Calves won't nurse

[Short Fuse Farm]

We just purchased 2 calves, 1 is about 2 weeks old and the other is almost 1 month old. They will both drink off of a bottle,but they have never drank off of a milk cow before. We are having a hard time getting them to drink off of our milk cow. We have tried luring them to the teat with the nipple of the bottle but they just don't get it....They are in an area that is about 1/4 of an acre with the milk cow & one other calf. Any suggestions on how to get them to drink off her? [/color]

 

[dun]

See if they'll drink from a bucket of milk. A lot of places start calves drinking from buckets right away and they don;t know about bottles or teats.

 

[Short Fuse Farm]

Thank you for the suggestion, but we are trying to get them to drink off of our milk cow and not give them the milk replacer.

 

[dun]

If they've lost the suck reflex we've never gotten them to start it up again. Will they suck your fingers? That's always the first test we do.

 

[Short Fuse Farm]

They have definitely not lost their suck reflex, when I go out there they try to "nurse" off me..they suck on my fingers, kneecaps, whatever they can get ahold of. We just can not get them to go to our milk cow & drink off her.

 

[dun]

We've had acouple over the years that just didn;t seem to be abe to equate a teat with food. It took a while but we would restrain the cow and one person push the calf under from one side and the other get them sucking on their fingers from the otherside and kind of slip the fingers and teat in the mouth and remove the fingers. Thankfully we haven;t had to do that in many years.

 

[LauraleesFarm]

Let them get just a little hungry. Feed only a half a bottle each in the morning. By afternoon they will be hungrier. Don't give in and provide a bottle. Have the cow tied and ready. Make sure she isn't kicking them off. If they are hungry, they will pester her until they figure it out. Just like they are sucking on your pantsleg. Push them off of you and toward the cow. Are there any other calves nursing the cow? In other words, are they going to have to compete for milk?

 

[Chris H]

Have you been feeding milk, or replacer in the bottle? If replacer, then switch to the cow milk. If you've already been feeding milk, then try letting the calf get hungry.

Is the cow standing good, not threatening to kick?

 

[nagwag]

i've had this problem before grafting a dairy calf onto a beef cow that lost her calf. The dairy calf is used to getting its food from a human and not a cow. First you need to have the cow restrained like Dun said so you can get the calf nursing on the cow. Next you have to keep the cow and calves close together for a few days so they establish a bond together. You want as little interaction as possbile between you and the calves so the calves learn the cow is their mom and source of milk. Good luck.

 

[regolith]

restrain the cow. Hungry calves - just as has been said.
For calves used to 2x daily feeding I'd give the bottle at night, bring the cow into a chute in the morning and let the calves out, put them on the teats through her hind legs (limits her ability to kick them or you). Getting them to transfer from sucking fingers to sucking the teat can take patience, but they will get it. Much easier if the cow has long teats and you've got three hands.
Let them drink their fill and kick them out together and prepare to do the same thing again the next day if the cow is a kicker or the calves are slow to get it.

Forgot to mention - while you're pushing the calf's head towards the udder grab a teat and squirt some milk into its mouth. That really helps it understand teat=milk a lot earlier.

 

[double v]

We always squirted milk on there faces, they will find the teat if they are hungry. As long as the cow is willing they will get it fast.

 

[angie1]

We just purchased 2 calves, 1 is about 2 weeks old and the other is almost 1 month old. They will both drink off of a bottle,but they have never drank off of a milk cow before. We are having a hard time getting them to drink off of our milk cow. We have tried luring them to the teat with the nipple of the bottle but they just don't get it....They are in an area that is about 1/4 of an acre with the milk cow & one other calf. Any suggestions on how to get them to drink off her? [/color]

At 2 weeks and 1 month, with no prior exposure, I'd be interested to hear if anything you try works.
Good luck!

 

[Short Fuse Farm]

The milk cow that we have has never been milked by anything besides a machine..we bought her last year. She does really well with us bringing new calves to her & nursing them, she does kick a few times but for the most part does very well, but we are not able to milk her. I was successful this morning & got our angus/holstein calf to drink off our milk cow. It took lots of patience, but I finally lured her under there while she was sucking on my fingers and moved them quick enough to where she latched onto the teat & started drinking. Our milk cow did kick a few times, but the calf kept going back for more & was doing very well. The other calf is much more timid & I am still working on getting him to drink off her. One down One to go

 

[Dave]

I get them sucking on my middle finger. Lead the calf right into the cow next to the udder. I then use my index finger to hook the teat into the calf's mouth to replace my finger. Done quickly the calf doesn't miss a beat.

 

[dun]

To keep the cow from kicking, take about a 1/4 inch rope and make a small loop in one end, pass the looped end over the cows back and pass the loose end through the little loop.Position the rope just in front of the udder and pull that sucker tight, then pull it again. Tie back to itself so that it won;t loosen. The cow won;t be able to kick, or at least kick very high or hard and work with the timid calf just like the other one.

 

[LauraleesFarm]

Good job, short fuse~!
Dun is right about the rope. Once the cow is trained to the rope all you will have to do is lay a rope across her loin area and she will remember.
I also use a halter with a chain under the chin. I leave it on the cow while training/grafting. Tie her to a good strong tie post directly to the halter, at feed time. Put a stout lead rope on the chain. Get a helper to bring the calves. When she wiggles give her a crank on that chain and bark at her like you mean it. Release it and let her eat feed while she is being good. MOST dairy cattle are mild mannered and give up easily. I personally prefer using the halter method over the rope method because in the end you have a cow that eventually learns to lead and tie.
Is the third calf her own calf?
If so, she has the ability to hold her milk back for just her calf. If this is the case, I would separate all the calves together and do nursing sessions twice a day. When she lets down for her own calf, the other two can join in.