Nurse Cow ?

[tdarden3k]

How does a nurse cow actually work (and if it works the way I am thinking ) and would it make sense to carry one if you were breeding 15 or so heifers every year ?
Thanks

 

[Jessica06]

Depending on how gentle the cow is, you either leave the calves in with them, or turn them in with the cow twice a day. We just bought one a few weeks ago along with a yearling heifer (both Jerseys). Milk replacer is expensive, feeding is a pain, and calves look so much better on a cow. We justified buying ours mainly by the value we would retain on our registered calves. Although, if you get a cow in milk but don't have any calves, you better be prepared to milk or buy some calves!