Cow not taking orphan calf.

[cornstalk]

Hey gang,

This past Friday I found a 1 week old bottle calf to put on my cow. (Cow had lost her calf 5 days prior). The cow will let the calf suck just fine when she's in the headgate, but raises her foot and pushes the calf away when there in the calving pen. It's been 4 days now, and I'm starting to wonder how much longer I'm going to have to put the cow in the headgate three times a day in order for the calf to eat.

Anybody have any tricks......how can I get this cow to accept the calf?

 

[MikeC]

Hey gang,

This past Friday I found a 1 week old bottle calf to put on my cow. (Cow had lost her calf 5 days prior). The cow will let the calf suck just fine when she's in the headgate, but raises her foot and pushes the calf away when there in the calving pen. It's been 4 days now, and I'm starting to wonder how much longer I'm going to have to put the cow in the headgate three times a day in order for the calf to eat.

Anybody have any tricks......how can I get this cow to accept the calf?

Give them time in a pen together. Have seen it take weeks.

 

[CattleAnnie]

Might want to consider hobbling her hind legs or putting one of Dun's flankropes on her to get her to stop kicking at the calf.

I agree with Mike that they should be penned together, and yep, it can take a while to graft a calf... anywhere from five minutes to two weeks here.

Take care and keep up your chin up.

 

[cfpinz]

Smear a little Karo syrup on the calf's back and see if the cow will lick it off. Might help her bond a little with the calf. I know it sounds stupid but I've seen it work.

cfpinz

 

[NCSU Maverick]

I guess it's too late to skin the dead calf, but I remember once we had some type of powder you sprinkled over the calf to make the cow take it. I don't remember the name of the stuff but it would burn your nose if you took a big sniff.

 

[dun]

We've tried Karo syrup, calf claim, mother up, the cows pee, the cows milk, the list goes on and on. The only thing that really seems to work is maternal instinct and time. 5 days without a claf may be just too much for this particular cow.

dun

 

[Caustic Burno]

We've tried Karo syrup, calf claim, mother up, the cows pee, the cows milk, the list goes on and on. The only thing that really seems to work is maternal instinct and time. 5 days without a claf may be just too much for this particular cow.

dun

Again the wise one is correct some just will not let a calf be grafted.

 

[cornstalk]

Not what I wanted to hear guys. I'll cross my fingers, keep them penned for another week, ....and see what comes of it. I paid quite a bit for this bottle calf, and would really like to see the cow take her. I do have them penned in a 12 x 12 pen,.....so they're pretty cozy. She just refuses to let the calf suck unless she's in the headgate. Virtually ignores the calf while there penned together.

I'll report back on what becomes of this in a week or so.

 

[Bez!]

You might try an old fashioned beating - after a while all you have to do is raise that 2 x 4 in the air - she will freeze up and let the calf suck.

Head gate only works because she knows she has no control.

Let her know she has no control in the pen either.

After about two days they take them or I sell the calf - or give it to a neighbours kid - more than a couple of kids have good small herds now.

Bez!

 

[randiliana]

What we do, (since I hate to skin the dead calf) is to headgate the cow for a day or so to let the calf suck. We remove the calf from the cow in between since some cows will really beat the calf up if they don't want it. Then if she still doesn't want it after a couple of days, we hobble her back feet, and get a halter on her so if we need to we can tie her up. Then we leave them together until she either quits fighting or we decide it just is not going to happen. We do leave the hobbles on for a day or so longer than we think we need to just to make sure. Once the hobbles are off, we leave them in a small pen so we can watch them closer, and then slowly work up to larger pens with more cattle in them until we are certain that the adoption has worked. Normally this will take us less than 5 days until the hobbles are off and around 7 before we let them out with the main herd. This has worked for us 9/10 times, and even for cows that have lost older calves or that have lost their calves for a few days.

Randi

 

[milkmaid]

She just refuses to let the calf suck unless she's in the headgate. Virtually ignores the calf while there penned together.

I'll report back on what becomes of this in a week or so.

Just ignores the calf when they're togther? Be glad that's ALL she does. You've got them in pretty tight quarters there... I've had cows butt and slam calves into the fence, kick 'em, flatten 'em, step on 'em; but then I'm dealing with nurse cows and a bunch of calves that aren't their own. I rarely leave a calf and a nurse cow penned together nowdays unless I'm really sure of the cow.

 

[jcarkie]

my grandpa had a jersey cow and he would go in with a stick and make her stand still till she would take the calf. she never would take one with the stick.

 

[cornstalk]

I dont generally like beating my cattle .....they are all of such good temperment. I've dealt with the wild @$#@$ enough to appreciate the gentle disposition.

Also, my experience with beating them in order to get them to take the calf has always been an upset cow, running in circles, and a calf scared to death because he/she started the entire reaction.

Just my experiences I guess. I am getting pretty desperate.....

 

[jcarkie]

he didn't have to hit her much but he had to stand there or she would not let the calf nurse. i wouldn't have time for that. she would stand to be milked by hand.

 

[Double R Ranch]

Has anyone tried to put vics on the calf and cow? Somewhere I heard that can work.

Dbl R

 

[preston39]

cornstalk,

Take some of moms milk on a rag and rub it over the calfs' upper head,back and backend. Enough to get the hair wet. Do that 2x daily BEFORE you put the calf with mom...assuming you have them seperated. It will help mom accept the calf faster.
While some just will not accept an orphan we have never had one not accepted in 3/5 days.