Not the Mama!

[jdcarnathan]

Well we finally had one of our first calf heifers about 3 years old calf Wednesday morning. Beautiful little black bull calf, about 35 lbs. Well, I was at work and the wife texted me a picture of the calf nursing another newer cow we had gotten maybe a week before that was still in milk. I come on home from work early, get the calf and heifer penned together and try to get the heifer to nurse him. Not gonna happen! Meanwhile the other wannabe mama cow is losing it, wanting "her" calf back. This heifer wants nothing to do with him, and he just wants to go to his other "mama". So here is what we have done, and I am looking for a critique. We milked the colostrum from the heifer and bottle fed the little guy, and have left him with the other cow. He is strong and happy and getting feed well, and she is very protective. This heifer was one of our wilder cows initially that has calmed down tremendously through the past few months, and has turned into a milk cow. She, even though not halter broke, loads into a milking stanchion easily and doesnt kick and will let me milk her mornings and evenings. Is this going to be ok, we are getting maybe 1 1/2 gallons per day or so from her. I would rather not milk twice a day, so should I try to graft a different calf now, or just slow her down, or just suck it up and enjoy the new milk we were not expecting. Sorry for rambling. Thanks for any comments.

Sailor

[zephyrhillsusan]

Did you feed him more than one feeding of his mama's colostrum? They really need more than just one feeding of colostrum, but I wasn't sure from what you wrote how many times he got it.

I have absolutely no experience with a cow refusing to mother her calf, although Siobhan (2nd freshening) was so full and tender by the time she calved that we needed to tie her to a fence post and keep her still enough to let her calf get his first nursing in. Once he knew where to go, they both did fine. She just needed to get past the "ouchy" bit. Yours obviously figured out the whole milk bar thing on his own.

My only concern would be whether having once refused to mother a calf, would this heifer do the same next time? I have no idea, just throwing the question out there. Another question that occurs to me: Is the cow that is currently nursing the calf bred back? And if so, when is she due to calve? If she's not dried off yet, I assume not too soon? What will happen when her calf is born? Will this guy be old enough to wean?

Sorry, I can't advise on whether you can go from TAD to OAD getting 1 1/2 gallons a day. I assume that's split between two milkings? I've only ever calf-shared so I wouldn't want to guess. Hopefully someone else will chime in. If no one else here answers, maybe you could ask your question on KFC where pretty much everyone milks.

[jdcarnathan]

Thanks a bunch Susan. He got 3 feedings of the colostrum. I also had this concern about the heifer refusing a calf, what I believed to have happened is she had the calf, obviously a new thing to her, and the new more dominant (though still extremely gentle) cow decided to "help". I think we may name her Theressa since apparently she will take whatever calf there is. I dont know if she is bred back yet, she was supposed to go last Friday to the vet to get her preg checkup. But that is put on the back burner until we get acclimated to the new situation. I hope we have a few months, or else we will be in another predicament. But back to that heifer, I definitely will be giving her another chance, and this next time I will keep her by herself with another steer until she calves and hope it goes better. I have thought about grafting another calf onto her, but honestly it seems kinda silly since she didnt take her own calf. It is mainly my fault for not having a head gate installed yet. The awesome rainy weather for the past 3 weeks has made that not a possibility, however now with a milking stanchion I can make it work pretty easy.

[zephyrhillsusan]

It sounds like you have a good plan for the future, making sure she only has a steer for company. Good job getting that colostrum into the calf, too. I know all about things not getting done when you wanted them done. That's happened here more than once. Btw, did you know about the BioPryn company? You can send a milk sample off for a preg check in a lactating cow. It beats trailering her to the vet. BioPryn. I haven't done it yet , but I plan to with my two cows.

[jdcarnathan]

I did know about BioPryn, and used a local affiliate here in Arkansas for some testing on goats for preg/CAE. Simple, cheap, and quick. I didn't know that they were able to do it from milk. The other mama is very gentle but not 100% sure about me yet. She wont hurt me, but she wont let me milk her yet. I may try and get her in a headgate and see if I can either milk her or get a blood sample. I was thinking of taking her in, because I am curious how far along she is. Our vet locally has learned a good deal about Dexter's and even though he has a 200 head Registered Angus and Limo farm, doesnt shun the little ones. Thanks for all the help!

[Fran]

I had a momma cow and her heifer calve on the same morning. They both wanted the same baby. I had to pick who I thought the other baby went with. I penned each mom with a baby and left them. It took a little time for the heifer mom to love and lick on her baby. I left her penned up for about a week instead if the regular 3 days, just to be safe. She didn't care if baby nursed or anything, she just didn't love on it. They're fine now. After testing, turns out I got right baby with each mom.

[zephyrhillsusan]

Jdcarnathan, you're lucky to have a vet who likes and understands Dexters. My new one does, so I consider myself very blessed. But many vets underestimate the gestation by a month, being fooled by the small baby. Hang onto your vet! I'm very interested in trying BioPryn. Glad to know it's simple, cheap and quick!

[outofthebox]

This might be helpful re colostrum for newborns

www.publish.csiro.au/?act=view_file&file_id=9780643107427_Chapter5.pdf

[jdcarnathan]

Hey everyone. Update time, went to milk her this krining and she was standing by the gate with baby nursing away. Other mama was there too, licking the actual mom's head. Almost like saying it's ok! But tar baby definitely knows where thr multiple milk bars are.