Nurse Cows

[ranchmom77]

Hi all,

I'm thinking of buying a nurse cow for our upcoming calving season.. we had a few bums last year and I'm not really looking forward to having to bottle feed anymore babies.
I've got my eye on a really nice 5 yr old jersey that should support 3 calves.
Have any of you used nurse cows? If so, what were you experiences.. good or bad?

 

[chippie]

We have Jerseys and one thing that you have to do is feed the cow a good quality high protein feed and good hay, otherwise she will starve herself to death trying to feed the calves.

Some people let the calves run with the cow. We have always separated the cow and calves. We bring the cow up twice daily to feed her and allow the calves to nurse. That way we can monitor the cows condition and be sure that she is getting the nutrition she needs.

The are others here who use nurse cows.