Round Up

RED ANGUS JUDGE - Katie Songer

GRAND CHAMPION BULL

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144’18

GRAND CHAMPION FEMALE

RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION BULL

Tracy Dietrich, Forestburg, AB with RED REDRICH KUJO 270K sired by RED MRLA RESPECT 42G

RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION FEMALE

Baxter Blair, 146 Brownlee Avenue, SK with RED DOUBLE B

LARKABA 9010 sired by RED DKF RAZOR 55C

Tubing a young calf with colostrum, colostrum substitute, electrolytes or for various other reasons it can be a common procedure on today’s cow calf operations. This procedure must be done properly keeping in mind biosecurity and the number one motto, do no harm. This article will outline proper procedures for tubing as well as some treatment parameters and instances where I have seen things go wrong over the years. Hopefully by the end producers will be more confident when you need to do it and will use it in a timely fashion. There are definitely times when tubing a calf in a timely manner will save its life.

Most cow-calf operations will have at least one esophageal feeder around. There are several makes of feeders out there. I prefer the McGrath as it kinks off automatically when hung down and you can administer with one hand while you hold the calf with the other. The bags sometimes don’t seal as well and sometimes need two people to run. Find a make you like, stick with it and replace it when the tube gets damaged and rough from teeth marks. For biosecurity reasons I also like one used only with newborn calves for colostrum and colostrum substitutes and another used for sick or scouring calves and have them marked accordingly. I suggest washing the entire unit with warm water and dip the tube in a gallon of previously mixed “Virkon” disinfectant.

Fill the feeder with product and make sure the line is clamped off, so no product is running when you pass the tube. That is imperative. Using a small amount of water or sterile lubricant on the bulb end in case the esophagus of the calf is dry from dehydration. This will facilitate it sliding in easier. The calf should either be standing or sitting up in sternal. This allows gravity to help the liquid to flow and prevents the possibility of regurgitation. Do not tube the calf when it is laying on its side as regurgitation and aspiration are definite possibilities. When passing the tube, do so gently and the calf should swallow it. If any resistance stop and retry. You can feel for the tube running down the neck and under your finger just left of center. When you feel this, you know you are in the right position and can let the fluid run in. I like to rub the throat area to stimulate swallowing and it keeps the calf occupied. Any sudden throwing their head, kicking, etc. stop the flow right away and make sure the tube has not slid out to any degree. When done kink the tube and pull it out. The kinking does not allow any fluid to run out when withdrawing and makes aspiration of any fluids almost impossible.

Tubing with colostrum you want to make sure to give at least one liter or more. When sucking naturally the calf creates a groove which has the milk flow through the third stomach into the fourth. With tubing this groove is not created and the colostrum flows into the rumen. It takes about 500 ml to fill the rumen and the excess then runs into the abomasum, so volume is important when it comes to feeding a newborn. The liter or more is necessary to get enough into the abomasum to start being absorbed. Ideally with colostrum milk or electrolytes for that matter it is nice to try and get the calf to suck. Most times tubing is done because the suckle reflex is slow or in the interests of time tubing is faster and you know what the calf has received. In severely dehydrated calves you may be tubing up to three to four times a day so that is why being gentle is imperative to not creating any injury or irritation to the throat area.

The large bulb at the end of the tube facilitates swallowing. If a calf has just been pulled and is gasping or open-mouthed breathing, for example, now is “NOT’ the time to tube. One has to wait until a normal breathing pattern has commenced. The open mouth breathing state is where the tube can be taken into the lungs and you essentially would drown the calf. I have seen too vigorous of tubing and it results in perforation of the esophagus. The swelling and cellulitis from the damage is almost sure death. This is very rare and results from ramming the tube down the throat or the calf severely struggling when being tubed. The fluid should also flow pretty freely when unkinked or the clamp released. If not, simply reposition the tube by pulling back a little bit. The tubes are generally designed to be put in until the hard end is just protruding out of the end of the mouth. Keep a close eye as I have had cases where the tube either came off or broke off the hose and was swallowed. We need to go in surgically to remove the tube from a severely stretched out rumen. There was one batch of feeders defective years ago and the others were from old feeders getting brittle. A good reason to replace them depending on usage but every couple of years for sure.

One must be cognizant especially with treating sick calves that you could be the spread of disease from calf to calf so again disinfect in between usages. Your clothes, boots and hands could also be the spread so clean up well in between treatments is ideal.

In clinical practice we may even tube older calves with the same esophageal feeders for bloat or be using activated charcoal or kaopectate mixed in with electrolytes for diarrhea treatment. Esophageal feeders are a very necessary device for cow calf producers and one that can give calves the necessary nourishment they need. If hesitant to use one get someone skilled to show you the right way to proceed. They will save calves.

Now to make things easier than ever the calf four part video series “911 Calf” put out by BCRC has a pictorial and verbal description of what I have just said. If you search 911 calf, the four YouTube videos will come up and is on properly tubing a calf. If in doubt watch the video a couple times and you will have no hesitation using one when it is necessary. Also I will include a picture of how the feeders can be labeled and there are now more models than ever of esophageal feeders. For colostrum placement in a slow doing newborn to dehydration treatment in a scouring calf timeliness is critical but keep them clean in between usages and only used for the purpose indicated. Also the videos I just mentioned are in a poster format for putting up in the barn. Ask for them at your veterinary clinic or look them up on the BCRC website beefresearch.ca. They also have a QR code on them so the videos can be accessed through your phone. The more people that can learn and teach others the better. The benefit will be towards better calf health.