Calf tubing question

[jhwis]

Not often I have to tube one, but when they say left side of the calf's throat....is it the calf's left side I presume or the left side as you look at the calf from the front?

 

[72supr]

The calf’s left side of throat

 

[ADB-Ia]

Not often I have to tube one, but when they say left side of the calf's throat....is it the calf's left side I presume or the left side as you look at the calf from the front?

For me it is the same. Whenever I had to tube one, if it was a small calf, I had its head between my legs. If it was a bigger calf, I worked from beside it with its neck under my arm.

 

[Texasmark]

Maybe others are curious as I am....never head the expression.....what is the reason and what are you doing.....thanks.

 

[rrlund]

That's a new one on me. The vet showed me how to do it more than 50 years ago and never said anything about which side to aim for.

 

[jhwis]

That's a new one on me. The vet showed me how to do it more than 50 years ago and never said anything about which side to aim for.

The Internet says aim for the left. I can tell no difference. Bottomline, I ease it in there and just make sure I can feel two hard tubes meaning the wand is in the esophagus where it should be.

 

[Loosehandle]

Maybe others are curious as I am....never head the expression.....what is the reason and what are you doing.....thanks.

I'd guess feed it with a tube or relieve bloat.

 

[john in la]

Maybe others are curious as I am....never head the expression.....what is the reason and what are you doing.....thanks.

Several reasons but the main one is a calf can get so sick it will stop sucking. Tube feeding gets food in and gives the antibiotics time to work.

 

[john in la]

Just shove the tube in.
Just like you the calf’s natural reaction is to swallow anything coming down rather than let it go into the lungs.

 

[Texasmark]

Several reasons but the main one is a calf can get so sick it will stop sucking. Tube feeding gets food in and gives the antibiotics time to work.

Thanks John. That sounds like a good reason for forcing a calf to eat.

 

[PJH]

,Not often I have to tube one, but when they say left side of the calf's throat....is it the calf's left side I presume or the left side as you look at the calf from the front?

Never heard of "left or right". I always used a short piece of steel tubing in the mouth with a six foot piece of stiff garden hose inside of the steel tube. I rounded the cut end of the garden hose just to ease my conscience. The steel tube kept the calf from biting down on the hose while I inserted it. I used this for bloated calves. Only had a few in my lifetime. Back the calf in a corner and do your duty. I joked that one calf would approach my wife with its mouth wide open so she could relieve his bloat, and that he would fly around the pen backwards when she got the hose in. It is not a pleasant process, but it must be done, usually at about three day intervals for bloat.

 

[dcarp]

Maybe others are curious as I am....never head the expression.....what is the reason and what are you doing.....thanks.

Also, sometimes after a hard birth the calf is too weak to nurse and needs to be “tubed”.
Colostrum in the 1st hours of birth is vital to a calf’s survival rate.

 

[37chief]

My Brother (RIP) raised cattle for over 40 years in Ca. I never heard him talking about tubing. Not to say he didn't do it, Stan

 

[scootergmc]

We need an update.... is the calf fed?

 

[jhwis]

We need an update.... is the calf fed?

Yes, I tubed her a few times. Left or right didn't seem to matter much.

 

[Newgenerationdeere]

To the left I was with a guy said no need to check and he drowned one . Of course you could make sure no air is coming up the pipe