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Got Milk?
Nurse cow or not. Thoughts
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<blockquote data-quote="Double R Ranch" data-source="post: 1817282" data-attributes="member: 411"><p>Mom has taken the calves as her own completely even now calling to them and cleaning them both. </p><p>The steer has consistently had a concerning umbilical which has been treated twice now. It is better but not gone yet. Then his castration got infected. I usually don't castrate this time of year in the heat for just this reason. Then the power company had a failure and lit our winter pastures on fire. It was a wind driven fire. All our winter feed is gone for the most part. Lot of fence damage. The pastures our dairy cows graze is gone. So we are hay feeding our dairy cows completely now. I am noticing a decline in this cows milk production fairly quickly. I am concerned she can maintain her condition, her developing calf and these two graft calves now. This is her first lactation anyways. I don't want to wait until she is overly thin. So we need to make some decisions. One calf may need to be weaned (will most likely wean the steer and turn him out to pasture with the beef herd) far sooner than expected. I put out the creep feeder for them (now a month old) and they are starting to be seen eating the grain/alfalfa pellet mix. They are also starting to work on hay a bit. I just don't know that it will be enough as far as the cow is concerned. The plan was to leave these calves on this cow for 6 months till dry up time. If we must wean one early what would the earliest you would even consider it in this case? I know cow condition etc is a factor but what age would you feel safe to wean early? 3 months? Seems some who do the nurse cow thing wean at 3 months to replace with a new set? I don't know if she will be ok doing 2 calves for two more months on hay. We are watching closely. Trying to have some options in mind before it becomes necessary.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Double R Ranch, post: 1817282, member: 411"] Mom has taken the calves as her own completely even now calling to them and cleaning them both. The steer has consistently had a concerning umbilical which has been treated twice now. It is better but not gone yet. Then his castration got infected. I usually don't castrate this time of year in the heat for just this reason. Then the power company had a failure and lit our winter pastures on fire. It was a wind driven fire. All our winter feed is gone for the most part. Lot of fence damage. The pastures our dairy cows graze is gone. So we are hay feeding our dairy cows completely now. I am noticing a decline in this cows milk production fairly quickly. I am concerned she can maintain her condition, her developing calf and these two graft calves now. This is her first lactation anyways. I don't want to wait until she is overly thin. So we need to make some decisions. One calf may need to be weaned (will most likely wean the steer and turn him out to pasture with the beef herd) far sooner than expected. I put out the creep feeder for them (now a month old) and they are starting to be seen eating the grain/alfalfa pellet mix. They are also starting to work on hay a bit. I just don't know that it will be enough as far as the cow is concerned. The plan was to leave these calves on this cow for 6 months till dry up time. If we must wean one early what would the earliest you would even consider it in this case? I know cow condition etc is a factor but what age would you feel safe to wean early? 3 months? Seems some who do the nurse cow thing wean at 3 months to replace with a new set? I don't know if she will be ok doing 2 calves for two more months on hay. We are watching closely. Trying to have some options in mind before it becomes necessary. [/QUOTE]
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