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<blockquote data-quote="Beefy" data-source="post: 79535" data-attributes="member: 57"><p>My first bit of advice is to have good, easily accessible handling facilities. We ALWAYS milk the cow no matter what it takes b/c we've never had much luck with the store bought colostrums. That means either running the cow and calf into the pen or catching the calf and having the cow follow us. I have done this by myself several times on a fourwheeler with calf straddling my lap but i dont recommend this to beginners or really anyone b/c frankly its kind of dumb to mess with mommas and their calves without any help, even "gentle" ones much less irate ones. having the cow follow behind a pick up truck is not too bad provided the cow isnt so irate that she tries to get IN the back of the truck with you. If all else fails we have had to bribe the whole herd into the pen with hay just to catch one cow before. anyway, onceyou get the cow in the pen you can always out think her. That may mean acting as bait if she wants to run at you to get her in the lane. The easiest is to separate the calf but have it where she can see it and smell it and follow it while still being separated from it. sometimes its just a matter of waiting and catching the cow off gaurd. Once you get the cow in a chute you can milk her or put the calf on her, etc. Why isnt the calf nursing? is it a dummy calf? are the teats too big? is the cow kicking at the calf? Does the cow even have any milk? does she have blind quarters that have discouraged the calf b/c they dont give milk? is the cow kicking b/c shes a bad mother or b/c her teats are tender from mastitis? One thing i do suggest when you have an ill mother is when you finally get her in the chute milk her as much as you possibly can and save that milk so that you dont have to deal with running her into a chute any more than you absolutely have to. Be careful, dont turn your back on her at anytime and always have an escape route in mind.</p><p></p><p>If you need to catch the calf out in a pasture a good time to do it is when the cow is distracted at feeding time. Just be prepared to get out of the way of a stampede if the calf bawls when you catch it. If the calf doesnt bawl or the mother isnt paying attention once you are on the truck with the calf a good calf impression can cause great turmoil and cause many protective mothers to seek out their calf. A simple MAAAAAAAAA! usually does the trick. Good luck and the most important thing in the whole post is <strong>BE CAREFUL!</strong> let us know how it turns out. any questions jsut ask..</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Beefy, post: 79535, member: 57"] My first bit of advice is to have good, easily accessible handling facilities. We ALWAYS milk the cow no matter what it takes b/c we've never had much luck with the store bought colostrums. That means either running the cow and calf into the pen or catching the calf and having the cow follow us. I have done this by myself several times on a fourwheeler with calf straddling my lap but i dont recommend this to beginners or really anyone b/c frankly its kind of dumb to mess with mommas and their calves without any help, even "gentle" ones much less irate ones. having the cow follow behind a pick up truck is not too bad provided the cow isnt so irate that she tries to get IN the back of the truck with you. If all else fails we have had to bribe the whole herd into the pen with hay just to catch one cow before. anyway, onceyou get the cow in the pen you can always out think her. That may mean acting as bait if she wants to run at you to get her in the lane. The easiest is to separate the calf but have it where she can see it and smell it and follow it while still being separated from it. sometimes its just a matter of waiting and catching the cow off gaurd. Once you get the cow in a chute you can milk her or put the calf on her, etc. Why isnt the calf nursing? is it a dummy calf? are the teats too big? is the cow kicking at the calf? Does the cow even have any milk? does she have blind quarters that have discouraged the calf b/c they dont give milk? is the cow kicking b/c shes a bad mother or b/c her teats are tender from mastitis? One thing i do suggest when you have an ill mother is when you finally get her in the chute milk her as much as you possibly can and save that milk so that you dont have to deal with running her into a chute any more than you absolutely have to. Be careful, dont turn your back on her at anytime and always have an escape route in mind. If you need to catch the calf out in a pasture a good time to do it is when the cow is distracted at feeding time. Just be prepared to get out of the way of a stampede if the calf bawls when you catch it. If the calf doesnt bawl or the mother isnt paying attention once you are on the truck with the calf a good calf impression can cause great turmoil and cause many protective mothers to seek out their calf. A simple MAAAAAAAAA! usually does the trick. Good luck and the most important thing in the whole post is [b]BE CAREFUL![/b] let us know how it turns out. any questions jsut ask.. [/QUOTE]
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