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<blockquote data-quote="farmerjan" data-source="post: 1396059" data-attributes="member: 25884"><p>Get her back into the chute and if you have to, put a pair of hobbles on her . But if you can get her where you can milk her any, see if she has any milk. I have seen nice udders on a cow and not a drop of milk in them. I would keep supplementing the calf for a few more days with at least a bottle twice a day, and see if the maternal instinct kicks in. Is she a cow you have had and raised a calf on before, or is she a recent purchase? If she is a purchase, that could be why she was sold. And if she doesn't get with the program anytime real soon, ship her, and bottle feed the calf or sell him too if you don't have the time. Cow prices are not so high that you have to keep a non-producer around. She may have an instinct that there is something wrong with the calf, but usually they are attentive for the first couple of days....</p><p></p><p>If you have to bottle feed it, get an ALL-MILK milk replacer, NOT soy based. I think Dumor 's top line is all milk, I get our feed mill/store brand. Purina makes some and Land-o-Lakes is a good brand. It'll say 20/20 which is fat/protein. Feed at least a bottle twice a day. Many dairies are now going to a 6 qt bottle twice a day rather than just the 4 qt bottle( 1/2 gal). If you start with the 4 qt and the calf seems to be doing good, it wouldn't hurt it to up it to 3 bottles a day or 6 qts a feeding for at least the first 4-6 weeks. Think about the calf on the cow getting a qt or more a feeding and they are nursing several times a day. By about 4-6 weeks it should also be eating some hay and you should have started to introduce grain to try to get it to get over on to solid feed. Then weaning will be up to you. Most dairies will wean calves from 6 to 10 weeks, depending on how much grain they are eating. A calf stays on a beef cow for about 5-9 months, with 7 being the average. I would say a bottle calf should be weaned in the 8-12 week range under normal circumstances; a beef calf will usually do a little better with a little longer milk feeding than a dairy calf. But if it is eating good, they will start to pull the nipple off the bottle so it can get aggravating. Or get it to drink out of a bucket and let it get the milk replacer that way. But most calves will do better if they are on bottles for a few weeks at least. It is more "normal" since they would have been drinking off the cow. And when you do feed the bottle, remember to not hold it up too high or the milk will get into their lungs. Think about how the calf reaches up under the cow, with a bend in it's neck; it helps the milk "go down the right pipe" so to speak.</p><p></p><p>Just saw that you had her raise a calf last year. I would check her udder to make sure she has milk not mastitis or anything. Then, I would supplement the calf and keep them in somewhere close to watch them. She may be feeding the calf and you just never see it but if it is weak, then maybe she just doesn't want it for some reason only she knows.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="farmerjan, post: 1396059, member: 25884"] Get her back into the chute and if you have to, put a pair of hobbles on her . But if you can get her where you can milk her any, see if she has any milk. I have seen nice udders on a cow and not a drop of milk in them. I would keep supplementing the calf for a few more days with at least a bottle twice a day, and see if the maternal instinct kicks in. Is she a cow you have had and raised a calf on before, or is she a recent purchase? If she is a purchase, that could be why she was sold. And if she doesn't get with the program anytime real soon, ship her, and bottle feed the calf or sell him too if you don't have the time. Cow prices are not so high that you have to keep a non-producer around. She may have an instinct that there is something wrong with the calf, but usually they are attentive for the first couple of days.... If you have to bottle feed it, get an ALL-MILK milk replacer, NOT soy based. I think Dumor 's top line is all milk, I get our feed mill/store brand. Purina makes some and Land-o-Lakes is a good brand. It'll say 20/20 which is fat/protein. Feed at least a bottle twice a day. Many dairies are now going to a 6 qt bottle twice a day rather than just the 4 qt bottle( 1/2 gal). If you start with the 4 qt and the calf seems to be doing good, it wouldn't hurt it to up it to 3 bottles a day or 6 qts a feeding for at least the first 4-6 weeks. Think about the calf on the cow getting a qt or more a feeding and they are nursing several times a day. By about 4-6 weeks it should also be eating some hay and you should have started to introduce grain to try to get it to get over on to solid feed. Then weaning will be up to you. Most dairies will wean calves from 6 to 10 weeks, depending on how much grain they are eating. A calf stays on a beef cow for about 5-9 months, with 7 being the average. I would say a bottle calf should be weaned in the 8-12 week range under normal circumstances; a beef calf will usually do a little better with a little longer milk feeding than a dairy calf. But if it is eating good, they will start to pull the nipple off the bottle so it can get aggravating. Or get it to drink out of a bucket and let it get the milk replacer that way. But most calves will do better if they are on bottles for a few weeks at least. It is more "normal" since they would have been drinking off the cow. And when you do feed the bottle, remember to not hold it up too high or the milk will get into their lungs. Think about how the calf reaches up under the cow, with a bend in it's neck; it helps the milk "go down the right pipe" so to speak. Just saw that you had her raise a calf last year. I would check her udder to make sure she has milk not mastitis or anything. Then, I would supplement the calf and keep them in somewhere close to watch them. She may be feeding the calf and you just never see it but if it is weak, then maybe she just doesn't want it for some reason only she knows. [/QUOTE]
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