First Calf Heifer wont claim calf

[Anonymous]

I have a two year old that had her first calf and won't let it nurse unless she is in head gate, how many days will it take before she gets the idea what she is suppose to do?

When I found the calf at 10am yesterday it was bawing on the wrong side of fence and mother was back with group of cows not paying it any attention, calf looked dry and was very strong not sure how long it had been born so I fixed a rope collar on calf and kept pointing it toward mother finally I got them together and new mother just sniffed at calf and walked away. We have a holding pen not too far away so I got the calf in the pen and went and got some colostrum replacement and came back and fed calf two quarts. My husband then gave me some help getting the mother in to the holding pen and we feed her some grain and all the hay she could want and put some Oh-No-MO on the calf. But she didn't seem interested at all and the calf seeemed full and not hungry. By this time it was 5pm and we just left them penned up together. This morning I went and checked on them at about 9am and the calf was going in circles around her but she wasn't standing still for the calf to get its breakfast. So first I tried just putting some hay into them. But the mother still would not stand still so I ran her up into the handgate and put hay in front of her and pushed the calf into position and the calf drank its fill. I had not had this happen in a long time most of my females are really good mothers. I have this heifers' mother and half sisters in production and they always mothered their calves right off.

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[Anonymous]

They make a powder that you can apply to the back of the calf, it is called "calf claim" I think, you might try that. I would confine her to a tight enclosure the calf can not get out of with the dam, and hopefully within 3 days the calf will be strong and persistant enough to make cow accept it. if she is not producing quite enough milk, I would also give her small doses of (1/2-1cc) Oxytocin, this will encourage milk let down and stimulate some other hormones that might make her get her act together.

Good Luck

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[Anonymous]

The first thing to do is figure out why she won't claim the calf based on her behaviour. Does she kick at or try to push the calf away when it get's close? That can be an indication that her udder/teats may be sore or overly sensitive. Does she just ignore the calf? Symptoms of a block head. Does she attack the calf, could be she just doesn't understandd what's going on. Normalyy, after a calf has nursed from the cow for a couple of days she starts to recogize the odor and will claim it. If her teats/udder or sensitive (maybe overly full) strip most of the milk out after the calf has finished nursing. If she never starts to lick it or sniff the calfs rectum or urine, you have a block head. Those I've never seen come around to be a mother.

dun

> I have a two year old that had her
> first calf and won't let it nurse
> unless she is in head gate, how
> many days will it take before she
> gets the idea what she is suppose
> to do?

> When I found the calf at 10am
> yesterday it was bawing on the
> wrong side of fence and mother was
> back with group of cows not paying
> it any attention, calf looked dry
> and was very strong not sure how
> long it had been born so I fixed a
> rope collar on calf and kept
> pointing it toward mother finally
> I got them together and new mother
> just sniffed at calf and walked
> away. We have a holding pen not
> too far away so I got the calf in
> the pen and went and got some
> colostrum replacement and came
> back and fed calf two quarts. My
> husband then gave me some help
> getting the mother in to the
> holding pen and we feed her some
> grain and all the hay she could
> want and put some Oh-No-MO on the
> calf. But she didn't seem
> interested at all and the calf
> seeemed full and not hungry. By
> this time it was 5pm and we just
> left them penned up together. This
> morning I went and checked on them
> at about 9am and the calf was
> going in circles around her but
> she wasn't standing still for the
> calf to get its breakfast. So
> first I tried just putting some
> hay into them. But the mother
> still would not stand still so I
> ran her up into the handgate and
> put hay in front of her and pushed
> the calf into position and the
> calf drank its fill. I had not had
> this happen in a long time most of
> my females are really good
> mothers. I have this heifers'
> mother and half sisters in
> production and they always
> mothered their calves right off.

 

[Anonymous]

> I have a block head, hope she will come out of it. She wont sniff the calf hardly at all and will only stand and let it nurse if I put her up a chute I don't even have to catch her head so at least I am encouraged a little that she will come out it. The original holding pen is quite far from the house so we went ahead and moved the pair to a pen right up behind the house where we have a yearling heifer and another young pair and a young cow that we took her calf away last weekend to become someone's 4-H project. My husband noticed that the one cow was letting the other cow's calf nurse her so we put her in with the block head and new born into a smaller corral area. I first ran the blockhead mother into the chute and put the calf on her and let it nurse for awhile till it came up for air. Then I pointed the calf toward the possible foster mother and left the real mom in the chute and within a few minutes the calf was nursing the other cow. I had put calf claim on the calf yesterday but I put some more on before I pushed the calf at the foster mother. I am very puzzled at the way this heifer has rejected the calf. I don't know if all the rain we have been having had something to do with it. SHe is not mean to the calf, she just acts like she doesn't think it is hers. So I plan on leaving this trio penned together for a few days and will keep them in this lot behind the house to keep a close eye on them.

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[Anonymous]

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[Anonymous]

We just had this happen as well. One thing I will say- Do NOT let the calf nurse another mother right now unless you want to switch and try to graft it.Keep the new mom and her calf seperate by them selves. We had a orphan calf in with ready to calve heifers, and she ran an nursed everyone. A heifer calved- Was used to the other calf nursing, so she wanted nothing to do with HER newborn. DIdnt lick it nothing. wouldnt let it nurse. We penned them up, and let the calf suck with mom in the head gate. Then, every day- 2 x a day, wed go out and back her in a corner, and make the baby nurse. The mom would try to run away, but wed smack her till she stood still. She never licked the baby, nor mooed at it. She did try a few times to head butt it, and kick it off her tits. Her bag was very small. I would supplement the calf with a bottle everyday, until FINALLY-- yesterday- almost 2 weeks later- did the mother come up and start licking the calf and stood to let her nurse unassisted!! Patience paid off. She licked that baby all day long, and as of today, seems like an ideal mother. My advice- keep the mom and calf alone- and keep doing what youre doing- !! We goofed by letting the orpahn calf run around and suck the pregnant heifers- thus the heifer didnt want her own baby!!

 

[Anonymous]

Colloquial word. Try also, "butthead, naive, dumb a--, not into mothering stuff, not sure what that thing was that I expelled out of my ----, cow with potential for the freezer, etc., etc.

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[Anonymous]

I have had that problem before.I have never had any luck making a mother accept a calf like that.I have tried the powder stuff I have tried taking the mother's milk and pouring it on the calf I have tried pouring the mother's urine on the calf never any luck.Two things I have heard cause this is the pain a heifer goes through having the calf or the calf gets an odor on it such as hogs that may cause her to not recognize the calf.I personally don't have the time to mess with problems like this I would sell them myself.

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[Anonymous]

Since the other cow has claimed it and the heifer won't I'd just let the older cow take it to grass. We strugled with a heifer this year for 7 weeks til she took a calf that we bought after hers died. This late in the year I'd sell the heifer and buy a pair or late bred cow with the same money. Jake

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