cow after weaning calf

[jpj]

Hello, could you tell me how long it takes for a cow to dry up after you wean her calf,

and anything you have to worry about such as mastitis?

Thanks

 

[dun]

Typically a cow will dry up within a couple of weeks and be totally dry by 4-6 weeks. Unless she is milking very heavy at weaning time, mastitis isn;t genrally a problem with beef cows.
That said, we keep an eye on the cows for a week or 2 post weaning to insure that the udder is decreasing and doesn;t appear hard/full or hot. Just a paranoid precaution since we've never had a cow develop a problem.

dun

 

[TLCfromARK]

Hello, could you tell me how long it takes for a cow to dry up after you wean her calf,

and anything you have to worry about such as mastitis?

Thanks

One thing I've seen happen a couple of times to make a cow take longer to dry up is for her to "adopt" another calf. Another calf will start nursing and the cow keeps giving milk.

If you run your bull on the cows year round you always have different age groups of calves. One cow I used to have had a bull calf on her and when I shipped it she bawled and walked the fence until a younger calf slipped in a "stole" a little milk. She adopted it, she'd lick it, call to it, etc. just like it was hers. That calf turned out to be the best steer I ever raised, he was still nursing his own mother & the surragate mom, double dipping I guess you could call it. Any way when I shipped the second calf Mom #2 carried on & missed it more that the real Mom.

Doesn't happen very often but if a cow doesn't show signs of drying up keep a close eye on her and see if another calf is nursing.

;-)