JR Cattle Co.
Well-known member
I know many of us have had to bottle feed orphaned calves before . I recently had a cow have a calf, but she would not produce milk. (needless to say she is about to grow wheels and go on permanent vacation). I had purchased another cow last fall, and she calved shortly after I bought her. I sold the calf last saturday, and decided to try and graft the new calf onto her. It only took about one day for the cow to accept the calf. Here is how I did it: I brought the cow up and got her in the headgate, and allowed the calf to suck for a little while. Then,(this might sound gross, but it has always worked for me, something my grandpa taught me a few years back) I took some of the feces from the cows real calf out of the trailer, and rubbed it on the cows nose and a little bit in her nostrils. You can also use Vicks vapor rub, but I found that if at all possible, use the crap, it works alot better. This tricks the cows sense of smell, and in most cases will allow her to bond easier with a calf that either smells like hers, or with one she can't smell at all. Then, I took some table salt and rubbed a bunch of it all over the new calf. This entices the cow to lick the calf and begin to form a bond with it. Once the cow has her saliva and scent on the calf she is more likely to bond with the calf. If u are bottle feeding, which I was for a couple days, only feed 1/4 or half of the bottle. This will make the calf want to look for something to grab ahold of. I then put the cow and calf in a dry stall with hay and water out of sight of the other cows. This allows them to focus on eachother and not the rest of the herd.The next morning I walked out to the barn to see... and the calf was nursing on the cow. She also seemed kind of protective of it. They have bonded very quickly, and a little Vicks, salt, and poopy hands seems to be alot easier and cheaper than bottle feeding, hobbling and trying to make the cow take the calf. By the way, this cow was a mean witch that kicked at every calf that came near her during feeding time. Give it a try it can't hurt.