grafting a calf onto a cow

[Hunny Do Ranch]

I have a 3 year old that aborted her calf Dec 26 and I am wondering if I could put a calf on her (yes, I know I should have done it then but didn't have time). I ran her through the shoot today and she has a bit of milk still. Will she possibly be able to feed a calf? I would be supplementing until she was producing more but having the calf suck to stimmulate her. I think she would take the calf with a bit of work. What do you think. She is a easy cow to work with and fairly quiet. I kinda have time to do it right now as well. What do you think? We don't want to ship her. We think she slipped on the ice when it warmed up for a bit.

 

[dun]

Way to late in the game for that. She woulldn;t have enough milk to raise a calf

 

[msscamp]

You're a little over 2 months too late as far as grafting a calf on her is concerned.

 

[Dana Kopp]

We put an orphaned calf on a cow that had a stillborn calf and thus never nursed - it was roughly three or four weeks after the cow calved and the orphan was at least a month to month and half old. She never came back with her "normal" amount of milk but she did supplement him enough to keep him from being too stunted. It was a lot of work as she knew she didn't have a calf anymore but we used a lot of O-No-More (a powdered calf claimer stuff) and they eventually bonded. Don't know if I'd try it again...

 

[Tep]

So how long can you go before it's pointless to try to graft a calf on? Do you milk the cow in the mean time?

 

[Beefy]

must be a dairy cow if she has any milk at all left. most beef cows will be dry in a weeks time unless milked.

 

[dun]

So how long can you go before it's pointless to try to graft a calf on? Do you milk the cow in the mean time?

If it's going to more then a couple of days, milking her at least twice a day will keep her in milk. If a cow had bagged pretty well and the calf dies or is dead at birth, she'll reabsorb the milk but it takes time. The milk that's in there now may be the remainder of what hasn;t been reabsorbed yet.

 

[RVF]

So how long can you go before it's pointless to try to graft a calf on? Do you milk the cow in the mean time?

I think it depends onthe cow. The longest I have gone is 1 week. I did not milk the cow in the mean time. It may take a little time for the cow to come back into production though.

 

[Double R Ranch]

I would call it a done deal. Not only are you going to stress the cow but yourself in trying to graft a calf that long after calving. Then what if her milk is dried up and all you are getting is remnants. Then you are stuck with a calf.
Breed her back, let it be and if it happens again next year cull the cow. Make sure it isn't something that your other cows can get.
Best of luck.
Double R