calf behavior

[rustyb]

hi , im russ , and today we purchased a jersy milking cow with a calf, not its natural calf, but one the cow has adopted,

i have not delt with many calves b4
they seemed to settle into the new paddock well, lots of grass
but anyways, its night time now and i went to check on them , i found the cow, but not the calf, and now im worried, wen i observed the calf , it was closly sticking close with the cow, but ye now i cant find him ,
does anyone know wat could of happened , has he just nodded off somewhere asleep ?, or something ?, what do calves do at night normally ?

thankyou for any help

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

How long had the calf been sucking this cow? If it has been with the cow a few weeks it is off taking a nap more than likely.

 

[dun]

If there is anywhere to hide, i.e. tall grass a bush or tree, etc., the calf is probably bedded down there. If it's a barbed wire fence, depending on the calfs age it may be hunkered down outside the fence but close by.
If the cow and calf a truly bonded, if she's not concerned she knows where it is.

 

[rustyb]

thanks so far, um im not quite sure, but i know he is three weeks old, and the cow originally gave birth to a dead calf, so , ill assume 2 or 3 weeks

its still got me worried, but i feel a bit better , so ye ill have to hqave a look in the morning, its only an acre paddock , if that , there is an electric fence, and a plain wire fence but i think he culd go under that, so ye , but he was sticking with the other cow, wen i saw the other cow she didnt seem stressed , but i dunno how much interest she has in the calf , but the calf stuck with her and that, so he obviously wants to be around her, but ye, ye i spose the grass is pretty tall out there, so ye

one other problem , this afternoon just after they arrived, when the calf started to try to drink from her, she didnt seem to like it, but milk was dripping from her udder, is this bad ? , i assumed she might have been in some pain or discomfort or not in the mood after the long trip,

what do you guys think , if its bad, how could i resolve it ?

 

[Chris H]

If the calf tried to nurse, and the cow didn't want it to, I'd be very concerned that the cow had not accepted the calf as her own. In a new situation the cow would be more likely to stick close to the calf, if she had bonded to it.
Find the calf and make sure it is nursing.

 

[cah]

Well.. any news on the calve? Just wondering about the little thing.

 

[mnmtranching]

Doesn't sound to me like the pair has not bonded, calf was maybe just put with the cow to sell the pair. The
cow should be standing for the calf and the milk not dripping and the calf should be content and near by.
Sounds to me like the calf went looking for food.

 

[dun]

Doesn't sound to me like the pair has not bonded, calf was maybe just put with the cow to sell the pair. The
cow should be standing for the calf and the milk not dripping and the calf should be content and near by.
Sounds to me like the calf went looking for food.

That's pretty much my thoughts too, that was Why I mentioned about the bonding!

 

[Wisteria Farms]

We tracked 2 calves that went looking for food after we brought them home (they were supposed to be weaned and WERE NOT) so you'd better be high-tailing out there and find out where your calf went....!! Sorry buddy but its going to be even harder on you since it doesn't know what a feed bucket is. Ours didn't either..so we had to drive them on foot up several fencelines to get them home. If its not outside your fence, then I hope you have neighbors with cattle as that'd be where I'd look next. Good luck and keep us posted...

 

[msscamp]

We tracked 2 calves that went looking for food after we brought them home (they were supposed to be weaned and WERE NOT) so you'd better be high-tailing out there and find out where your calf went....!! Sorry buddy but its going to be even harder on you since it doesn't know what a feed bucket is. Ours didn't either..so we had to drive them on foot up several fencelines to get them home. If its not outside your fence, then I hope you have neighbors with cattle as that'd be where I'd look next. Good luck and keep us posted...

Where, exactly, did the original poster mention that his calf was weaned? It sounds to me like he purchased a calf that was grafted onto a cow, but the calf is still nursing.

Rustyb, assuming the cow has bonded with the calf, I would take action according to her behaviour. If she is unconcerned, she knows where she 'parked' the calf and all is well. If, on the other hand, she is bawling and actively looking for the calf then I would be looking for him, too. Now, having said that, I would also be on the lookout for an overly full udder - just to cover my bases.

 

[Wisteria Farms]

We tracked 2 calves that went looking for food after we brought them home (they were supposed to be weaned and WERE NOT) so you'd better be high-tailing out there and find out where your calf went....!! Sorry buddy but its going to be even harder on you since it doesn't know what a feed bucket is. Ours didn't either..so we had to drive them on foot up several fencelines to get them home. If its not outside your fence, then I hope you have neighbors with cattle as that'd be where I'd look next. Good luck and keep us posted...

Where, exactly, did the original poster mention that his calf was weaned? It sounds to me like he purchased a calf that was grafted onto a cow, but the calf is still nursing.

Rustyb, assuming the cow has bonded with the calf, I would take action according to her behaviour. If she is unconcerned, she knows where she 'parked' the calf and all is well. If, on the other hand, she is bawling and actively looking for the calf then I would be looking for him, too.

He didn't say it was weaned and I never said he did... he said he thought it was grafted HOWEVER it is debatable whether the cow has accepted it or not (due to the fact that he observed the cow not accepting the calf nursing). As stated previously, the calf COULD be off looking for food...I was merely stating my OWN EXPERIENCE. People will tell you anything to make a sale... and my feeling is, he needs to get out there with a flashlight and make sure that calf is still in that one acre paddock!! Russ, best of luck to you... I hope its just bedded down where you can't see it.:tiphat:

 

[msscamp]

We tracked 2 calves that went looking for food after we brought them home (they were supposed to be weaned and WERE NOT) so you'd better be high-tailing out there and find out where your calf went....!! Sorry buddy but its going to be even harder on you since it doesn't know what a feed bucket is. Ours didn't either..so we had to drive them on foot up several fencelines to get them home. If its not outside your fence, then I hope you have neighbors with cattle as that'd be where I'd look next. Good luck and keep us posted...

Where, exactly, did the original poster mention that his calf was weaned? It sounds to me like he purchased a calf that was grafted onto a cow, but the calf is still nursing.

Rustyb, assuming the cow has bonded with the calf, I would take action according to her behaviour. If she is unconcerned, she knows where she 'parked' the calf and all is well. If, on the other hand, she is bawling and actively looking for the calf then I would be looking for him, too.

He didn't say it was weaned and I never said he did... he said it was grafted HOWEVER it is debatable whether the cow has accepted it or not (due to the fact that he observed the cow kicking the calf off). As stated previously, the calf COULD be off looking for food...I was merely stating my OWN EXPERIENCE. :tiphat:

Where did he state that the cow in question was kicking at the calf?

 

[Wisteria Farms]

MSSCAMP...He said, the calf tried to drink and the cow didn't seem to like it... is that close enough for you? If a cow rejects a calf nursing, I call it kicking off the calf... not PHYSICALLY KICKING THE CALF. I knew after I typed my response that you would be right there to nitpick at what I said, so I edited it.

Now, maybe you can enlighten us all as to why you chew my arse every chance you get? My first experience with you was when I contacted you about Murray Greys. You tried to direct me to an old man in Central Illinois who had bought your dad's stock (but who I could never find). So, after many nice conversations... at what point in time did I pysssss you off? I can't believe I told someone last night that I thought you'd been pretty nice lately.. guess I spoke too soon.

Now, I'm sorry for all this Russ... MSSCAMP gives good advice...however, all I am saying is that people will tell you anything to make a sale. If it were me, I'd have to go check and make sure that calf was in that one acre paddock.

 

[rustyb]

ye to keep ya posted, he did go , he was spotted in the morning but took off again , and ye , but we have made a lost sign up on the local notice board, and we have let people know bout it , there r other neighbouring herds around , so he might be with them , but we went to the sale yards , and got an angus heifer calf, she and the milking cow r getting along great, it was great to see the initial bonding, shes getting fed and stuff, so they r getting along good , but ye , hopefully the otherone will be found, if he is then the cow can feed both of them, but ye, i think the reason she looked like she was rejecting the other calf was because he was really rowdy and stuff after the long trip so ye, so e i tied the other calf with a long rope to a tree to ensure we dont have another escape, i should of kept the other 1 tied up tho , we just gotta keep hoping, once we lost one and he traveled 1km , and some neighbours got him and we got him bak after a cuple of days

but we shall see wat happens , so ye at the moment the cow is feeding a young angus calf

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Where are you located Rusty?

 

[hillsdown]

That is what I thought also TNMBP. Why would you let a new group out in a new area where anything can happen to them and you have no clue to their behavior or anything.

Oh well, sounds like you are a little nonchalant if this has happened before , your last little calf was probably a good meal for some coyotes ,very sad..but maybe it won't happen for a third time.. :roll:

Get an area that you can keep your newbies enclosed until you know what is going on with them....next time..and that is a good book to read that was suggested.

 

[Wisteria Farms]

Russ, I'm guessing there was a sale yesterday in your neck of the woods cause how the heck did you get another calf from the sale yards that quick? How old is this new calf? The cow is letting the new calf suck? I hate to say but TNMasterBeefProducer is probably right... however, IF YOU DO get that calf back do you have a place where you can either

a) try to pen the nursecow up and get herh to accept BOTH of them nursing (but be prepared, she will probably continue to reject the first calf)
b) pen the lost calf up so you can get him on the bottle ASAP

I noticed this is your first post... keep us informed so we know how things turned out.

 

[K2011]

That is what I thought also TNMBP. Why would you let a new group out in a new area where anything can happen to them and you have no clue to their behavior or anything.

Oh well, sounds like you are a little nonchalant if this has happened before , your last little calf was probably a good meal for some coyotes ,very sad..but maybe it won't happen for a third time.. :roll:

Get an area that you can keep your newbies enclosed until you know what is going on with them....next time..and that is a good book to read that was suggested.

I agree....get the book and build the pen

 

[rustyb]

im located at cabarlah , which is near toowoomba, which is 120 km west of Brisbane, which is the capital city of the state Queensland, which is in Australia

 

[Wisteria Farms]

im located at cabarlah , which is near toowoomba, which is 120 km west of Brisbane, which is the capital city of the state Queensland, which is in Australia

Well then welcome mate!!! You're in Murray Grey country!! I'm a Murray breeder here in the US... how's it coming finding that first calf? Is the cow still letting the little Angus heifer nurse?