I have a heifer that just calved a couple days ago. Two of her udders are not functioning as far as I can tell. The calf is nursing or at least trying to from what I've seen in my limited viewings. It's the two back ones that are not showing to have swollen any. I am almost positive they are not just sucked down either. Any advice on what can be done, etc.
Heifer with 2 non functional udders
- Thread starter jallen
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skyhightree1
Well-known member
Does it appear the calf is getting full or coming out with a white nose ? Does it continually try to nurse like its hungry? If it appears hungry only one thing you can do is grab a bottle and replacer and get busy.
Aaron
Well-known member
Put her in a chute and milk each quarter. If two are already duds, then her calving career is going to be a short one.
regolith
Well-known member
Normally a quarter that isn't working fills as normal before calving, then dries up over the next few weeks because the milk is unobtainable - and that includes those that have been lost due to mastitis not just a blocked teat.
So this is a new one to me. I guess if the calf is okay, no problems, if the calf isn't growing cull her. Give it a few days and she might start producing better than she is now. I'm presuming she has plenty of green stuff to eat to support a lactation.
What probably happened is when this heifer was weaned, some other weanling nursed on her small udder. That ruins them. Hopefully she'll be able to raise this calf, but watch carefully and make sure its thriving. I'd sell her ...
bigbull338
Well-known member
if she is 2 teated haul her to the sale and be done with it.
M5farm
Well-known member
about 50 %
Black and Good
Well-known member
cowgirl8":27dmf0z9 said:
I don't know about anyone else. Maybe, I'm learning something here. But, I've never heard of such a thing. B&G
Fire Sweep Ranch
Well-known member
cowgirl8":3jem0sul said:
I have a three year old right now that is doing a fabulous job raising her second calf, and she was sucked on by another calf at weaning (both were weaned together) so much that she developed an udder when she was not even bred! We had to separate her when we discovered what was going on (for awhile obviously) and give her something to dry her up quick because we were in the middle of show season when it happened.
Here she is raising her first calf, a 3/4 blood Simm bull that Stocky is now using in his herd:
Here is a pic of her calf she is raising right now:
And a pic of her as a heifer (notice her nipples are a bit long?):
I think the only thing it might have done was stretched out her teats, since they are a bit big when she first calves but go back to normal size in a few days.
So yet, another farce.... Have YOU RAISED a heifer that has been sucked on? I have, and by the looks of the calves this cow is throwing, I am sure glad I did not ship her!
Here is a cow with two quarters that do not seem to function, even though each embryo calf she raises wean off just as big as the others:
Her first calf was a red bull, by Amigo, and was cut. All of her calves since then have been embryo calves, and I surely would not use her as a recip if I did not think she could do the job! She is due in a week with another embryo calf, so her udder is starting to fill.
So a two quartered cow, though not desirable, is not the end of the world if she can do her job.
chippie
Well-known member
jallen,
She may just have two blind quarters. I would follow Aaron's advice and put her in a chute and see if anything will come out of the back quarters.
Good luck with her.
She may just have two blind quarters. I would follow Aaron's advice and put her in a chute and see if anything will come out of the back quarters.
Good luck with her.
highgrit
Well-known member
Why would you keep a cow that has defects? I can see letting her raise her first calf but I can't see the reason to keep her any longer. Fire Sweep Ranch you have fine stock, why not replace her with one of your heifers?
Taurus
Well-known member
I think she just said there isn't any issue with that particular cow so there's no reason to replace her. Who knows the heifer in question may have milk in all quarters. Might be another calf suckled her from behind while she wasn't pay attention.highgrit":3scunhqb said:
MO_cows
Well-known member
Black and Good":rx0lswfh said:
We had it happen, too. The heifer who was sucked, now has blown out teats that get great big when she calves. So far, they stay small enough at the end for the calf to latch on and eventually sucks them all down to normal size. But every calf, teats seems to get worse and it is going to shorten her career. Our other cows all have good udders, not bragging, it comes with the breed. But not this one. It's not genetic, it was damaged.
Fire Sweep Ranch
Well-known member
highgrit":1z10fxal said:
Cause she can raise a calf just as good as another, and she takes an embryo (not as easy as it sounds). However, we are consigning her this fall to our breed sale with her embryo calf on her side (calf will be 75 days old), so she goes. Her embryo calf should be valuable enough and the cow's new owner can decide if they want to use her for a recip or what ever. But, that is why she ONLY has embryo calves, I would never keep a heifer or bull out of her.
I was told by my vet that udder damage can be traced back to damage done by another when young by sucking on their dry teats and if you see it happening to stop it. I trust what he says, makes sense....I'm sure it doesnt happen in every case...as B&G pointed out in their case. But when you have a heifer who has problems their first time you have to wonder.MO_cows":1kgmgoxa said:
bigbull338
Well-known member
yes calves sucking eachother can and do damage teats sometimes.if i caught calves sucking eachother id wack emm till they quit sucking eachother.but once they got on feed good the sucking stopped.
