Here we go again...

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Just checked em. I had to be away for a while today and all I could think about was that poor baby missing a meal.
Well folks.....
Sometime today she has nursed without the assistance of a face full of feed.
Mamas bag was definitely not about to burst. And 2 teats definitely looked suckled recently.
I'll try the same again tmrw. I gave in and fed mama this evening. Baby went right to nursing. Didnt take long and mama had basically nothing left. Perhaps theres something to this reverse psychology thing. Idk...

I guess today has been 3 weeks btw
 
reminds me of the heifer I had this spring that lost her calf at 6 weeks old.. I made her adopt the twin bull I had.. it was a week long battle.. I had her hobbled and haltered, little bull calf wasn't stupid though, once he came to terms that this biatch was going to be his mother, and that when I came along she had no choice but to cooperate, he'd just wait for me to tie her up and he'd get right to it.. kicks, bunts, whatever, he was going to get his meal!
it took about a month or so, but then she started to lick him, and she's a great momma to him now

Glad yours is warming up to being a momma
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Think I'm gonna leave em penned til next weekend and monitor them until then.
Almost scared to turn em out.
I can start gathering calves next weekend anyway so thatll work great!
 
1. Back to your original post about the placenta. NEVER pull on it. If cow is NOT sick, leave it alone. You can cut some to put on the calf, but Orphan No More is super easy, cheap, and effective. NEVER give your cow an antibiotic if she is not sick. The bugs in her system eat away at the rotting placenta. If you give an antibiotic, you kill her good bugs that would have cleaned out her uterus.
2. My personal opinion - never ever bring a newborn onto your farm from another farm. Yes, the "other" farm vaccinates their cattle and have healthy herd. Their herd has different bugs than your herd. If you have other newborns on your farm, you can get ALL your other calves sick from this one calf.
3. You mentioned another cow did not clean. Do you feed loose mineral to your cows? It sounds like a deficiency. Other than a hard calving, or set of twins born super early, your cows should not be retaining their placenta.
 
Thank you @Jeanne - Simme Valley !

1. That is exactly why I was so cautious about the placenta. My only thoughts were to leave it alone. But there was that stupid lil voice in the back of my head saying thatll help graft that calf.
I did leave it alone and she did well. Took a few days to clear but did just fine. Well. Took more than a few days. But still. No antibiotics either. Great information there. Thank you again!

2. I most definitely did not bring her home.
She was at my neighbors place with a better pen and a chute. He has no cattle right now. But does have facilities. I always keep new animals seperate for 2 weeks. When I brought her "home" she was still penned up for a few more weeks until I turned her out.
Something I learned from you in a previous post somewhere on this board!

3. The other one cleaned pretty much immediately. Couple hours. I just got to witness the birth.
Loose Mineral is always available.


Just home from checking on em. They are at a different place, but they are home now. Shes doing well. Mama seems to be taking care of her. We will see what she does next year!!
 
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My big 'ol Steamroller came by her name honestly and every bull calf she had nursed from behind. Subsequently, they were all named Shythead and always sporting a pile on the back of their head/down the neck. Fortunately, her heifers nursed like proper little ladies.
 
I have my jersey in my backyard. She did raise her own and 2 more earlier this year. We weaned them the end of August. We milked her a couple of weeks. Then we got her a black salebarn heifer day old. We held her the first 24 hours a couple of times for it to nurse. Then she adopted her. By 48 hours, they were laying together cuddling. The next week I got her a charolais/corriente blond heifer. She was not as keen on adopting that one. We had to hold her for a week while the calf nursed. After that for a week she had to be eating grain to let her nurse. Then she decided that calf was also hers. The other night I put the cow in the pasture with the bull overnight. In the morning the calves were bawling. The jersey was standing on the other side of the fence doing that low momma moo. She could not wait to get back to those little suckers. So the black heifer loved people for 48 hours and now we can't touch her. The blond one still loves us.
 

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