Nurse cow and johnes

[angus9259]

I'm thinking about getting a dairy breed nurse cow for some beef calves. I have some really old momma cows and selling them soon after calving would net me more money. Thought is - split the calf and put in on the nurse cow after the calf has it's colostrum from its momma then ship momma.

Problem - dairy cattle have a much higher frequency of Johnes - which I could then introduce into the herd. Further complicating things is that there's no good Johnes test. Cow may test clean and start passing the next day.

If the calves were gonna be feeder calves I wouldn't care. But they should be some pretty good registered calves intending to go back into the herd.

I think I just talked myself out of getting a nurse cow. Thank you all for your feed back. :tiphat:

 

[Rafter S]

I'm glad we could help.

 

[Son of Butch]

I'm thinking about getting a dairy breed nurse cow for some beef calves.....
I think I just talked myself out of getting a nurse cow. Thank you all for your feed back. :tiphat:

So....my job is to talk you back into it?
O.K. let's start with the joy of trying to get a nurse cow to accept a calf that isn't hers that you will be missing out on! :cowboy:

 

[Ky hills]

I'm thinking about getting a dairy breed nurse cow for some beef calves.....
I think I just talked myself out of getting a nurse cow. Thank you all for your feed back. :tiphat:

So....my job is to talk you back into it?
O.K. let's start with the joy of trying to get a nurse cow to accept a calf that isn't hers that you will be missing out on! :cowboy:

Good point, I have had many rounds with trying to get nurse cows to take calves, it can be a pain for sure. After a few years of it I went back to bottling calves.

 

[angus9259]

Yeah, this one is halter broke and hand milks so I figure I had a better shot. But there are not guarantees.....

 

[Son of Butch]

Alright...2nd thoughts about it are all ready starting.
A specific gentle cow already picked out, hand milking suggests coming from a very small herd and she is probably
healthy looking in good condition all good signs.

 

[angus9259]

She's on craigslist - shown halter broke. will calve about a week or two before I start with the beefers - that's key for me since I don't want to do any hand milking myself. healthy looking and in good condition. three year old. She's from an amish farm just south of us. I might be better actually with an older cow since Johnes seems to hit in that 4-5 year old mark. If they make it past that they're probably ok.

But, I'm actually not having second thoughts. Just not worth the possibility just to try and stave off some drop in beef prices from when I calve till when I wean.

 

[Son of Butch]

But, I'm actually not having second thoughts.

Yes you are.
Now look into my eyes and start counting backwards from 100..you are getting sleepy...very sleepy...deep deep sleep.
:nod:

 

[regolith]

I might be better actually with an older cow since Johnes seems to hit in that 4-5 year old mark. If they make it past that they're probably ok.

Dead wrong. Any cows I've had with clinical signs have been seven years or over, often 7 - 9 yrs & not getting it then is no guarantee that they won't become clinical at thirteen or fifteen.
Be a lot more concerned about her shedding on your pastures than infecting a potential replacement heifer - unless you've got a completely separate pasture to keep her on.

These calves have perfectly good mommas? I won't even suggest bottle feeding then, put the old girls on some good pasture and sell in good condition after weaning. Even if you wean at three months and grain the calves; your only real risk is the bottom falling out of the cull market during that three months.

 

[Son of Butch]

I might be better actually with an older cow since Johnes seems to hit in that 4-5 year old mark. If they make it past that they're probably ok.

Dead wrong....
.... put the old girls on some good pasture and sell in good condition after weaning. Even if you wean at three months
and grain the calves; your only real risk is the bottom falling out of the cull market during that three months.

Oh come on regolith.....you are messing with my practicing to be an online Master of Hypnosis!
Pretty sure I almost had him... ...

 

[angus9259]

But, I'm actually not having second thoughts.

Yes you are.
Now look into my eyes and start counting backwards from 100..you are getting sleepy...very sleepy...deep deep sleep.
:nod:

ok i'm in.

 

[angus9259]

I might be better actually with an older cow since Johnes seems to hit in that 4-5 year old mark. If they make it past that they're probably ok.

Dead wrong. Any cows I've had with clinical signs have been seven years or over, often 7 - 9 yrs & not getting it then is no guarantee that they won't become clinical at thirteen or fifteen.
Be a lot more concerned about her shedding on your pastures than infecting a potential replacement heifer - unless you've got a completely separate pasture to keep her on.

These calves have perfectly good mommas? I won't even suggest bottle feeding then, put the old girls on some good pasture and sell in good condition after weaning. Even if you wean at three months and grain the calves; your only real risk is the bottom falling out of the cull market during that three months.

I'm out

 

[Workinonit Farm]

Well, I'll throw in my :2cents: :lol: . The couple of Jerseys I had, made great nurse cows. They just happened to love babies. Every now and then, one of them would try to reject a calf, but it was rare.
Backhoeboogie has a really slick set-up for nurse cows. A no muss-no fuss kinda cow-crate. Works well for him and easy to construct.

As for Johnes, mine were clean. One I bought as a yearling the other was a weanling. Both came from small places, not dairies.

I understand the concern about Johnes, I wouldn't want it on my place.

So.......are you back in?? :lol2: :lol2: ;-)

 

[JSCATTLE]

Why not sell the pairs in a couple months ?

 

[Son of Butch]

But, I'm actually not having second thoughts.

Yes you are.
Now look into my eyes and start counting backwards from 100..you are getting sleepy...very sleepy...deep deep sleep.
:nod:

ok i'm in.

Yes...yes...yes....now listen carefully....pm me your VISA card number....
Because we sure don't want some other crook to get a hold of it and I'll arrange everything for you. :banana:

 

[angus9259]

Why not sell the pairs in a couple months ?

At their age and issues they are mostly slaughter cows now. The calves are worth more than I would get as pairs. I'll just creep the calves and split em early.