Cow not drying up before next calf

[Big Cheese]

I have a young cow about to have her second calf in a month or so and she lets every calf in the pasture suck her and we weaned her calf in October and she still letting the calves do that and she still hasn't dried up. Will this cause problems with her next calf or will she wean the other calves from sucking when it starts getting close to time to have her calf?

 

[dun]

The probelm it will cause is the lack of colostrum for her calf and her calf having to fight off the others that are sucking her. She either needs to be moved away from the calves or the calves need to be moved away from her

 

[Big Cheese]

We are going to try and move her into another paddock with another cow or two but with how wet it is and with all the cows we got in our pasture it's hard to get her by herself to move her. That is our plan though to get her moved. Also, we are going to buy some colostrum just in case.

 

[Big Cheese]

We are going to try and move her into another paddock with another cow or two but with how wet it is and with all the cows we got in our pasture it's hard to get her by herself to move her. That is our plan though to get her moved. Also, we are going to buy some colostrum just in case.

 

[regolith]

It's already too late to prevent negative impact.
The dry spell is essential to allow the udder to rest and regenerate, as well as for laying down colostrum for the next calf. Get her separated right now and hope she calves a week or so late and you might be okay.
I don't know about beef cows feeding just one calf, but I've known dairy cows to produce around 50% of their potential for a year because they haven't had a dry spell... hesitate to admit I had one of those not long ago, she'd been preg tested open but she calved within 12 months of her previous calving.

 

[Big Cheese]

She's got a little jersey in her so she puts out a lot of milk and is in great shape it's not having the colostrum that is scaring me.

 

[Howdyjabo]

Turn her into a nurse cow. Steal some colostrum off another cow or go begging at a dairy.

 

[Lucky_P]

I'm always squeamish about feeding colostrum from a dairy, due to concerns about Johne's Disease, but in some cases - and especially back years ago when good colostrum replacers were not readily available - it was just about the only way to go, and I've done it.
Nowadays, I keep a couple of bags of top quality colostrum replacer in the freezer just in case I need it - and if I have a cow or heifer that loses her calf, I'll milk her out twice and freeze the colostrum back(before she takes a ride to town), in case I have a calf that needs it.

Maximum colostral antibody levels are 'set' by 5 weeks prior to calving. If you've got calves nursing her after that point, the newborn is gonna get shorted. Get this cow separated from other potential nursers ASAP.

 

[dun]

I keep the commercial replacers on hand now too. I used to get it from a local dairy that had a very stringent health program and had been a closed her for 15 years. They were the only dairy I trusted.

 

[Big Cheese]

We are going to buy some Colostrum from our feed store and I think even if we get her separated I'm going to go ahead and give the calf the Colostrum when its born anyways......they can't get to much of it can they?

 

[dun]

We are going to buy some Colostrum from our feed store and I think even if we get her separated I'm going to go ahead and give the calf the Colostrum when its born anyways......they can't get to much of it can they?

There are colostrum supplements and colostrum replacers, you want the replacer

 

[Big Cheese]

Whats the difference in the supplement and the replacer?

 

[dun]

As I understand it the supplemnt doesn;t have as much of the good stuff as the replacer. I've never compared them since all I have on hand is the replacer

 

[Big Cheese]

Is the supplement ok though? My dad bought the supplement because that is all our farm store had.

 

[dun]

It's ok as a "supplement" to other colostrum. Not as a replacement for it. As fast as valleyvet.com sups you could probably order some replacer from them and get it in a day or 2

 

[Nesikep]

How close to calving is this cow??? How long have you had her dry now?

Can you get some colostrum from one of your other cows? Even a quart will do the calf good.

 

[Big Cheese]

I'm expecting her to have a calf before Feb 15th and she keeps letting another calf suck her and I'm scared she's not going to have any colostrum when she has the calf.

 

[Taurus]

I'm expecting her to have a calf before Feb 15th and she keeps letting another calf suck her and I'm scared she's not going to have any colostrum when she has the calf.

Might have to pen her up or tight up the calving season. If you have same problem again next year....cull her. I don't need a cow that will makes me worrying constantly.

 

[Big Cheese]

I want to give an update on this cow since we such a good discussion about her. She didn't have her calf before Feb 15 like I thought so the problem of no colostrum hopefully is gone. Also, I have noticed that she is finally starting to dry up and I haven't seen the other calf sucking in a while. So, my guess is she finally weaned the other calf from sucking her and she is starting to dry up and getting ready for her next calf. She was a young heifer when she had her first calf last March so it must have taken her a little longer to get back into shape and come in heat. So I'm hoping she has a calf by April 1st. Hopefully nothing starts sucking her again and I don't have that worry of no colostrum.