As long as I have a calf ready to graft to a cow, maybe I wont have a cow that needs a calf grafted onto.. Sure seems its working like that this year. Every year I need one when I need one. I have a twin calf ready to graft, but no cow to graft to.... THANK GOODNESS
As long as i have one
- Thread starter cowgirl8
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Nesikep
Well-known member
My cow with twins took both of them like a champ..
I had one cow that aborted 3 years in a row (twins each time!).. every year she'd take on another calf so I kept her around.. Finally I was sick of her crap and sold her.. thankfully I didn't need her services the next year
few years back I lost cows at calving time, not calves.. thankfully I had cows willing to do double duty without much fuss
I had one cow that aborted 3 years in a row (twins each time!).. every year she'd take on another calf so I kept her around.. Finally I was sick of her crap and sold her.. thankfully I didn't need her services the next year
few years back I lost cows at calving time, not calves.. thankfully I had cows willing to do double duty without much fuss
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cowgirl8
Well-known member
I usually never have an extra calf when I need one. The cow who had this twin tried. Their pastures were just so big with so many cows the twin was getting lost in the group. One stayed with her, the other followed other cows. The mud is just too bad to try to get this herd up to get the cow with her calf, we decided just to snatch it. She could have raised both, but would have struggled since she's a younger cow. She's going to be pretty. Mostly angus and brindle.
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cowgirl8
Well-known member
She finally got a mother. Had a heifer lose her calf, was a stillborn. She had it at the stables where we had the calf in a stall. I quickly scooped it up and took it to the stables. Then, put a halter on the graft calf and drug it out. When i did, it made some noise where the heifer, who was looking for the calf i had just taken away, saw me with this one. You could see her head thinking, MY BABY... and it was done.. We did put her in the chute to let the calf nurse, but that was for the calf since she was weeks old and had no idea she was a cow. She was a seasoned bottle calf and would nurse anything, this is a good stage for grafting.. After few days in the corral, we let them out with the other heifers and their calves... Never ever is this easy..
Dsth
Well-known member
:tiphat: life is good when things work out for all involved. glad the heifer and calf have bonded. good luck the rest of the season.
I had two sets of twins this year & sold one to my BFF as well as a rejected calf from a heifer (she's having a rough year). Both her cows adopted my calves within a day, a win-win for all! I only have 5 cows left to calve and we're DONE so hopefully I won't need one of my "extras". Plan B: I'm supplementing a calf whose mama has mastitis so I could always graft him & sell her now.
