How to stop a thief? (I Think I already know)

[Brute 23]

Jan, I get that it's bad for the calves and the mamas. In my head, it seems absurd for such a big cow to get under another cow to do that!

There lies the bigger issue. The behavior is likely a symptom of some thing bigger that is probably wrong and is why you cull them.

 

[farmerjan]

If she gets sold at auction, she will go in the cull cow pen so not necessary to "disclose" anything. Honesty has nothing to do with it... she is being sold as a cull cow.
Put a weaner ring in her nose, and when she goes to auction they will know EXACTLY why she is getting sold... obvious.... if she gets sold as a cow/calf pair or a bred cow or something then it is buyer beware.
Had 2 do it one year, both first calf heifers... One we moved in with older cows and they beat her up enough that she quit... or she would have been gone... one had a nose ring, and did everything else, moved her and her calf... and she kept it up... she got shipped.

 

[kenny thomas]

If she gets sold at auction, she will go in the cull cow pen so not necessary to "disclose" anything. Honesty has nothing to do with it... she is being sold as a cull cow.
Put a weaner ring in her nose, and when she goes to auction they will know EXACTLY why she is getting sold... obvious.... if she gets sold as a cow/calf pair or a bred cow or something then it is buyer beware.
Had 2 do it one year, both first calf heifers... One we moved in with older cows and they beat her up enough that she quit... or she would have been gone... one had a nose ring, and did everything else, moved her and her calf... and she kept it up... she got shipped.

Jan, have you noticed this more in heifers raised on nurse cows? Seems like years ago I occasionally would have one when we raised calves on nurse cows and kept them for cows.

 

[farmerjan]

@kenny thomas ... I would have to say yes... the ones raised on nurse cows , most were raised on 2-3 cows so the calves would sometimes go on different cows as they got a little older... the thing with these 2 is they were raised on nurse cows, but some in the group were raised on bottles... I had 14 calves off a dairy that year... crossed jersey/black (angus and limi sires) and hol/black.... they all were weaned together, they all got bred and they all calved within a month. I think there were 9-10 that I kept. They let other calves nurse them also... but there were the 2 that were persistent about going after their "sisters" to nurse while they had their own calves. One quit after moving her, the other did not...

I have a group of 5 first calf heifers together and the one will let any calf nurse her...... but I saw 3 calves on her the other evening... They were not raised on nurse cows.... BUT.... the one that is allowing other calves is the great grand daughter of a dairy/beef cross.

2 years ago we had several cows that were raised together, 2nd or 3rd calf... that were letting other calves nurse them at a pasture..... as long as I do not see a cow nursing another cow, I don't worry too much. One thing that was good, had a cow die at that pasture and never did see her calf nursing... but it had to have been stealing as it was a decent size when we brought them all in that fall to wean and sell calves... I honestly thought the calf had died... then one day saw the number and realized it was the dead cow's calf... looked pretty decent....so there are advantages to some of the cows "co-parenting"...

 

[sunnyblueskies]

Interesting. We've had one like that this year. Never seen that before. We separated her out from the cows. It's a short term fix, they are now all together again on the summer pasture, but if I see her do it again it's a gone'r.
Stupid cows, what do they come up with next.

 

[wbvs58]

Ken---Honesty is the beast policy.!

Bunny, I don't think honesty has anything to do with it, they go to the sale barn as a cull cow and the normal destination is the packers. If someone wants to sift through these culls looking for something they think they might be able to do something with they know the risks and she might be fine in a different herd.

Ken

 

[MurraysMutts]

Stick her butt in a herd of wild arse horned corriente cows. They will "learn" her real quick not to do that.

 

[WFfarm]

Jan, I get that it's bad for the calves and the mamas. In my head, it seems absurd for such a big cow to get under another cow to do that!

My father said he'd seen a dairy cow that would nurse on itself. Crazy stuff.

 

[Stonewall Joe]

There is a thief in the herd, stealing milk from little babies, right under the mothers' noses... under their tails, to be more accurate. The cow in question is a three-year-old and I thought the cow she was nursing from might have been her mom, which might have been manageable. Recently, I caught her stealing from a different cow and almost ran her down with the side-by-side. I caught her on a third cow later in the day. I'm starting to think she might by trying it with anyone who doesn't kick her off.

Is there anyway to rehabilitate a repeat--possibly career--offender that's worth the effort? If the only way to stop her from stealing milk is to get rid of her, is this a cut-and-dry case for culling her?

She's an otherwise good, young cow. Is there a market for selling her with full disclosure?

put a spiked nose ring on her, the other cows will break her of that

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

put a spiked nose ring on her, the other cows will break her of that

Until she learns to manipulate that ring out of the way and nurse anyways. Haha

 

[TexasJerseyMilker]

I raise and feed my bottle dairy heifers in separate pens so they don't cross suck, not letting them out until they are well past the sucking frenzy stage in the morning. I give them calf grain after the bottle so they learn to eat it. At an older age when the the frenzy is over I let them all out in the lot so they can frisk and play and learn they are cattle, not people. I never let the calves be in with cows in milk so they don't learn to suck other cows, or worse, themselves. Now those yearlings live with a cow in milk and they leave her udder alone.

I had one angus cross heifer raised by a cow and weaned her with a device on her nose that had spikes on it. Put her to grow up in another pasture, brought her back as a yearling and she went right back to nursing the cow. Put the ring back on and she stayed weaned. She's in the beef herd across the road now

 

[Spot & Bubby]

Jan, I get that it's bad for the calves and the mamas. In my head, it seems absurd for such a big cow to get under another cow to do that!

Thanks everyone for the responses. I apologize for asking then bailing... June has been a helluva month.Ugh. I'll post proper replies this evening. In the meantime, here's the damning evidence.

Caught first in the morning: (Pardon my language. I was pissed.,


Caught in the act again the same evening


You are 100% correct, Amanda , it is absurd. And embarassing. She's my personal con stealing from cows that belong to the ranch I work for. She is also my very first heifer. I'm crushed.

 

[MurraysMutts]

Look at your zzzzzzz face!

 

[Ouachita]

Thanks everyone for the responses. I apologize for asking then bailing... June has been a helluva month.Ugh. I'll post proper replies this evening. In the meantime, here's the damning evidence.

Caught first in the morning: (Pardon my language. I was pissed.,


Caught in the act again the same evening
View attachment 59612

You are 100% correct, Amanda , it is absurd. And embarassing. She's my personal con stealing from cows that belong to the ranch I work for. She is also my very first heifer. I'm crushed.

I love your accent! I was still wet behind the ears on my first traveling job. 17yo and I got lost in the concourse at the big airport in Atlanta GA.
I hear a voice (just like yours) "cain I fix yall boze a hawt dawg??
Me and my traveling buddy ordered two each, and then another for the subway ride to the other side of the airport. I can still hear her voice. Very pretty and comforting, in a motherly sort of way. Yours too! and I mean that in a complimentary way.

 

[farmerjan]

Try the antisuck nose ring... with the spikes... but if it doesn't work, you know what you have to do.

 

[Travlr]

I've seen this before and even separating her from the herd may not work. They can even start nursing from their own udder.
Cull her and don't look back...

 

[Lucky]

I had a heifer loose her calf a few years back and she'd steal milk. Tried allot of things and she kept doing it until one day she stopped. Not sure why they do that.

 

[Spot & Bubby]

I

I had a heifer loose her calf a few years back and she'd steal milk. Tried allot of things and she kept doing it until one day she stopped. Not sure why they do that.

This heifer had twin bulls this year. One of them (the second born and larger of the two) fell sick and died when they were 10 days old. I wonder if that has anything to do with it.

 

[mwj]

I

This heifer had twin bulls this year. One of them (the second born and larger of the two) fell sick and died when they were 10 days old. I wonder if that has anything to do with it.

No! Do not make any excuses or it will turn out worse than it is.

 

[Dave]

A cull is a cull, is a cull, is a cull. Load a cull up ASAP and ship to the sale. The good news is culls are selling real well right now.