Cow won't let calf nurse....

[dun]

It is up to you what you do with this cow. But I do agree, do not turn her out with the herd while hobbled. Give them a few days by themselves hobbled, then remove the hobbles and give them a few more days by themselves unhobbled. After that then turn them out with the herd. If she rejects the calf once they are with the herd, then for sure IMO there is only one place for her. And at that point I wouldn't worry about trying to get her to raise the calf. After all, you can't leave her hobbled for the summer.

Sure, in an ideal world it would be lovely if we never had to touch a cow or a calf. But reality is that once in a while, you ARE going to have to do something with one. IMO, this heifer is probably just a heifer, and they get confused sometimes. At least she wants to mother the calf. In our herd she'd get this one chance.

We had a heifer a couple years ago. She was the wildest of the lot that year. As it turned out DH had to help her, and he managed to assist her out in the big calving pen. So it wasn't much of a pull. Well, as soon as he got that calf out, she was up and gone. So he got the calf up to the barn, into a pen, and then set all the gates up so if he did actually get her up to the barn he could close the gates along the way (he was by himself calving that year). Turned out, he was lucky, got her up on the first try. She went up so fast though that by the time he got up behind her, she had made her circle in the barn and was heading back out. She spent the night in the barn with her calf, never licked him off or anything. So next morning her turned her out into the cull pen. So for a few days he was bottle feeding until we had a different cow lose a calf. Worked for a week or so on that, and it got to the point that when you were standing there, she would let this calf suck. So, we turned them into the back pen (where the culls and problem animals were). And continued to work on them. One day, when the calf was a week or so old, he looked into that pen, and what was going on amazed him. The heifer was standing their and letting her (rejected) calf suck. So we gave them a few days and then turned them out to pasture with the rest of the pairs. She never looked back. She will calve with her 4th calf this year and we have never had a problem with her since. She is still one of our wilder cows, but she has settled down. She was on the long list of culls, but we had enough drys that year that we gave her another chance.

OTOH, we had a heifer calf last year by herself. She loved every calf in the herd, would help mother all the newborns (after she had calved) We had fought with her for a couple weeks before that, she loved her calf, would mother it, lick it, moo at it, all that stuff. But there was no way she was actually going to let a calf suck. After a week or so in hobbles, we gave up on her. Sold the calf, then sold her...

So it is up to you what you do in the end, good luck with her.

The last time we had a problem was very similar. After a really hard pull (110 lb heifer out of a small framed heifer) As soon as the cow could she hauled butt away from the calf to the lower pasture. We bedded the calf in some straw and figured we would bottle or tube it as needed. After thawing the colostrum I went down and the calf was nowhere to be seen. Went looking and found it tucked back in the trees, all well fed and happy with momma standing serious guard. 5 more calves from her and never had to touch a one of them. Good thing too cause you couldn;t get within shouting distance of her or her callf for the first week.

 

[robertwhite]

Just a little update.................... 100% success :banana:

Hobbled the heifer Friday morning. Left the pair in the weaning pen all day and the cow stood for the calf to nurse. Saturday, I let them out into my small winter feeding pasture which is right outside the weaning pen. Cow stood for nursing (still hobbled). Saturday night put them back in the pen. Sunday morning, took the hobbles off and left them in the pen. Cow stood for nursing, several times. Sunday afternoon, set them free in the pasture and she has stood numerous times to nurse, and has been nursing ever since. I call that complete success.

The heifer (now cow) is an EXTREMELY protective mother and as I said before, even though she is nothing special breed wise (I only have commercial cows) she is my favorite cow and has a perfect temperament, so I was quite willing to give her some extra time. She was just freaked out about the calf going after her udder and once she got used to it, no problem at all.

For those that poo-pooed the thought of spending a little time working with the heifer to ensure that she will take care of her calf properly, I ask you this........ You already have time and money tied up in the heifer and now her calf, so why would you not take a little extra effort to calm the new momma down and not have to bottle feed or sell the calf and then sell the heifer? I spent maybe about 6 hrs tops in the entire process and that is because I didn't know what to do or expect. If there is another instance, I will spend maybe 2-3 hrs between chute feeding and the hobble feeding, etc. If that cow produces 6-8 more calves and is a perfect mother, how could the couple of hours work you put in compare to the profit of those calves?

Now I don't have 200 or 500 head like some of y'all, but even then, what is the big deal if it happens once every year or two to 1 or 2 heifers?

Total out of pocket for this weeks thrill ride was $60 for the extra heavy duty hobbles and I consider that an investment, especially if they are ever needed again.

For those that offered encouragement, support and knowledge, thank you very much.

And just to paint a better picture, here is the so called "bad momma" babysitting today......................

 

[Double R Ranch]

Congrats on the success. I have Fred to stay out of this one because of the comments made. I to am willing (1 cow or 1000) to spend the time to help a new mom settle in. I have yet to have a heifer out of a 1st time problem heifer have the same problem.
Once again, congrats on a job well done. Hobbles are a great thing to have in your kit. I use my horse ones when needed. Never bought a special pair.

 

[Roadapple]

Good job, but I would cull her now, because in your picture it is evident she is laying down on the job. But now I was wondering,for those who said to cull, when you buy at the sale barn, how do you tell if the cow you're buying, did'nt have this problem when she calved as a heifer?

 

[Double R Ranch]

There's no way of telling unless you are lucky enough to talk to the sellers and they tell you the truth. Not typically going to happen.

 

[robertwhite]

Good job, but I would cull her now, because in your picture it is evident she is laying down on the job.

:lol2:

But now I was wondering,for those who said to cull, when you buy at the sale barn, how do you tell if the cow you're buying, did'nt have this problem when she calved as a heifer?

Exactly. I know what I have. I know she will be a great mother, now and in the future. And I know that if I culled her and bought a replacement at the yard, I would have no idea what I was getting.

 

[randiliana]

For those that poo-pooed the thought of spending a little time working with the heifer to ensure that she will take care of her calf properly, I ask you this........ You already have time and money tied up in the heifer and now her calf, so why would you not take a little extra effort to calm the new momma down and not have to bottle feed or sell the calf and then sell the heifer? I spent maybe about 6 hrs tops in the entire process and that is because I didn't know what to do or expect. If there is another instance, I will spend maybe 2-3 hrs between chute feeding and the hobble feeding, etc. If that cow produces 6-8 more calves and is a perfect mother, how could the couple of hours work you put in compare to the profit of those calves?

Good job! Glad things worked out, and so quickly.

And, I agree totally with your comments (have thought the same thing numerous times). I have always thought that you sometimes had to work a bit for your living. And working with living breathing animals should involve a little commitment. It costs a lot to raise a heifer to calving point and they don't always KNOW what to do. If all it takes is 3 or 4 hours of my time to straighten things out I don't see what the problem is. I think that most are too quick to cull, over small mismothering issues. There are situations where I wouldn't hesitate to cull the heifer, but this sure wasn't one of them!

 

[Roadapple]

Now, no-one has ever accused me of being smart, but, to my way of thinking , you just made yourself about $600 to $800 .If you'd culled her and took her to the sale barn and sold her for slaughter,you'd sold her for about half of what she's now worth as a good cow. Turn around and pay twice as much to buy a replacement, not knowing anything about her except she's walking and breathing. Don't know if she's a carrier, how old, wild,etc. I know what I have, and I can take a little time away from the computer, to make her a good cow. As I've said before, I've never culled a heifer for this problem and I've never had a problem the next year with them. Maybe they did'nt accept it because,by not being there, dominate cows probably kept her away from it. Different reasons, but a little time and you've got a good cow.

 

[pdfangus]

but on the other hand I have had cows with this problem that got worse every year......
I tended to operate on a two strikes rule.
this would have been a strike.

 

[robertwhite]

My final heifer had her calf this morning. Looooong labor and pretty big calf. Heifer was paralyzed for a few minutes. Put the calf in front of her and she didn't even try to clean it off. :frowns:

After maybe 5 minutes, cow got up and walked away from the calf. I said "oh, no you don't" and herded her back to the calf. She stood there for a good 30 minutes until the calf tried to get up. Calf stood up and went right for the udder. Cow was not having any of it and lightly kicked him away. I thought, "not again" and just shook my head. This calf however was quite persistent and kept trying to nurse. About an hour+ after giving birth, and with the calves relentless trying, she finally gave in and not only stood to nurse but licked the calf clean. :clap:

Man I am glad this is my last heifer (until I breed the 2 I held from last year) as this past week has just been insane.

Once again, thanks to all who offered knowledge and support. :tiphat:

 

[Caustic Burno]

You need to get workin girls.

 

[pdfangus]

robertwhite,

one little trick that often works wonders is to sprinkle a little feed on the calf.....
sometimes that will get the cow started to licking.....does not always work but is a cheap fix for about half of those slow starters.

 

[robertwhite]

robertwhite,

one little trick that often works wonders is to sprinkle a little feed on the calf.....
sometimes that will get the cow started to licking.....does not always work but is a cheap fix for about half of those slow starters.

Never thought of that. Molasses flavored calf. :lol2:

 

[Double R Ranch]

I use karo syrup or honey.

 

[Workinonit Farm]

I'm glad things have worked out-----for both heifers! Like I posted before, I'll "lend a hand" to help get things started (within reason) but if it turns into a rodeo for more than a week or so, they are gone.

They will probably be fine next year.

As for the second heifer, it sounds like she was just "stunned" and in that hormone/pain stupor (loooong labor, big calf, temp, paralysis) and that's why she behaved like she did.

Katherine