the milk production regulated.

Been there and done that, had a bad winter so far on my end. I would assume the momma is a crappy momma and assume she is not nursing. Decide on how much work you want to do but I usually get the momma and baby in a small area and tie her up, put hock hobbles on her and then try to get the baby to nurse by forcing it on the momma. Just had one in December, took a week to get the momma to stop kicking but I got aggressive like you about getting a bottle out there and I started also milking the cow. If too difficult to get the cow and tie her up then I would just make a permenant bottle calf. If that calf is still looking weak be proactive, they turn south fast.

Your last sentence says it all. Here in Dakota or MN if you are going to calve in Feb/Mar, it's imperative to have a shed that you can install protable cattle panels in there and make up to four stalls for 4 pairs. Lots of straw bedding, and keep your calf warmer in there.
That said you can at least build a small pen from cattle panels, tarp up or plywood two (upwind) sides and pen them up in there until you get that calf nursing. Maybe use three panels and the south exterior wall of some outbuilding?

Gordo

If you have not seen it nurse yet, it's not getting anything. Several calves a year, (one just last night) we have to "teach" the calf to suck. It's like they just don't quite know what to do. If I have not seen the calf nurse within 4 hours of birth, this is what we do. I get the calf next to the cow in a nursing position, stick my ring finger in the calf's mouth and get it started sucking on that, then using my middle and pointer finger I reach around the cows teat and slid that into the calf's mouth. Then as the calf begins to get the milk from the teat I slowly remove my finger while making sure the teat stays in the calf's mouth. It may take several times of doing this, and is much easier if you have someone near the cow to keep her from moving around. May even have to tie her up if she is to lively. I always give the cow a few scoops of grain, and that usually keeps their attention while I'm working with the calf. Also, make sure the cow's teats aren't scabbed over. Some cows will get a hard scab on the teat, and until you get that removed, the calf won't get any milk. (Yours must not be if you have seen milk dripping though. After several days old, they should be bouncing like little rubber balls around the pen. If you have any other questions I could maybe help with, just let me know. I hope all goes well with the little bugger.

If the calf isn't running around bright-eyed and bushy-tailed he probably hasn't ate. Once the cow starts kicking at the calf you either have to give up and bottle feed, or milk the cow. It seems like I always have to milk at least two a year to get their calves started. Stupid heifers, 6 handles, late births, mastitis, there are all kinds of reasons. It sure ain't fun milking a Limosin, but it sure is rewarding (mentally and financially) when you save a calf.

PS I don't know what Colostrix is. I always have a pack of dehydrated colostrum on hand if I can't get a cow milked. I've tried freezing colostrum from cows I've milked, and I've also tried the much cheaper soybean-based colostrum substitute, but I've had calves die on both when I'm pretty sure they should have survived. It's worth the money for genuine dehydrated, in my experience anyway.

You should not of waited almost 12 hours to feed it. If there are any dairies in your area they probably save colostrom so next time this happens tube the calf with real colostrom and be done with it. Also remember no matter what you do you cant save them all.

Yeah, if you haven't see a calf nursing don't ever assume they are. If they're weak sometime you need to get them started, especially if it's a first calf heifer - sometimes you in that case if there's even small problems you got to teach them both. Tie up the cow, and work on getting the calf the right idea as M Nut said. It can be a pain, but they'll both catch on in a day or so as the cows milk works its way through the calf. Once the calf gets the strength to start nursing ok, things will generally improve in a hurry.