Calf Refuses Bottle

[shaneensmith]

Hello all! I am new here and also new to Dexter calves, this is our first.

First off, we have 3 rangey Dexter's not friendly at all. Our overall end goal is to have a friendly herd of Dexter's that are easy to handle for safety and emergency reasons. We are a small family farm and in the end only want 2 family friendly cows.

This 2 day old calf, mother abandoned, kicking it would not let it nurse, she left it laying in the snow (we do not have much snow) but it was fresh and new and this semi dry baby laying in the snow as the mother is 600ft away eating baby is screaming for her. She ignored him. I left him there for a bit to see what she would do. Brought him in fed him colostrum. Tossed him back out, she did the same thing. I kept trying I gave up now he is being raised by us.

So he won't take nipple yet. Having a hell of a time.

Any tips and tricks?

So far I've used persistence.
He sucks on my finger fine.

I've read to try honey, caraway syrup, a rubber industrial glove.

Not sure what to do here. Please help.

[Pinevalleydexters]

Did you have success at your calf taking the bottle? Sometimes the nipple is not getting proper suction, it has a small breather hole and you might have to make sure it’s open. Usually if they are hungry they will take the bottle are you sure she didn’t nurse the calf and you didn’t see it?

[cathylee]

Some suggest a smaller nipple than the typical calf nipple and the peach nipples are often recommended. I hope you have had better success with the calf.