The Sunday News
THIS week’s article is inspired by a call I received on Friday from a Mr Moyo who is a farmer based in Shangani.
His newly-born calf was refusing or failing to suckle from the dam and naturally he was concerned and seeking answers.
It is safer to assume that a number of farmers have probably come across a similar problem and hence it is in good keeping that we explore the subject for the benefit of the generality of our smallholder farmers.
Indications are that 30-40 percent of post partum suckling problems are due to the absence of an instinctive ability to suck.
This is called a poor sucking reflex syndrome (PSR). Sucking should instinctively come naturally for newly born calves from the moment the dam connects with the calf through licking actions and vocal sounds.
However, there are times when this does not happen like it has been described for the farmer above. This may be due to various factors such as temperature and rainfall, neonatal infections, prolonged parturition and dystocia, neurological disorders, maternal rejection, abnormal milk production by the dam or metabolic acidosis.
It is also important to note that incidences of PSR seem to be breed specific with some breeds showing high incidences of calves which fail to nurse from the dam on their own.
Some breeds which are noted to be commonly afflicted by this problem are the Brahman and the Hereford.
It is also useful to mention that calf mortality in cases of PSR can be as high as 50 percent.
The syndrome occurs with calves of any birth weight, size and sex but it is aggravated by climatic conditions such as very hot or very wet environment.
Often calves require between two to three hours to stand up and initiate any suckling behaviour.
PSR calves quickly give up searching in the udder area but continue to search in other areas such as leg and tail for a source of milk until exhausted.
In some cases the calf is unable to nurse even if it is directed to the teats.
As it has been indicated above, there are a number of causes for calf to fail to nurse from the dam on its own.
A prolonged parturition process can drain strength from a calf hence it will need some time to regain its strength.
It is important to mention also that in some cases the failure to suck will be temporary and can be reversed by nursing and guiding the calf. However, in some cases the calf can refuse to nurse even from the bottle and a separate approach which is to feed it through a tube will be needed. This needs an experienced person to do it. In reversible cases of PSR a farmer may need to put the calf on the teat and even do initial milking to initiate milk let down and softening of the teat. With the milk coming down the calf will suckle bit by bit until it masters the procedure.
If PSR calves have not suckled by six hours they often need several experiences at forced suckling to locate a teat and show a sucking reflex.
If unassisted both the calf and the dam suffer. Some cows will be engorged with milk and actually be in discomfort when the calf attempts to nurse. The udder and teats of the cow may develop anatomical and mechanical problems making the cow less tolerant to suckling.
The cows may kick the calf away and make it impossible for the calf to get started.
These cows must be forcibly milked out so that they are more comfortable and will allow the calf to nurse. A PSR calf may become hypoglycemic and depending on weather conditions either dehydrated or hypothermic.
Neonatal infections may develop depending on the duration of colostrum deprivation and the level of disease challenges.
It is therefore paramount to ensure that as a farmer you have done all you can to ensure that your calf has access to colostrum within the first 72hours after birth.
This will help in acquiring the antibodies which help in fighting off diseases and infection.
There are signs that can be indicative to farmers as to whether the calf is likely to have a poor sucking reflex or not. The signs include, calf spending more than one hour to stand up for the first time; poor calf vigour two to three hours post calving, even with calves with average birth weight; intermittent teat seeking around inappropriate areas; no desire to suckle even five to six hours after birth but no obvious signs of ill health; no evidence of suckling as noted by the dam’s untouched teats; no response when the teat or finger is placed in the calves mouth and the calf needs repeated attempts at forced nursing.
Prevention of PSR incidences in your herd can be done through culling the dam or sire which produce such calves. Also cows with poor udders and teat confirmation, poor mothering ability and a history of neonatal losses should be culled. This depends on proper and reliable records which unfortunately most farmers do not have. Good nutritional management and shelter are necessary for good herd management and assist the vigour of the dams and calves with sucking problems including the PSR syndrome.
As a rule of the thumb a farmer should go the extra mile to ensure that they save the life of a calf because that defines your herd growth. Uyabonga umntakaMaKhumalo.
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