Heifer not mothering new calf

[Farmgirl]

Went out yesterday to check our cows. Heifer had delivered 14 days early. She wanted nothing to do with the calf. Got her in the chute and got the little guy to suck. Calf was very determined to nurse and heifer didn't kick very much. Left heifer and calf in the pen together for overnight.

Any suggestions on how to get her to take the calf? How long might it take before she gets the idea?

Thanks,
Farmgirl

 

[dun]

Ship her for kill! If she hasn;t taken it by now she probably never will. Very good lieklyhood she'll be the same way with any subsequent calves.

 

[CWT Angus]

You're on the right track. That's all you can do. Pen her in the chute several times a day & let the little monster drink. Depending on how much she dislikes her child you might be able to eventually tie her up while he nurses or give her a bowl of grain or alfalfa- depends on how much of a distraction she needs. I would definitely separate her from the others so her only concern is that calf. Sounds like if she didn't try & kick his head off in the chute that she might come around. You can decide later if you will keep her or not, but your primary concern right now is to try & get her to raise this one calf.

Some people also suggest putting molasses or a calf claiming aid on them, if it works or not- who knows. Everyone has an opinion, and it probably depends on the cow. If she is agressive to the calf when penned up with him, you need to secure the calf behind a panel in the corner when you are not out there to protect it. That way she can sniff & lick it if she wants.
Good luck- let us know how it's going. I went through the same thing last year. Sometimes it takes these young girls a bit to come around.

 

[Brute 23]

Make hamburgers... don't breed junk.

What good is a cow who is not a mother? :roll:

 

[msscamp]

Ship her for kill! If she hasn;t taken it by now she probably never will. Very good lieklyhood she'll be the same way with any subsequent calves.

Hold up for just a minute here - the heifer just delivered yesterday. You and I both know that some heifers are a little freaked out by birth, refuse to take their calves at first but, with a little coaxing a good number of them will accept the calf and do a good job of raising it. Why the recommendation to ship her so soon? :o I could understand your recommendation if she had delivered 2 or 3 days ago, or a week ago and still wouldn't claim the calf, but I'm a bit surprised at your recommendation at this stage of the game.

 

[Farmgirl]

Heifer is letting the calf nurse if we stand in the pen with her. Don't have to put her in the chute for the calf to nurse. The minute we step out of the pen she kicks and/or butts him. Doesn't appear to be getting a lot of milk. He goes from teat to teat. Gave him a bottle tonight. He took about 1 3/4 quarts. Little sides were filled out and he started jumping around feeling good. A cutie.

Hubby is determine to take both to the sale barn tomorrow. I know the cow has to go if she won't raise a calf. Definitely won't keep her around for 2nd calf. Would be nice for her to raise this one.

Thanks for the feedback.

Farmgirl

 

[msscamp]

Not giving enough milk, on top of being reluctant to claim her calf does change things. I can't blame your husband for wanting to ship her, I probably would too. I'm sorry it has worked out this way for you.

 

[Brute 23]

Ship her for kill! If she hasn;t taken it by now she probably never will. Very good lieklyhood she'll be the same way with any subsequent calves.

Hold up for just a minute here - the heifer just delivered yesterday. You and I both know that some heifers are a little freaked out by birth, refuse to take their calves at first but, with a little coaxing a good number of them will accept the calf and do a good job of raising it. Why the recommendation to ship her so soon? :o I could understand your recommendation if she had delivered 2 or 3 days ago, or a week ago and still wouldn't claim the calf, but I'm a bit surprised at your recommendation at this stage of the game.

30 min, 1 day, 3 days, no difference. There are not different degrees of bad... just good and bad,,, right and wrong,, black and white. ;-)

Heifers have until the time I figure out they are not taking care of their calf to get it together or they are gone,, "freaked out" or not,, I am not Dr Phil. :lol:

 

[KNERSIE]

put a dog in the pen with the heifer and her calf, if that doesn't make the mthering instinct kick in, nothing will and she's worthless as a cow.

I had a heifer do the same, gave the calf a bottle twice just to give him strength to be persistent and put Knersie, the Jack Russel in the pen with her. She immediately got up and started talking to the calf and tried to keep the dog away from the calf. The next time I got there the calf was nursing. She is as fond of that calf as any other cow I've seen and I don't expect a repeat of this next year.

 

[Brandonm2]

Ship her for kill! If she hasn;t taken it by now she probably never will. Very good lieklyhood she'll be the same way with any subsequent calves.

Hold up for just a minute here - the heifer just delivered yesterday. You and I both know that some heifers are a little freaked out by birth, refuse to take their calves at first but, with a little coaxing a good number of them will accept the calf and do a good job of raising it. Why the recommendation to ship her so soon? :o I could understand your recommendation if she had delivered 2 or 3 days ago, or a week ago and still wouldn't claim the calf, but I'm a bit surprised at your recommendation at this stage of the game.

Exactly, this does happen periodically (though with us it happened more often following a pull). Barn them for a day and most will take the calf. And I have never had to do that with a second calf. We did have two that we had to tie up their back legs and let the calf nurse with the cow in the chute...two times a day for about three weeks. Neither of those (one a straight Angus and the other an Angus/Char/Hereford three way cross(interestingly enough they both had the same sire)) stayed long enough for me to find out what they would do with the second calf.

 

[double v]

Have you fed the heifer while the calf nurses? It usally works, and it not true that if they don't take the first they won't take another. ;-) This is true in first calf heifers. The only thing that bothers me is the lack on milk, maybe you should hand milker to see how much she is producing and alot of the time in will make her produce more.

 

[racekannon]

Some hiefers benefit from some Ocytoxin (sp) to start letting down their milk. Some hiefers need help mothering-up and never give another problem.

 

[Susie David]

If she isn't beating up on the calf, just leave them together mighn't surprize you and the calf will nurse soon.
Had one last spring that I was getting ready to tube but noticed the sticky face early one morning and the heifer nursing her later in the day.
Don't give up...the heifer doesn't know what is expected of her but nature will kick in.
Just my two bits worth....asked for or not....Dave Mc

 

[msscamp]

Ship her for kill! If she hasn;t taken it by now she probably never will. Very good lieklyhood she'll be the same way with any subsequent calves.

Hold up for just a minute here - the heifer just delivered yesterday. You and I both know that some heifers are a little freaked out by birth, refuse to take their calves at first but, with a little coaxing a good number of them will accept the calf and do a good job of raising it. Why the recommendation to ship her so soon? :o I could understand your recommendation if she had delivered 2 or 3 days ago, or a week ago and still wouldn't claim the calf, but I'm a bit surprised at your recommendation at this stage of the game.

I am not Dr Phil. :lol:

Truer words have never been spoken! :roll: :lol: :lol: But I'm at somewhat of a loss as to what Dr. Phil has to do with raising cattle, unless it your way of stating that you don't have a clue.

 

[Brute 23]

No, I am saying I don't care what problems the heifer is having. :lol:

 

[Farmgirl]

Update. Took the heifer and her calf to the sale barn yesterday. They sold as a pair. I feel bad for the poor little calf. His mama never showed him any motherlyness. We talked to several people including the vet. None gave us a lot of hope. Looking back we see where the heifer had these tendencies. She would knock the fire out of other calves whenever she got a chance. Not just your usual butting among cows, just a nasty, mean attitude. We still own her mother and a full sister. Both will probably go down the road come spring. Her mother has been a decent mama. Not as fussy over her calves as some but nothing like her daughter.

btw...here is a link I ran across during this experience. Maybe of benefit to someone else.

http://www.usask.ca/wcvm/herdmed/applie ... ernal.html

Thanks for the feedback.
Farmgirl

 

[CKC1586]

Good article, farmgirl. Thanks for sharing.