hobbles on heifer - help!

[cowmomma]

I have a heifer who lost her calf before giving birth. we bought a sale barn calf to put on her... she knows the calf is hers and vice versa but she kicks / walks away when he tries to nurse. I want to put hobbles on her to make it so she can't kick at him....is this possible? if so , how?


Thanks!

 

[dun]

The easiest way short of a chute to keep a cow from kicking her calf is to but a 1/4 inch rope around her just in front of the udder and over her back and cinch it up tight

dun

 

[cowmomma]

Thanks, Dun, can I leave the cinch on her? I have her in the working pens and have put her in the chute at first 3X a day now sometimes just twice for going on three weeks. We are hoping to see some progress! Fine agressive bull calf though. The heifer is a gebveih. Are they generally poor mommas? Thanks!

 

[randiliana]

Thanks, Dun, can I leave the cinch on her? I have her in the working pens and have put her in the chute at first 3X a day now sometimes just twice for going on three weeks. We are hoping to see some progress! Fine agressive bull calf though. The heifer is a gebveih. Are they generally poor mommas? Thanks!

You can hobble the cow, but you are going to need a headgate and preferably a chute. Get the type with the chain between them, they are easier for the cow to move around with. If you are going to hobble her and you just have a headgate, you have to be right up against her hip, bend down, don't kneel and buckle the hobble around the first leg. Then go around and do the same with the other. It isn't easy to do, but it can be done. BE CAREFUL, and if you aren't very experienced around cattle it would be a good idea to find someone that is to help you. Leave a halter on her as well so you can easily catch and tie her if you have to.

Watch them pretty closely until you are sure that things are going well. Some cows don't figure out how to move with their back legs hobbled. Some will figure other ways to keep the calf from sucking. They will bunt, spin or lay down.

Good Luck

 

[ENNOT]

I have done it quite a few times and it works every time. The biggest thing is dont let the cow kick the calf so much it gets scared of her.

Another thing that helps things move along quickly is to put another pair the corral with the cow and calf, or at least in a pen next to it so the hobbled cow doesn't get crazy by being all alone.

 

[dun]

Thanks, Dun, can I leave the cinch on her? I have her in the working pens and have put her in the chute at first 3X a day now sometimes just twice for going on three weeks. We are hoping to see some progress! Fine agressive bull calf though. The heifer is a gebveih. Are they generally poor mommas? Thanks!

It can be left on but may require retightening periodically. I wouldn;t leave it on more then a day or 2. If she doesn;t come around in that time she needs to grow wheels.
Gelbviehs are usually excellent mothers. But each heifer/cow within a breed or across breeds are all diffirent.
It helps to figure out thew why of her behaviour. Painfull udder, nervous, a block head, or what.

dun

 

[Alan]

If you decide to hobble her, I have never hobbled a cow but have hobbled many horses, hobble her with the calf not around. With horses they may freak out and fall, it takes a few minutes for them to get use to the hobbles and their restrictions.

Alan

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

The rope around the cow works great, BUT, if tight enough for not to be able to kick - she also cannot lift her legs to walk. It would have to be loosened after each feeding.
If you have been working with her for 3 WEEKS and she has not accepted this calf, it doesn't sound good.
Try keeping a dog in the pen next to her. May make her more LOVING towards her adopted calf.
Can you tie her with a halter - not in the chute?
If so, tie her up, put the rope on her cinched up tight (be sure to use a slip knot) when the calf is sucking - loosen the rope a little - than if she's not kicking - loosen it some more, until there is NO pressure. Don't be afraid to POKE her if she kicks. Let her know that behavior is not acceptable.
Have to hand it to you, 3 weeks is long time to mess with her!!!

 

[3MR]

Id make sure there isnt a physical reason for her not wanting the calf to nurse before I hobbled her.

 

[cowmomma]

The rope around the cow works great, BUT, if tight enough for not to be able to kick - she also cannot lift her legs to walk. It would have to be loosened after each feeding.
If you have been working with her for 3 WEEKS and she has not accepted this calf, it doesn't sound good.
Try keeping a dog in the pen next to her. May make her more LOVING towards her adopted calf.
Can you tie her with a halter - not in the chute?
If so, tie her up, put the rope on her cinched up tight (be sure to use a slip knot) when the calf is sucking - loosen the rope a little - than if she's not kicking - loosen it some more, until there is NO pressure. Don't be afraid to POKE her if she kicks. Let her know that behavior is not acceptable.
Have to hand it to you, 3 weeks is long time to mess with her!!!

I have a small lane place that I can put her without too much trouble. the last couple of days she has had a cinch on her which is not tight enough to keep her from walking but it keeps her from kicking really hard...the calf can dodge them okay if they arn't to hard... I have been puting her in the lane with the calf so he can at least get a really good feeding 2 or 3 times a day...he can nurse alright if she is in a small enough place that she can't run away from him...the reason I put the cinch on her is because I was afraid that she would hurt him.

so if she is not accepting the calf what do I do now?

:?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?:

thank you so much for all the imput.

 

[dun]

so if she is not accepting the calf what do I do now?.

Freezer or sale barn with the cow, bottle feed ot sell the calf

dun

 

[sidney411]

I agree with Dun - as long as there is no physical reason I would ship her, she is a bad mother. In my limited experience I've never had one NOT accept the calf in less then 5 days time, usually it takes about 3 days, this last one only took 1 night. I'd say it's been too long and she's a lost cause.

 

[preston39]

Assuming no physical problems and a general rejection of a foreign calf, you can advance her acceptance of the calf by taking some of her milk on a wet rag/sponge and rub it on the top of the calf from head to include tail and sides, 2 x daily. If you can move the calf around to her head...assume you have her in a head catcher.... and allow her to smell it. It helps with acceptance.

Also, milk her and feed the calf. Once her scent comes thru the calf she will accept it...under normal conditions.

In addition you can stop the kicking by raising the tail up towards a straight line position with her back line. Hang it with a rope connected about 12/15" from the tail head. It's easy and works well. There is a LIMIT on how high you can raise it without tail head damage.

 

[cowmomma]

does the fact that she is a heifer affect the sale barn answer?

what about the fact that she lost her calf and this one is a replacement??

 

[cowmomma]

The reason that I have kept on working with her so long is because I am 18 and qualified for a USDA youth loan to buy her.

I just want to do everything I can to make this work.


we rubbed milk on the calf his first day here & he has drank her milk for a few weeks now...the darn thing has got to smell like her! ;-)

I also used a product called MotherUp -The cow didn't seem to really like it.

 

[dun]

does the fact that she is a heifer affect the sale barn answer?

what about the fact that she lost her calf and this one is a replacement??

It might. I can;t find on this thread how long before she was due to calve that she lost hers. That might could have some bearing on it

 

[randiliana]

does the fact that she is a heifer affect the sale barn answer?

what about the fact that she lost her calf and this one is a replacement

How well did she mother her real calf? Some cows just will not accept a replacement calf. Usually if they are going to take the calf they will accept it within a week. We have had some that took 2 -3 weeks and a lot of hard work too.

 

[cowmomma]

She aborted her calf ...she was natural service and could have calved anytime...we have a big place and never found the calf.

thanks everybody

 

[dun]

She aborted her calf ...she was natural service and could have calved anytime...we have a big place and never found the calf.

thanks everybody

How much had she bagged before aborting and how long after she aborted did you try to graft the new calf on her?

dun

 

[cowmomma]

She aborted her calf ...she was natural service and could have calved anytime...we have a big place and never found the calf.

thanks everybody

How much had she bagged before aborting and how long after she aborted did you try to graft the new calf on her?

dun

she was really bagged up...she looked like she was gonna pop

so we put her in the chute and milked her out (saving the milk to rub on the calf) she got the calf the next day...she was really really full again when we put the calf on her the next day...so full it had to hurt.