Cow too busy wanting to stay with herd and not worried about her calf...

[machslammer]

What's the deal with a cow that is more worried about what the herd is doing vs her newborn calf. Calf was weak when I found it today.. She comes to it but pays it very little attention.. Bawls at it and then goes back to the herd and to eat. Could care less. She let her last one die before we realized she was doing this. This is her second calf. Her mom was this way as well and earned her a spot at the sell barn.. as will this one.. Got her up and in the chute and made the calf suck all 4's. Her milk took a bit to come down and out but we got it on all 4 and laid in barn out of the wind with her alone. We'll see what it looks like in the AM, but confused on why they do this?

 

[Bright Raven]

What's the deal with a cow that is more worried about what the herd is doing vs her newborn calf. Calf was weak when I found it today.. She comes to it but pays it very little attention.. Bawls at it and then goes back to the herd and to eat. Could care less. She let her last one die before we realized she was doing this. This is her second calf. Her mom was this way as well and earned her a spot at the sell barn.. as will this one.. Got her up and in the chute and made the calf suck all 4's. Her milk took a bit to come down and out but we got it on all 4 and laid in barn out of the wind with her alone. We'll see what it looks like in the AM, but confused on why they do this?

Behavior is inherited. The cow does not have desirable maternal instincts.

Undesirable maternal behavior is a condition that you should CULL.

Don't waste effort in trying to rationalize why she does it - it is programmed into her genome.

 

[True Grit Farms]

Don't make or look for excuses to keep your cattle. We give no second chances around here anymore.

 

[greybeard]

A biological mother but not a momma..
Take the pair to the sale barn next week and save yourself the headache and worry.

 

[76 Bar]

Her mom was this way as well and earned her a spot at the sell barn

They do it because you've allowed it. I'm all ears...why would you retain a female from a cow who was proven to be an abysmal mother and moreover, forgiven the sins of her daughter. Ship the cow ASAP and in the meantime bottle feed her starving calf until its strong enough to survive the same fate.

 

[farmerjan]

The WHY has been addressed. She has little/no maternal instincts. Out of a cow with little/no maternal instincts. Do whatever you have to do to get the calf up and going. Either take them to the sale, keep her where she cannot get very far away from it and can't get to following other cows, or ship her and bottle raise it or graft on a cow that has lost her calf. I personally would not take and sell them as a pair, as I wouldn't want to buy someone else's problems, but many have done that.

 

[Son of Butch]

Her mom was this way as well and earned her a spot at the sell barn

They do it because you've allowed it. I'm all ears...why would you retain a female from a cow who was proven to be an abysmal mother and moreover, forgiven the sins of her daughter. Ship the cow ASAP and in the meantime bottle feed her starving calf until its strong enough to survive the same fate.

Y'all are too cold blooded. Give her another go; 3 strikes and you're out, have a heart, she comes from a broken home.
After all 3rd time's the charm and she might give ya a bull calf that you can keep as a Herd Sire.

 

[Davemk]

Her mom was this way as well and earned her a spot at the sell barn

They do it because you've allowed it. I'm all ears...why would you retain a female from a cow who was proven to be an abysmal mother and moreover, forgiven the sins of her daughter. Ship the cow ASAP and in the meantime bottle feed her starving calf until its strong enough to survive the same fate.

Y'all are too cold blooded. Give her another go; 3 strikes and you're out, have a heart, she comes from a broken home.
After all 3rd time's the charm and she might give ya a bull calf that you can keep as a Herd Sire.

That is just evil. :shock:

 

[farmerjan]

Her mom was this way as well and earned her a spot at the sell barn

They do it because you've allowed it. I'm all ears...why would you retain a female from a cow who was proven to be an abysmal mother and moreover, forgiven the sins of her daughter. Ship the cow ASAP and in the meantime bottle feed her starving calf until its strong enough to survive the same fate.

Y'all are too cold blooded. Give her another go; 3 strikes and you're out, have a heart, she comes from a broken home.
After all 3rd time's the charm and she might give ya a bull calf that you can keep as a Herd Sire.

Yep, I am a COLD BLOODED SOB.....got better things to do with my time than babysit a poor mother out of a poor mother that is gone. Too many other decent CHEAP cows to be had. Some of those OLD breds are old because they did a decent job, and the owner wanted to get a little more out of them. I'll take my chances with some of them.

Yeah, that possible bull calf the next time around might be a candidate for a herd sire if he is smart enough to steal off several other cows so he doesn't starve, and then keep on sucking as an adult :bang: :bang: :bang:

 

[machslammer]

Well hadn't revisited this in a bit but here is the update. After getting her and calf up and to the barn, put in head chute, and got it to sucking. After about 3 days of such activity.. They had finally come to bonding terms. Now she is crazy about the calf and it is growing like a weed. However, the calf has something neurological wrong with it. She always turns to one side and acts like partially blind out of one eye.. Think sometimes the momma knows when something wrong with a calf and they let nature take its course. However, this one gonna live for a bit and then Mom and her will make their way to the sale barn.