Grafting question

[M-5]

For the experts. The calf that I pulled last Saturday died Wednesday evening . The heifer has a decent bag but as far as I know the calf never sucked , I ve been trying all week to find a graft calf and found one this morning. She was searching for the calf yesterday and is a calm heifer . I have grafted plenty but never this much time elapsed. My question is how productive will she be with 7 days of not being nursed??

 

[TN Cattle Man]

I would think that you could put here in a squeeze and try to milk her down to see what she is producing... I have never tried 7 days into it as well. I assume that if she will accept a new graft, and is still producing, she could produce enough milk for him.

 

[M-5]

I feel pretty confident I can get her to accept it , I would think she would increase production once it sucking and she accepts it but IDK for sure

 

[cowmilker]

Yes. Once she is being nursed, she will continue to produce. Craig

 

[cattle60]

I think she would still come back into her milk if she is started to be milked again. Good Luck.

 

[farmerjan]

I agree, if she has a decent udder, and will take the calf, then it is definitely worth the try. She may not make alot in the beginning, and it might help to give her a shot of oxytocin a couple of times. We had a cow that must've lost her calf and I don't know how long she had been fresh but it was several days, since she was at the neighbors. We brought her home, got a replacement, and put her in the chute for 2 days to make sure the calf got on her and gave her a shot of oxy and she came back into her milk. I also gave her some grain to help up the production for a couple of weeks to make sure the calf was doing okay. You could see the calf filling out and her udder came along.
Some dairies have actually induced lactation using oxy.
Good luck

 

[M-5]

I got the calf and her penned side by side . Gave calf a bottle tonight and will start the calf on her in the morning. The calf seems aggressive enough and she comes to feed bucket so we shall see.

 

[True Grit Farms]

Good luck.

 

[bird dog]

A lot of times its more about the calf than the cow. The cow will usually get tired of fighting it after a while. I put mine in the trailer. The smaller the space the better.

 

[5S Cattle]

Update?

 

[M-5]

Well , I have always been an optimistic one but She(heifer) has lost her dam mind, I put her in chute, haltered her, fed her and she wasn't having any part of it. and would head butt him and flip him out of the way. I don't have a ton of patience sometimes. I've moved on to next project and its going pretty good. I bought 2 Holstein cows last yr and both calved about a month ago. One is particularly friendly especially if she thinks you got feed . I wanted to try and make a nurse cow out of her . she kicked a couple times at the calf but gave in and let him suck all 4 qtrs. I put a little feed in the bucket and she eats and he sucks. I've been doing this in the afternoon Saturday and Sunday and will eventually bring her in in the morning and evening. The bulk of the cows will calve the next 2 moths so I will be ready if I loose another calf.

 

[farmerjan]

Sorry that the heifer wouldn't take the calf. It just might have been too long for her since her own died. They can be funny that way. I had one that had her calf for nearly 2 1/2 weeks, he was a premie, we would help him stand and he could shuffle around a little and she was sooooo good and quiet, but it was just not to be. Found a calf to graft and I figured she would never take it after having hers over 2 weeks, but in 2 days she took it like it was hers from day one.
Have a jersey/holstein 1st calf heifer just calved and took 3 days to get a couple more to graft on her and she will let anything nurse while she is eating but doesn't like them after she is done. Hope she will get better in a week or two and they get a little older and more aggressive. I bring her in to them and leave her in for an hour or so with feed and some alfalfa hay then kick her out to the pasture. She is hanging around wanting her calf, so comes in easily to feed it and likes her grain so all 3 go on her. We'll see.
Glad your holstein nurse cow will take it.

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

We had same thing happen M-5 -- cow lost calf on a Thursday; couldn't find a graft calf until Mon.; tried the "dead calf hide" trick and all that, and she wouldn't have noth'n to do with it. We didn't really want to mess w/ a bottle calf, so when a friend's friend's cow lost a calf on Wednesday, we were happy to send that little guy to their place. Am told that was a successful graft.

 

[M-5]

Figured I would update a thread from last year. Heifer that lost her calf and I had a failed graft. Did well over the last eleven month did not get too fat and grew into a nice cow. Found her this afternoon with her new baby. She does love that sucker alot .


So far I'm glad I gave her a second Chance.

 

[farmerjan]

Glad to see that her second chance worked. I have been more likely to let a heifer have a second chance than a cow that loses a calf. But again, you were fighting the length of time to try the graft since you couldn't find a calf. That wasn't either of yours fault. How did the calf do on the holstein? Raise it up with her own calf okay? Hope that the heifer raises a bang up calf for you this time around.

 

[Supa Dexta]

In the future if you can tie the cow up or put it in a chute and cast her with a rope, cinch her tight - she should stand better for the calf. You can also hobble her legs if she wants to kick.

I fought with a heifer for a few weeks one time, standing there as the calf drank and kicking her every time she tried to kick the calf. Was a long 3 weeks, but once I let her lose she took to that calf the rest of the summer. Not sure if she would have if I released her sooner, wasnt sure she was taking to it, as everytime I turned my back she'd try and kick it if she wasn't cast.

 

[jehosofat]

So far I'm glad I gave her a second Chance.

Sorta like CT, sometimes you need a second chance. :lol: