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Stomach Tube Pumps Oil Into Calves
When a calf gets a severe intestinal infection that creates gas and bloat, or whenever a calf's digestive tract is plugged with dirt or a hairball, we treat the calf with 4 to 6 oz. of castor oil. The best way to get the oil in is with a stomach tube - a long flexible tube that we feed into the calf's nostril and on do
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Stomach Tube Pumps Oil into Calves LIVESTOCK Beef 17-3-12 When a calf gets a severe intestinal infection that creates gas and bloat, or whenever a calf's digestive tract is plugged with dirt or a hairball, we treat the calf with 4 to 6 oz. of castor oil. The best way to get the oil in is with a stomach tube - a long flexible tube that we feed into the calf's nostril and on down to the back of the throat (where he swallows it), and into the stomach.
If you tuck the calf's head in toward his chest it's easier for him to swallow it. If the head and neck are forward, the tube is likely to go down the windpipe and make him cough.
Once the tube is in the stomach (blow on your end to make sure it's in the right place; it will make burbling noises if it's in the stomach, and you'll be able to smell the stomach odors coming back out), then you can administer the oil. Castor oil is thick and doesn't go down the tube well unless you force it with a big syringe. We use a large (140 cc) syringe that fits into the end of the tube.
The oil goes down best if it is warm so I shake it up in a jar with some hot water than suck the mixture of hot water and oil into the syringe. We give the calf 3 or 4 syringe-fulls of the hot water and oil mixture.
Some calves will have a sore gut after severe intestinal infections and go off feed for several days. In those cases, we give them fluids and/or milk by tube, and mineral oil once or twice daily to soothe the ulcerated gut lining. The syringe trick is also the easiest way to give mineral oil, which is not as thick as castor oil.
We've saved a lot of calves with our oil trick. Every spring we get a number of cases of "colicky bloat", an intestinal infection that creates a lot of gas, causing the calf intense pain. He'll throw himself on the ground and kick at his belly and, in many cases, can be dead in 12 hrs. or less. If we find him soon enough, we give a dose of castor oil that not only breaks up the bloat but stimulates the gut to move the offending material on through.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Heather Smith Thomas, Box 215, Salmon, Idaho 83467 (ph 208 756-2841).
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