Large teats...calf has difficulty sucking...

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organicfarmer5

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We are relatively new to beef cattle. We had a cow calve today with twins. We lost one calf. The other one is up and going, but the teats are too large (possibly engorged) for the calf to suck. These are a Ancient British White Park that just came Tuesday and are on pasture. There is no way of bringing the cow and calf to the barn right now. Should we be concerned or just keep and eye on them?

Any responses would be appreciated as our experience is with pigs and sheep.

Thank you.

Silvia
 
If there is no way to catch the cow, you'll just have to trust to luck. If the calf can;t nurse you'll know in a couple of days because it will dead or dying.

dun
 
Silvia,

Go get you a 50lb bag of sweet feed. Let the cow get a tste and you can almost lead them anywhere with it. It might take a bit but it can be done.

What are your plans once you get the cow and calf in the barn?

Do you have a headgate that you cam put the cow in and secure it rear feet so you can mile the large teats out?

Ususally if you milk out the large teat, the calf will be able to jump on it and keep it milked down.
 
dun":1p5bt644 said:
If there is no way to catch the cow, you'll just have to trust to luck. If the calf can;t nurse you'll know in a couple of days because it will dead or dying.

dun

In addition, sale her before it happens next year.
 
surely the calf will be able to get onto at least one of the 4 teats. keep an eye on it to make sure it does, and if it doesnt (sometimes they will get discouraged and quit trying) you may have to bottle feed it since you have no way to get the cow up.
 
i say just watch and see if the calf is trying to nurse. would like to see a pic however, yopu need to try and get her in and milk the teats down being sure to bottle feed the calf. the calf needs the colostrum from its momma. then in a couple of days the calf will be strong enough to nurse on its own. if you dont do anything the calf will probably die and the investment you made will very unlikely be profitable.
 
organicfarmer5":2ju4k2zc said:
We are relatively new to beef cattle. We had a cow calve today with twins. We lost one calf. The other one is up and going, but the teats are too large (possibly engorged) for the calf to suck. These are a Ancient British White Park that just came Tuesday and are on pasture. There is no way of bringing the cow and calf to the barn right now. Should we be concerned or just keep and eye on them?

Any responses would be appreciated as our experience is with pigs and sheep.

Thank you.

Silvia

Yes, you should be concerned - if the tits are too big the calf can't suck, and he will most likely die without intervention on your part. You've got 24 hours to make sure this calf receives colostrum (vital for a new calf), and his ability to absorb the passive immunity decreases with every hour that passes. I don't understand why you would venture into pairs with no experience with cattle, and I sure don't understand why you didn't make sure you had the means of bringing any problems up to the barn. :???: :?
 
Cull the cow once the calf get's old enough to pull that bag down. Sell when the calf is about 400 lbs and split the pair sell her for cat food can and cutter prices, sell the calf to the feedlot.
You sure don't want to keep those genetics in your herd.
Pocket the money put a few more Franklins with it and buy you a good cow.
 
This is how we ended up with the bottle calf we have now - we watched the calf for 4 days, and the situation started to get ugly. The calf was getting nothing, because the teats were too large. The cow is on the way to sale barn.
 
This most likely is a trait she has & that is why she was sold. You recently bought her? I had one just like her & she needed to be milked out every time she calved. If the calf was not aggressive enough to nurse enough to keep milked out she would get mastitis. She was thankfully a very Docile Hereford that we could put in a headgate and a very good mama but something that got worse each year. Unless you are willing to set your place up with a headgate & milk her a couple times a day( which gets old in a hurry), you might want to cull her.
 
If you can't get her to a barn or corral try and come up with a couple of panels. Rope her and snub her to a post and then sqeeze her between the panel. When you get that far milk her down as much as you can and then bottle feed the calf. Hopefully it will then be able to suck. Sell the cow after you wean the calf. We've had to do this numerous times when we were calving on open range.

Bobg
 
Bobg":w2dtzbw6 said:
If you can't get her to a barn or corral try and come up with a couple of panels. Rope her and snub her to a post and then sqeeze her between the panel. When you get that far milk her down as much as you can and then bottle feed the calf. Hopefully it will then be able to suck. Sell the cow after you wean the calf. We've had to do this numerous times when we were calving on open range.

Bobg

You will want to tie her leg back so she can't kick you. If you don't you will likely end up injured if her leg catches you against the panel.
 

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