So I just bought my first Jersey and Jersey/Holstein cross heifers and they are due to calve the end of February or first of March. My Jersey/Holstein heifer has already started developing an udder.... (1) So does this mean she will produce a ton of milk or is it a sign of all heifers develop their udders differently? (2) If I don't want to milk her can I just let her calf have all the milk and her production will go down based on the calf's demand? Or will she keep producing a ton of milk and develop problems like mastitis? (3) If cows can't slowdown their milk production naturally when do I get other calves to put on her... is it before or after the time she calves and what's my time window to get the nurse calves so my cow doesn't get mastitis? I would prefer to just let her calve and raise her calf, but if for her health I can't do that I need advice on what to do. Thank you!
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Newbie Question - Jersey & HoJo heifer milk production
- Thread starter FaddyCow
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kenny thomas
Well-known member
She will develop early but most likely will give more than the calf could possibly suck. Put the other calf on here in the first day or two if you can.
darcelina4
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This year I had 2 jersey heifers calve. I left their heifers with them full time. For the first 2 days I milked colostrum twice a day to freeze and have on hand for emergency. Them on day 3 I started twice a day bringing them into the barn to have them each nurse 2 extra calves. After 5 weeks (calves had been bottle fed 5 weeks before nursing cows) I sold those calves and had them each nurse 2 more. After a few days I put them in pasture together. They each raised 3. For the first few weeks their heifers had some nutritional scours from too much milk. They adjusted with no medicine. This worked for me. My cows are very broke to lead. I kept halter on them. Mine will nurse any calf. Many cows won't. You do need to either milk them or get at least one extra calf if they can get mastitis or their own calf will get sick from too much milk. Also dairy cows need more than grass to maintain body condition. Mine had grass, hay, 12 pounds a day of grain each. They bred back timely. One has been dried off now. The other is nursing a special needs calf a few more weeks but will then get dried off. I'd suggest that you try to graft extra calves the same day she calves. Also be careful as some cows act aggressive and crazy right after calving but settle down quickly. A shot if BanaMine banamine after calving can help them to settle. Don't wait more than a few days to get extra calves. In the meantime, right after they calve start milking. Save the yellow colostrum. Don't drink the milk until it is white around day 4.
Son of Butch
Well-known member
Never put a calf on her before calving as that can cause her to reject her own.FaddyCow":f3nt18y9 said:when do I get other calves to put on her... is it before or after the time she calves?
Best time to get her to accept both is the same day of calving.
Penning together works best and I prefer tying her head for the 1st feeding or 2 to make sure the adopted calf
knows where it's milk will be found from now on. When selecting graft calves I prefer strong calves a week or more
old in case they have to fight to get accepted or steal milk to get fed.
Thank you all for responding. So it looks like I will have to get an extra calf. How do you know if you will need to graft another calf onto a heifer? The other heifer my neighbor told me today that he thinks she has angus in her... so how would I determine if I needed to get a graft calf for her?
Also, I have never put a halter on the HoJo so any suggestions on best way to graft on a calf. Could I also buy an older calf say like a month or 2? I have heard that young calves can get sick when transporting. And how do you go about finding a graft calf? Sale barn? Should I be worried the calf could get mine sick?
Also, I have never put a halter on the HoJo so any suggestions on best way to graft on a calf. Could I also buy an older calf say like a month or 2? I have heard that young calves can get sick when transporting. And how do you go about finding a graft calf? Sale barn? Should I be worried the calf could get mine sick?
kenny thomas
Well-known member
Aviod sale barn baby calves
Keep the age of the calves close to the same. Many Jersey allow another calf to nurse. Just have to start and see.
Keep the age of the calves close to the same. Many Jersey allow another calf to nurse. Just have to start and see.
farmerjan
Well-known member
If the heifer is bagging up already, then it is very likely she will have more milk than her calf can use. As others have said, best time is to get a calf on her ASAP AFTER she has her own. I let the new calf get colostrum, then take the cow away. Bring her back to the calf, with another calf in the pen with the new one. Let her calf on one side, try the new one on the other side. Sometimes they will do better both on one side as the cow will smell her own calf and accept the extra next to it. Sometimes I will have a calf go on the back when the cows own calf goes on the side. You are going to have to have a way to contain the cow, head catch or halter tied up or something. A first calf heifer is trying to learn so much and can easily get confused and upset.
I do not suggest a month or 2 month old calf as the cows own calf might not get as much milk as it needs. They should be fairly close to the same age. Get a calf and bottle feed for a few days or a week or 2 before the cow calves. Then put it on her after her own calf has had a good feeding or two of colostrum.
If you were not planning to use these as nurse cows, or milk for yourself, why get the dairy cross heifers? The jer/hol crosses usually are very prolific producers and will definitely need one or even 2 more calves per cow. And a dairy cross will have a hard time keeping her body weight up while milking as it is just the nature of the animal to put all her feed/ and her condition, into producing milk. So if you do not supplement her with grain, she will lose weight. Eventually she will drop production back, and start to gain. But in the meantime, she often will not cycle and come into heat.
Jer/Hol crosses are known for greater production than straight jerseys. They also often have more edema and swelling, before calving.
Darcelina has very good advice. I have several nurse cows and they raise several calves each. They take work and feed to keep them healthy and productive.
A 1/2 hol/ 1/2 angus often has more milk than a calf can first use, but they will often slow down production to match what the calf is drinking after awhile. They still will lose some weight... it is literally "milking the fat off their back" as their body pulls from their own body reserves to provide the production. We have some and they really feel the pull down in the winter if they calve in the fall. I try to only calve my dairy/beef cross cows in the spring so it is easier on their body reserves, if I am not going to supplement them with grain.
Find a dairy near you and see if they sell any bull calves direct. I do not buy sale barn calves anymore. They are way too exposed to every germ under the sun at a sale barn.
I do not suggest a month or 2 month old calf as the cows own calf might not get as much milk as it needs. They should be fairly close to the same age. Get a calf and bottle feed for a few days or a week or 2 before the cow calves. Then put it on her after her own calf has had a good feeding or two of colostrum.
If you were not planning to use these as nurse cows, or milk for yourself, why get the dairy cross heifers? The jer/hol crosses usually are very prolific producers and will definitely need one or even 2 more calves per cow. And a dairy cross will have a hard time keeping her body weight up while milking as it is just the nature of the animal to put all her feed/ and her condition, into producing milk. So if you do not supplement her with grain, she will lose weight. Eventually she will drop production back, and start to gain. But in the meantime, she often will not cycle and come into heat.
Jer/Hol crosses are known for greater production than straight jerseys. They also often have more edema and swelling, before calving.
Darcelina has very good advice. I have several nurse cows and they raise several calves each. They take work and feed to keep them healthy and productive.
A 1/2 hol/ 1/2 angus often has more milk than a calf can first use, but they will often slow down production to match what the calf is drinking after awhile. They still will lose some weight... it is literally "milking the fat off their back" as their body pulls from their own body reserves to provide the production. We have some and they really feel the pull down in the winter if they calve in the fall. I try to only calve my dairy/beef cross cows in the spring so it is easier on their body reserves, if I am not going to supplement them with grain.
Find a dairy near you and see if they sell any bull calves direct. I do not buy sale barn calves anymore. They are way too exposed to every germ under the sun at a sale barn.
You better feed those girls good. Them suckers burn weight off in no time. Dairy farmers don't like a cow that puts fat on instead of milk so it's been bred into them. We have one jersey and she cranks our milk and keeps weight on with nothing but grass... But she came from a farm that's been breeding grass fed jerseys that do great on nothing but grass...
Well, I got them because I think they are pretty and because I would like some milk, but the HoJo started off very very sweet, but as she reached puberty she developed an attitude but was very docile before puberty... Idk why the change in behavior from her. But as good news would have it I have really been putting in a lot of work with training her to milk (not that I know what I am doing at all) but I have been using a stick to rub her back, belly, legs etc... and feed her grain and hay while I work with her and get her use to associating food with being touched... every time she throws her head or kicks at me I tap her with the stick on the foot or her nose... I can now pet her belly and udder with not much trouble from her... I hope that in the next 70 to 90 days of working with her that I will be able to milk her myself or graft a calf onto her. I thought about a small portable milking machine but not sure... does it save a lot of time on milking? I've never milked a cow so I have no comparison. Do y'all think a Jersey/Angus cross would need to be milked as well or would her production adapt to her calf's milk demand? Thank y'all in adavance!
