Calf nursing another cow

[lakeportfarms]

We had a angus heifer calf born January 20th who was on her mom and doing well. Last week, our Hereford delivered a little bull calf who is also doing very well. The Hereford's udder is probably 3 x the size of the angus, and now the heifer calf seems to prefer to nurse from the Hereford, who doesn't kick her off. Is this a situation we should allow, or should we pen them in different areas to allow the bull calf all of the Hereford's milk?. She seems to be able to handle both calves, but her calf is pretty small since he is a Dexter cross. We haven't been watching, however we think the angus calf is probably still going for her mom as well.

 

[dun]

Persoanlly I would separate them.

 

[I luv herfrds]

Like dun says separate them, but I would watch the angus cow and calf.
Some also rob just because they can, but I would definately watch that pair and see if the cow is milking well.
What I look for is the milk foam around the calf's mouth. See if the calf is doing an extreme amount of butting on the bag and is desperately trying to get milk. Calf will be going from teat to teat and butting; this will go on for quite awhile.
If the calf butts a couple of times and just continues to nurse and doesn't act desperate then the calf is just robbing because it can.

 

[mnmtranching]

That calf born in Jan is able to consume a lot of milk. The young calf will lose out. I agree separate.

 

[jcarkie]

if you can seperate them for a least a couple of weeks and then try again. it can be a very hard habit to break and can hurt the smaller calf. i had group of 12 heifers that let each others calves nurse it was frustrating, all the calves turned out good but the next time they calved they wouldn't allow that at all. like was said earlier some steal because they are not getting enough milk. but a cow that allows it is not looking out for her calf,

 

[lakeportfarms]

We're going to separate them tonight, and keep an eye on the angus cow/calf tomorrow. I'm not sure what we'll do for the start of the week, it won't be fun trying to keep an eye on them with some heavy snow and winds predicted. Hopefully the angus is still able to provide enough and there isn't a problem.

 

[lakeportfarms]

Would anybody like to volunteer to help me watch?


Saturday Night, Apr 4
Low: 27 °F RealFeel®: 20 °F
Cold with increasing clouds

Sunday, Apr 5
High: 40 °F RealFeel®: 38 °F
Mostly cloudy and chilly; rain in the afternoon

Sunday Night, Apr 5
Low: 29 °F RealFeel®: 15 °F
Heavy snow, accumulating 4-8 inches; windy and very cold

Monday, Apr 6
High: 34 °F RealFeel®: 15 °F
Mostly cloudy, windy and colder with a couple of snow showers, accumulating 3-4 inches; windy and cold

Monday Night, Apr 6
Low: 30 °F RealFeel®: 9 °F
Winds gusting past 40 mph; overcast with snow at times, accumulating up to an additional inch

Tuesday, Apr 7
High: 31 °F RealFeel®: 13 °F
Very windy; mostly cloudy and cold with a chance for snow showers

Tuesday Night, Apr 7
Low: 28 °F RealFeel®: 10 °F
Windy with snow

 

[rockridgecattle]

been there, doing that, ugg, checks on the hour or every two hours depending on what is going on

 

[I luv herfrds]

That is a heat wave compared to some of the temps I've been out in checking cows.

 

[lakeportfarms]

I know any of us Northerners can relate...but it's April. I want to be done for the winter. All I've heard is that we're all gonna die from the global warming in 50 years or so. That leaves part of May, June, July, August, part of September, then....I don't want to think about it...

 

[bigbull338]

personally id pen the herefod pair up.an watch the lil milk stealer out in the pasture.an see what she does.