Eleanor (Profitability from Jersey cows)

[MurraysMutts]

MM> After watching the news this morning I"m just glad you didn't wake up in Kansas this morning.

Me too!!
Missed us by a ways thankfully!
Just windy and some rain

 

[MurraysMutts]

Cow is stressing pretty good. All she wants to do is cry to her old calves. To the point she ain't filling her tummy up even!!
Her old calves have just about quit bawling already. They know the feed bucket still comes twice a day I guess.

Eleanor's new bull calf has got it all figured out. He dodges a couple kicks and gets right with it.

The heifer is still very leery. I got her to nurse long enough for me to smoke a cigarette this morning. So at least the lil heifer ain't empty. She ain't very good at dodging. Been hit a time or two. But she was also bottled until now. No bottle today. No bottle last night. She will be hungry again this evening and what I've been doing is letting her nurse first while the cow is eating her feed.

I pen the calves seperate for the day. My pen is just panels freestanding. So they can crawl under if they tried hard. Until I get em bonded that's the way it is.

Just want to share for those who may be considering something like this. It takes patience and a bit of time when getting the second set good and bonded...
Once they are bonded well, I'll get em all where they need to be.

 

[farmerjan]

I never take all the calves off a cow when I start new ones.. slide the new ones in there with one "old one" and they get to eat and know what is what; and then keep the old one away for a few minutes to let the new ones get started and then let the old one in to help finish up and so it is getting less milk, and the new calves are getting more then a couple days the old one goes in and there isn't any milk left and the cow has gotten used to the new calves....and then the old calf gets moved out permanently. Some cows will let you make the change without a fuss, but most will accept the new calves if there is an old one in there that the cow can sniff and say, okay.... that's my calf, and just let the new ones without a fuss... they get a week or so and more aggressive and then the old calf can go elsewhere.
But every cow is different....

 

[MurraysMutts]

I never take all the calves off a cow when I start new ones.. slide the new ones in there with one "old one" and they get to eat and know what is what; and then keep the old one away for a few minutes to let the new ones get started and then let the old one in to help finish up and so it is getting less milk, and the new calves are getting more then a couple days the old one goes in and there isn't any milk left and the cow has gotten used to the new calves....and then the old calf gets moved out permanently. Some cows will let you make the change without a fuss, but most will accept the new calves if there is an old one in there that the cow can sniff and say, okay.... that's my calf, and just let the new ones without a fuss... they get a week or so and more aggressive and then the old calf can go elsewhere.
But every cow is different....

Thanks for that!!
I had given it thought briefly. I think I'll sure try it next go round.

This lil bottle broke heifer is a trip. She would much prefer a bottle than wrestling with the cow or trying to nurse with a 2nd calf in there.
I've had a few like that. Just not aggressive cow nursers for whatever reason. Even after they've not had anything to eat/drink for 24 hrs.

Lil snot is ROTTEN!!

 

[MurraysMutts]

And now we're cookin.......!
Bull is very large framed. They pulled him off his old swing bag, sausage teat mama. But she did not appear to have any holstein. He is solid black.
Edited to add..
Gonna have to wait a lil to band him. I got to feeling around and can't feel anything in his sack. Wasted a cheerio dernit...

Edited to add again!
I'm sitting at the end of the stock trailer while taking pictures.
Gotta move FAST when she goes to backing up. I don't think my face has ever been that close to the intimate parts of a cow! Fact is, I'm sure of it.
She needs a backup camera and a backup beeper!!

 

[Travlr]

Gonna have to wait a lil to band him. I got to feeling around and can't feel anything in his sack. Wasted a cheerio dernit...

If the testicles aren't descended you might be able to put some pressure on the area surrounding them and draw them down into the sack.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

But you need to get the cheerio OFF if nothing is below it.
Jan - that is a great idea.

 

[MurraysMutts]

But you need to get the cheerio OFF if nothing is below it.
Jan - that is a great idea.

Right!

We did not "install" it. I don't re-use em

 

[MurraysMutts]

Another bottle for the lil heifer tonight. Bless her heart. She tries so hard!
But gets discouraged very easily and runs for shelter!

I'm almost to the point of bottling her til Bessie calves.

The bull gets right with it. Stick n move. Stick n move. He's a good lil dodger and gets his belly full before giving up.

Sure wish I still had my hobbles. I'd fix her wagon.

 

[kenny thomas]

Another bottle for the lil heifer tonight. Bless her heart. She tries so hard!
But gets discouraged very easily and runs for shelter!

I'm almost to the point of bottling her til Bessie calves.

The bull gets right with it. Stick n move. Stick n move. He's a good lil dodger and gets his belly full before giving up.

Sure wish I still had my hobbles. I'd fix her wagon.

Horse hobbles do work good to keep them from kicking.

 

[MurraysMutts]

Horse hobbles do work good to keep them from kicking.

Slows em down too! Hard for the cow to get away in any sort of hurry.

 

[gcreekrch]

Slows em down too! Hard for the cow to get away in any sort of hurry.

3/4 poly rope with a bowline around each leg works just fine.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Murray, have you ever tried flanking Eleanor? Put a loop on the end if a rope. Put the smooth end over her back. Keep rope in front of hip bones, and in front of udder. Put end o rope in loop and cinch tight. I wouldn't think you would have to cinch down too tight with her.
A cow can't lift her hind legs with the pressure. So, she can't kick. Everyone has a rope!

 

[MurraysMutts]

Murray, have you ever tried flanking Eleanor? Put a loop on the end if a rope. Put the smooth end over her back. Keep rope in front of hip bones, and in front of udder. Put end o rope in loop and cinch tight. I wouldn't think you would have to cinch down too tight with her.
A cow can't lift her hind legs with the pressure. So, she can't kick. Everyone has a rope!

I had given thought to it. I probly give em more attention/extra chances than they should. But tonight was a bit of real progress. The bull is really good at dodging. So I got him going. Then (and I've been working on this) shoved the lil heifer in from behind.
I think the light bulb finally came on for her!
She was quite aggressive this evening. Especially after she figured out that's the best place NOT to get kicked.

If I don't see em nursing by the weekend on their own, I'll resort to more drastic measures. Tho I'm concerned she may not really have enough milk for 2 calves. She's pretty far into her lactation. They got her drained pretty easy this evening.

I'll update again tomorrow most likely!!

Thanks guys.

 

[Travlr]

I had given thought to it. I probly give em more attention/extra chances than they should. But tonight was a bit of real progress. The bull is really good at dodging. So I got him going. Then (and I've been working on this) shoved the lil heifer in from behind.
I think the light bulb finally came on for her!
She was quite aggressive this evening. Especially after she figured out that's the best place NOT to get kicked.

If I don't see em nursing by the weekend on their own, I'll resort to more drastic measures. Tho I'm concerned she may not really have enough milk for 2 calves. She's pretty far into her lactation. They got her drained pretty easy this evening.

I'll update again tomorrow most likely!!

Thanks guys.

It's gotta be hard for a cow to go from three big calves and the milk it takes... to two newborns that can't drain her. I wouldn't be at all surprised if she was shutting off the faucets as a natural consequence.

 

[MurraysMutts]

It's gotta be hard for a cow to go from three big calves and the milk it takes... to two newborns that can't drain her. I wouldn't be at all surprised if she was shutting off the faucets as a natural consequence.

I did mention that the other day huh?
It was obvious the other day she wasn't letting down. She's seems to be relaxing a bit more today tho. Once they got going good, she hardly kicked at all. And she has finally slowed down on calling for her other calves. They've all but quit calling for her too!

Another thing I noticed with her other set of calves, she didn't like them nursing while she was eating. So that may be part of it too.
It's almost like she told them when to nurse.

Edited to add..
Like I said, this to me is the most frustrating part of the nurse cow thing. And Bessie is really a bit easier to work with. I've got the bull free roaming in the pen with Eleanor now. I had been penning them seperate while not nursing. The bull is staying in.
The lil heifer is much slippery-er and can escape under my panels. So she still gets penned seperate while not nursing til this weekend. I don't wanna chase an escapee. Tho she would be easy enough to catch. She sees me and comes a running anyway.
But if she got lost, especially overnight, I'd be sick to death about it...

 

[Rmc]

Another bottle for the lil heifer tonight. Bless her heart. She tries so hard!
But gets discouraged very easily and runs for shelter!

I'm almost to the point of bottling her til Bessie calves.

In my experience the longer a calf has been on a bottle the more difficult it is to get them to nurse a cow. Bottle feeding her until another cow calves will only make the problem worse not better .

 

[MurraysMutts]

In my experience the longer a calf has been on a bottle the more difficult it is to get them to nurse a cow. Bottle feeding her until another cow calves will only make the problem worse not better .

Agreed!
I gave her another bottle last night. I knew she didn't get enough. No bottle this morning tho.
Your sure right. She comes to me every time, and I've gotta shove her under the cow.

When I have a bit more time to play this weekend, I'm just gonna let em all be together and feed the cow and watch what happens. I think it'll work itself out. Usually does anyways.

 

[kenny thomas]

Murray, here is you a good baby calf. https://knoxville.craigslist.org/grd/d/blaine-longhorn-cow-with-beefalo-calf/7591050946.html

 

[Rmc]

something else to consider in helping bond the two calves together and to get the one calf nursing better is to attach the two calves together similar to how the train oxen.