The Sunday News
IN the past weeks I promised an article on dealing with an orphaned calf.
There are many reasons which could lead to farmers finding themselves with an orphaned calf.
This could simply be as a result of the dam rejecting the calf completely and choosing not to have anything to do with it at all, baby dumping is not only a preserve of humans!
In other cases the dam could also have damaged teats or has dead udder, both cases translate to no milk for the calf.
The dam loves the calf and appreciates that is her offspring but she simply has no capacity to breastfeed because of a malfunctioning system.
The dam might also die due to certain circumstances when the calf is still young and you will be called in to take up the mothering role.
If a calf is orphaned at birth your immediate task should be to ensure that it suckles the first milk which is known as colostrum.
Colostrum is an important meal which should not be missed on the calf’s inaugural menu.
It is rich in antibodies which give the new born calf resistance to diseases. It is also higher in total solids and protein than normal milk.
Colostrum may be sought from another cow that would have calved almost at the same time.
Colostrum has to be fed to the calf within 72 hours of its birth since after that the ability of the calf to absorb colostral substances into its system is severely reduced.
It is important to note that a calf which suckled the colostrum stands a greater chance of survival than the one that did not.
In this regard therefore if your calf could not get colostrum from the dam for whatever reason you might consider rushing to the veterinary shops and buy commercial colostrum.
After the colostrum intervention you may now consider ways of feeding the calf.
The first option is to try and foster it to a surrogate dam if you have some that are in lactation. This is not an easy process at all as the calf tends to be rejected by the surrogate dam. However there are practical ways that have been used with recorded success in convincing the dam to accept the orphaned calf. One include scenting the new calf with scent from the real calf.
This involves rubbing your hands around the muzzle of the real calf and then rubbing the same hands to the muzzle and body of the orphaned calf. Animals recognise one of their own through scents and smells, this can help to hoodwink the dam into accepting the orphaned calf as her own. If fostering to a surrogate dam fails you then need milk replacers. This is basically powdered milk designed for calves and is formulated to provide critical nutrients and is readily available from veterinary shops.
The calf is then fed from a bottle and an average of three to four litres of milk replacer per day is good enough. Too much milk can result in scours. After a month or two the calf can be introduced to a calf starter meal which is also available in veterinary shops. The calf starter helps to develop the rumen of the calf such that it can begin to pick grass and related vegetation on its own and be able to digest it.
Feeding of the calf should be done at regular times as irregular feeding may also cause scours. The calf should also be given clean water for drinking as milk alone may not provide all the water it needs.
The calf needs to be in a clean environment such that it is less exposed or predisposed to disease conditions. It is also important to talk to the local veterinary officer such that it is inspected for any disease suspicion and corrective action taken timeously. Do not wait until it’s late and start running around looking for delayed help.
You need to inspect the calf daily and be on the lookout for any sickness symptoms and act promptly and this usually makes the difference between losing the calf or not. Someone might be thinking that it is expensive to be buying this and that for the calf but my simple economics tells me that it makes a lot of business sense to spend around $40 to serve a calf which you will sell later on as a fully grown animals at no less than $900.
Feedback [email protected] or cell 0772851275
