Heifer does not produce enough milk. (Help)

[langecattle]

I have a heifer that calved last wed. calf was up and sucking good thought he was fine. Time told me later he wasn't. So I gave him a cheap bag of colusturm, and that seemed to help him allot. After two times I finally checked the cow and there is little milk there for the calf. Wondering if her production will increase or if I should send her on down the road, and just bottle the calf. Looking for advice.

 

[dun]

Bottle feed the calf or sell it, ship the cow to the salebarn

 

[Angus Cowman]

with baby calves around here bringing $250-300 I would ship the cow and the calf and have them split them at the barn

 

[langecattle]

Thanks for the reply. Is there anything I can do to boost her production?

 

[dun]

Thanks for the reply. Is there anything I can do to boost her production?

Not really. If she isn;t making it there is very little you can do about it for this lactation. And the odds are pretty poor that she'll do much better next time.

 

[Victoria]

I wouldn't ship the cow or calf. I would get some good quality milk replacer and feed the calf a half feeding in the morning, see if that is enough and adjust accordingly. You want to keep the calf healthy but also hungry enough to suck on the heifer. The best way to increase milk production is from the calf sucking. Is the heifer really thin? If she is she won't be able to produce milk - more groceries and she will produce more milk. If the calf was not really strong at birth to work on the bag then he may not have brought in the milk as he should have. So if you feed him enough to keep strength up and yet remain hungry he will work the bag harder and she may get more milk. Even if she doesn't you may only have to feed him once a day while she takes care of him and does the rest of the feeding for a few months until the calf can eat more grass/hay on its own. I would think the price the calf will bring in the fall will make up for the milk replacer bought. If the heifer does not improve on milking then you can send her to the auction market in the fall. Or, if she can not cover at least half of the feedings then she should leave now. Good luck.

 

[Angus Cowman]

I wouldn't ship the cow or calf. I would get some good quality milk replacer and feed the calf a half feeding in the morning, see if that is enough and adjust accordingly. You want to keep the calf healthy but also hungry enough to suck on the heifer. The best way to increase milk production is from the calf sucking. Is the heifer really thin? If she is she won't be able to produce milk - more groceries and she will produce more milk. If the calf was not really strong at birth to work on the bag then he may not have brought in the milk as he should have. So if you feed him enough to keep strength up and yet remain hungry he will work the bag harder and she may get more milk. Even if she doesn't you may only have to feed him once a day while she takes care of him and does the rest of the feeding for a few months until the calf can eat more grass/hay on its own. I would think the price the calf will bring in the fall will make up for the milk replacer bought. If the heifer does not improve on milking then you can send her to the auction market in the fall. Or, if she can not cover at least half of the feedings then she should leave now. Good luck.

seems like alot of extra work and expense to end up with the same or lesser end result
as selling her now as high as prices are for kill cows and new born calves
if a hfr can't raise a calf the first time chances are slim to none that she can raise one the second time and then you are feeding her and her calf extra just to make her even with a cow that can do it by herself and for less $$$$$

 

[Victoria]

For me the cost of a couple bags of milk replacer and having the calf and cow shipped in 6 months would make me more money than shipping them both today. Unless prices tank, which may happen but I don't think they will. Or the cow can't produce any milk and then it is of course better to just get rid of her now.
Takes about 15 minutes a day to feed it once a day, not too much extra work.

 

[Angus Cowman]

For me the cost of a couple bags of milk replacer and having the calf and cow shipped in 6 months would make me more money than shipping them both today. Unless prices tank, which may happen but I don't think they will. Or the cow can't produce any milk and then it is of course better to just get rid of her now.
Takes about 15 minutes a day to feed it once a day, not too much extra work.

Glad thats how it works for you
but around here
2 bags of milk reeplacer will be $150
the grass that cow eats will be worth $200 for 6 months

right now cow will bring .85-90 cents pr lb
calf will bring $300

so if prices remain the same 6 months from now here is a comparision
now 1000lb cow = $850 6 months 1000lb cow $850
new born calf =300 calf 450 at $1.50=675
total $1150 - grass and replace 350
total = $1175
and yes the calf will avg around 450 lbs unless you but more $$ of feed into him and make him grow but then you inputs are higher to get a dollar or 2 moe and it never pencils out
so you spent the time and extra dollars to make $25 it just don't add up and become feasible in my operation
but then again this is my living not a hobby
and some people can justify any reason to keep a non producing cow

I have never seen a calf worth raising on a bottle that will make ay money because of the extra inputs that are required to get the calf to where his contemporaries are and to bring the same money as them

 

[backhoeboogie]

Thanks for the reply. Is there anything I can do to boost her production?

I've been there a few times. Had to sell some. You can take special measures for her but you'll have to do it from now on and the calves will be lighter than all the others in the pasture.

Cowman is right about it all. Ship her.

 

[double v]

If you want to help the heifer, grain her with a high protien feed. Give the calf a supplement alittle ground corn with powder milk sprinkled on top this will help until the calf is big enough to creep feed. key is this is heifer needs to be milked out to truly see how most milk she is actually producing.

 

[Victoria]

For me the cost of a couple bags of milk replacer and having the calf and cow shipped in 6 months would make me more money than shipping them both today. Unless prices tank, which may happen but I don't think they will. Or the cow can't produce any milk and then it is of course better to just get rid of her now.
Takes about 15 minutes a day to feed it once a day, not too much extra work.

Glad thats how it works for you
but around here
2 bags of milk reeplacer will be $150
the grass that cow eats will be worth $200 for 6 months

right now cow will bring .85-90 cents pr lb
calf will bring $300

so if prices remain the same 6 months from now here is a comparision
now 1000lb cow = $850 6 months 1000lb cow $850
new born calf =300 calf 450 at $1.50=675
total $1150 - grass and replace 350
total = $1175
and yes the calf will avg around 450 lbs unless you but more $$ of feed into him and make him grow but then you inputs are higher to get a dollar or 2 moe and it never pencils out
so you spent the time and extra dollars to make $25 it just don't add up and become feasible in my operation
but then again this is my living not a hobby
and some people can justify any reason to keep a non producing cow

I have never seen a calf worth raising on a bottle that will make ay money because of the extra inputs that are required to get the calf to where his contemporaries are and to bring the same money as them

Here the calf is worth about $100 now and would be worth at least $600. ( I don't remember if the poster mentioned if it was a heifer or a steer) in the fall - this is assuming that the cow can feed the calf and I am just supplementing. So even if we were to add in the milk replacer ($140). I would still be making a lot more money keeping the calf. I didn't add in pasture cost - I understand it costs to keep a cow and you need to add in taxes etc. etc. However for one extra cow I have more than enough grass. If I sold this cow now I would not buy another to replace her until fall so that grass would be doing nothing for the year if she doesn't eat it. I have more than enough grass. Even if you wanted to add in that $200 however there is still a $160. difference if I keep the cow until the fall. That is why I said I would do it because it is not a hobby for me either and if I can make $160 more I'll do it. I can understand why people wouldn't though, especially if you can sell a newborn for that much. I was just giving the poster another opinion and another option. Guess they need to sit down with a piece of paper and a pen and do some figuring.
You are right though people can find excuses to keep bad cows. However, I'm still wondering though if this is the cows fault, I would have liked to know the condition of the cow. A heifer that is starving can't feed a calf.

 

[Angus Cowman]

Here the calf is worth about $100 now and would be worth at least $600. ( I don't remember if the poster mentioned if it was a heifer or a steer) in the fall - this is assuming that the cow can feed the calf and I am just supplementing. So even if we were to add in the milk replacer ($140). I would still be making a lot more money keeping the calf. I didn't add in pasture cost - I understand it costs to keep a cow and you need to add in taxes etc. etc. However for one extra cow I have more than enough grass. If I sold this cow now I would not buy another to replace her until fall so that grass would be doing nothing for the year if she doesn't eat it. I have more than enough grass. Even if you wanted to add in that $200 however there is still a $160. difference if I keep the cow until the fall. That is why I said I would do it because it is not a hobby for me either and if I can make $160 more I'll do it. I can understand why people wouldn't though, especially if you can sell a newborn for that much. I was just giving the poster another opinion and another option. Guess they need to sit down with a piece of paper and a pen and do some figuring.
You are right though people can find excuses to keep bad cows. However, I'm still wondering though if this is the cows fault, I would have liked to know the condition of the cow. A heifer that is starving can't feed a calf.

very true

 

[3waycross]

If you want to help the heifer, grain her with a high protien feed. Give the calf a supplement alittle ground corn with powder milk sprinkled on top this will help until the calf is big enough to creep feed. key is this is heifer needs to be milked out to truly see how most milk she is actually producing.

I have to agree with Double V. If I had followed the advice here I would have shipped the most productive commercial heifer I owned. She looked like hammered crap after she had her first calf. I supplimented her for about 3 weeks and got her going until green grass. She is now on her fourth calf and they have all weaned like little tanks. Sometimes they need a little help. That doesn't make them bad cattle , it makes us better cowmen.

 

[vclavin]

If you want to help the heifer, grain her with a high protien feed. Give the calf a supplement alittle ground corn with powder milk sprinkled on top this will help until the calf is big enough to creep feed. key is this is heifer needs to be milked out to truly see how most milk she is actually producing.

I have to agree with Double V. If I had followed the advice here I would have shipped the most productive commercial heifer I owned. She looked like hammered crap after she had her first calf. I supplimented her for about 3 weeks and got her going until green grass. She is now on her fourth calf and they have all weaned like little tanks. Sometimes they need a little help. That doesn't make them bad cattle , it makes us better cowmen.

I had a heifer in 2008 that had NO milk. We bottlefed the calf as she took care of him. Several days later she came to her milk and he refused the bottle. Never had any trouble since.
Valeire

 

[backhoeboogie]

You are right though people can find excuses to keep bad cows. However, I'm still wondering though if this is the cows fault, I would have liked to know the condition of the cow. A heifer that is starving can't feed a calf.

very true

It is the opposite problem here apparently. The best cow I own produces the worst heifers. None have enough milk. I am told they are too fat to develop properly. I dunno. Just know they gotta go. Would really like to retain some genetics. They look really nice until it comes time to develop the udder. Only the heifers out of that cow.

 

[msscamp]

Thanks for the reply. Is there anything I can do to boost her production?

If this is a first time heifer, her milk production will likely increase the 2nd time around depending on the stock she came out of.

 

[Gina H]

I have to agree with Double V. If I had followed the advice here I would have shipped the most productive commercial heifer I owned. She looked like hammered crap after she had her first calf. I supplimented her for about 3 weeks and got her going until green grass. She is now on her fourth calf and they have all weaned like little tanks. Sometimes they need a little help. That doesn't make them bad cattle , it makes us better cowmen.

 

[3waycross]

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