Nursing issue with newborn calf

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CattleMan1920

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This is the kind of "issue" you need when calving.

[image]293[/image]

You are looking at a 2000 pounder with a calf under 12 hours old going at it like she has just discovered Dairy Queen. She was given 1cc of Multimin 90 and....

20 cc's of Gro Tec Ag Bac Gel Plus, which has specialized whole egg protein and a high concentration of live naturally occuring microorganisms.

Guaranteed Analysis

Crude Protein (min) 19%
Crude Fat (min) 40%
Crude Fiber (max) 3%
Lactic Acid Bacteria (min) 25 Billion CFU/10cc
as well as Yeast (Enterococcus faecium, Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The calf is a daughter of Connealy Capitalist 028, and the momma is a Eurotia line registered Angus cow, 9 years old, and a granddaughter of Basin Rainmaker P175.

I love the daughters that Capitalist produces, he's still a great bull to use.

Here is a video of the daughter

http://bit.ly/2W73R08
 
I love to see them aggressive in those first couple hours. I had one this fall that was up nursing so fast that I called him "High Velocity". Which fit with his sire, Lock N Load.
 
Bright Raven said:
I love to see them aggressive in those first couple hours. I had one this fall that was up nursing so fast that I called him "High Velocity". Which fit with his sire, Lock N Load.

I like that name A LOT!

It's been my experience that the calves that nurse hard at the beginning kind of set the course for their future, they are strong always.

Whether people choose to believe me or not, I could care less, but my two SAV Elation calves were up faster, and nursing harder than anything I have ever seen, and they are THICK right now. Both calves acted the same way.
 
Big deal, mine do it on their own and bring them in when the calf is two or three days old. If they can't do it on their own they get their head cut off.
 
Was there something wrong with the calf to begin with (little slow?) or do you supplement all your newborns? I've given Nursemate ASAP if the calf had a difficult birth or is slow to nurse.
 
TCRanch said:
Was there something wrong with the calf to begin with (little slow?) or do you supplement all your newborns? I've given Nursemate ASAP if the calf had a difficult birth or is slow to nurse.

Absolutely nothing wrong with the calf or dam.

I give them all the same plan from day one, then the momma gets Multimin as well as Dectomax. Then they get turned out after a couple of days and are ready to AI again in 60-100 days.

I once used Nursemate, but the product I use now has a formulation that seems to increase gain in the calf from day one over calves that don't get anything, and I rarely if ever have scours even though the momma is pouring the milk to them. I will post an article later with research on introduction of pre and probiotics in calves from day one, it's interesting and I've experimented with it for years now to know the research is legit.

Having them up also allows me to get the DNA blood sample from the calf as well.

If I left them on their own on the back of the farm they would still be fine, but this is just the way I do things and it has worked well for me.

Not to mention we have lots of coyotes and black vultures, calves seem to be in the most danger on day one. After a few days they are running full blast and usually less susceptible to predators. Even the best mommas will leave their calf to go graze, anything can happen, and I'm not about to lose an AI calf to something stupid that could have been avoided with some effort on my part.
 
We have a lot of coyotes but (knock wood!) never lost a calf, the mama's run 'em off. I've read so much on this board about black vultures and thank my lucky stars we don't have them. Yet! And I see your point: your heard is registered, mine is commercial.
 
TCRanch said:
We have a lot of coyotes but (knock wood!) never lost a calf, the mama's run 'em off. I've read so much on this board about black vultures and thank my lucky stars we don't have them. Yet! And I see your point: your heard is registered, mine is commercial.

I don't supplement my newborns. But like James, I do bring my cows up before partum. The black vultures here are horrible. The cow is pretty much defenseless.

I keep mineral out all year and my cows are healthy. So supplements are unnecessary. My routine is to administer First Defense and Inforce 3. Then, spray the navel with iodine.
 
TCRanch said:
We have a lot of coyotes but (knock wood!) never lost a calf, the mama's run 'em off. I've read so much on this board about black vultures and thank my lucky stars we don't have them. Yet! And I see your point: your heard is registered, mine is commercial.

I've seen 15 or more vultures on the ground, approaching the baby with the momma defending. I will get video in time of this occurrence.

I'm planning on getting some Kurdish Kangal dogs soon as puppies to run with the calves and mommas.

They will take care of business if anything approaches the babes.
 
sim.-ang.king said:
So what's the nursing issue?
How much does that grotec magic paste cost?

None, no issues, joke, haha!

I've seen posts where people can't get the calf to nurse this was my response and suggestion that might help them.

As for the "Magic Paste" I'm not sure, $15 bucks or so a tube. I just grab a bunch at Southern States at one time and have it on hand.
 
Bright Raven said:
TCRanch said:
We have a lot of coyotes but (knock wood!) never lost a calf, the mama's run 'em off. I've read so much on this board about black vultures and thank my lucky stars we don't have them. Yet! And I see your point: your heard is registered, mine is commercial.

I don't supplement my newborns. But like James, I do bring my cows up before partum. The black vultures here are horrible. The cow is pretty much defenseless.

I keep mineral out all year and my cows are healthy. So supplements are unnecessary. My routine is to administer First Defense and Inforce 3. Then, spray the navel with iodine.
Mineral year 'round, including CTC during tick season. Always keep 30% protein tubs available. First Defense - yes! Iodine - as often as possible. Inforce 3 - didn't bite the bullet this year but still considering. I only calve out heifers in the barn, the exception is brutal weather or I suspect a problem (mal placed, backward, twins, etc). Girls are fat 'n sassy, calves are maniacs :D
 
Bright Raven said:
TCRanch said:
We have a lot of coyotes but (knock wood!) never lost a calf, the mama's run 'em off. I've read so much on this board about black vultures and thank my lucky stars we don't have them. Yet! And I see your point: your heard is registered, mine is commercial.

I don't supplement my newborns. But like James, I do bring my cows up before partum. The black vultures here are horrible. The cow is pretty much defenseless.

I keep mineral out all year and my cows are healthy. So supplements are unnecessary. My routine is to administer First Defense and Inforce 3. Then, spray the navel with iodine.

Inforce, iodine navels, ear tags. 2 years ago, I started Multimin also(after attending a multi min sponsored workshop) but only did it the one year. There was an interesting slide about the substantial drop in the calfs mineral levels at a specific time( I can't recall now) and how the MM boosted them through this until they started to replensih the minerals naturally. I also keep a quality mineral available year round.
Truth be told, I personally did not observe a difference in the calfs; however, if I have a difficult labor or a stressed calf, I will MM the calf.
 
************* said:
sim.-ang.king said:
So what's the nursing issue?
How much does that grotec magic paste cost?

None, no issues, joke, haha!

I've seen posts where people can't get the calf to nurse this was my response and suggestion that might help them.

As for the "Magic Paste" I'm not sure, $15 bucks or so a tube. I just grab a bunch at Southern States at one time and have it on hand.
Not to bad on price.
 
Our cows have their own calves in the pasture. Our cows will fight off buzzards and such. Calves are expected to be up and nursing regardless of BW, CE or lack of CE. We do not have a calf nursery or extras on purpose. I really like a cow that can ide a calf. I guess you can call me ol' timey to let the cow be a cow. So be it. Barney had his pistol to do his talkin'. I let a donkey deal with coyotes and the cows chase them, too. I do not do anything cruel and I do not pamper. More like the folks will do that buy from me.
 
Ebenezer said:
Our cows have their own calves in the pasture. Our cows will fight off buzzards and such. Calves are expected to be up and nursing regardless of BW, CE or lack of CE. We do not have a calf nursery or extras on purpose. I really like a cow that can ide a calf. I guess you can call me ol' timey to let the cow be a cow. So be it. Barney had his pistol to do his talkin'. I let a donkey deal with coyotes and the cows chase them, too. I do not do anything cruel and I do not pamper. More like the folks will do that buy from me.

That's fine, no problems with that strategy at all. I've heard the donkeys do a great job and have thought about getting one to see for myself.

This calf actually was born in the pasture, I brought them in the barn for a couple of days and then turned them out to another pasture. I bring them in more so to work on the calf, weigh, blood sample, shots, etc.

As for predators, this momma was standing close watch on the baby because the vultures were pretty close by, just minutes after she calved. They have a strong sense that calves are near. I'm serious when I say this, I can almost be assured that a cow or heifer has calved when I see vultures above in a large group. That's how bad they are becoming. My grandfather never had to deal with coyotes and black vultures. Lucky him.
 
You won't see them buzzard a setting around watching one of mine. They will have some thing else to watch for. I don't ever even think about coyotes because I have never lost a calf to one. Millions of calves born across this country every spring and fall without help without anyone seeing them born. They get up and suck just fine all on there on. Your big pet cow in a pen with her calf doesn't impress me much.
 
Red Bull Breeder said:
You won't see them buzzard a setting around watching one of mine. They will have some thing else to watch for. I don't ever even think about coyotes because I have never lost a calf to one. Millions of calves born across this country every spring and fall without help without anyone seeing them born. They get up and suck just fine all on there on. Your big pet cow in a pen with her calf doesn't impress me much.

She's no pet, and has never been halter broken.

As for the calving, I don't disagree one bit with you. I don't shoot coyotes or trap them, and they are thick here. I manage around them.

I rarely lose a calf and I would like to keep it that way, it makes for fatter profit margins.
 

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