Heifers nursing each other. Problem?

[u4411clb]

No reason to give up 5 minutes and 5 dollars and problem will be solved. They may not fight having the other one suck them now. You put in a nose ring with spikes and the first time one punches the bag with their nose and those spikes to try and make milk drop I guarantee she will fight to the death to not let that happen again. It will break them from it. You will be more worried about them fighting each other to the death to keep away from the other than you will be them sucking each other.

 

[gizmom]

http://www.jefferspet.com/products/calf-weaner-yellow

Put one of these in each of the heifers and it should take care of the issue.

gizmom

 

[4x4dually]

Thanks for all the ideas. I appreciate them.

 

[Son of Butch]

Arguing on the Internet is like the special Olympics...regardless of who wins, you are both special.

Nailed it. :lol: :banana:

 

[4x4dually]

So I never reported back the outcome of our problem. The problem has been solved. While at the this years production sale we bought a replacement and took the milk stealing hag to the sale barn. She is now comfortable in a pasture 3 miles north of the house in my buddies herd where she seems to be content and not robbing groceries.

:cowboy:

 

[dieselbeef]

hey man the dzl boys know yer cheatin on em over here

 

[4x4dually]

Dem dzl boeez prolly don't wants to tawk bowt trailors and cow junk. Most of them couldn't find a teat if it slapped dem in da face. LOL

 

[dieselbeef]

yeah they know..teats of a different nipple is all

 

[Andyva]

What if that vice was a heritable trait? What if it was passed on? What if somebody with range cattle that he couldn't keep a real close eye on ended up with those genetics in his herd? What could it do to the breed? Could stealing milk/self sucking become the hallmark of Salers, like cancer eyed Herefords, or Charolais with huge calves? You can keep the cows because they are the kid's pet or whatever, but their are some serious questions you need to ask yourself that deal more with cattle as a business and part of an industry than as a hobby.

 

[4x4dually]

Umm....ya...we sold her. I'm pretty sure it is NOT a hallmark of Salers.

You want me to just shoot her so the trait can't be passed on or what?

 

[Andyva]

The guy with the cancer eyed Hereford said the same thing. Sorry, I didn't realize this was an oldie. You can shoot her if you want to, but with what cattle are bringing you would be money ahead to pass her off on somebody else.

 

[gizmom]

It is something you can stop if you have the time and inclination. It can cause some serious problems in the herd, if you want to keep the cow then fix the problem. If one heifer starts then others will tend to follow, so nip it in the bud.

gizmom

 

[4x4dually]

The guy with the cancer eyed Hereford said the same thing. Sorry, I didn't realize this was an oldie. You can shoot her if you want to, but with what cattle are bringing you would be money ahead to pass her off on somebody else.

We did. She brought $2600 long bred. Her replacement cost me $3750. Not sure if that's money ahead or not. LOL I guess if you look at it as "if we lost one calf because it starved," then yes, it was money ahead. The owner of the sale barn bought her and was fully informed of the problem since he hangs out at our house almost every weekend. It was a full disclosure sale.

 

[Supa Dexta]

Just put a spiked ring in one on the weekend, 3 yr old.. First I've seen of it in years around here.

As crazy as it is, I wonder why it was happening - the cow being sucked calved the next day. She is one of the heavier milkers and was bagged up pretty full. Think she talked the other cow into it, to help with the pressure? :lol2:

 

[Jake]

We had a really super nice first calf heifer decide she was going to start doing sucking this year. It really just hurts because she is a product of a lot of planned breeding and really did a spectacular job of having a calf and keeping it going in a snow storm. Hate to sell her but not sure what else to do at this point.

We have another one that is 5 years old that we've had problems with as well and since we can't get her broke of the trick she is going to town this fall.