Odd dilema

[Medic24]

Got a cow/ calf pair sold to me the other day knowing the problem ahead of time.....seems the calf is about 4 months old and only about 150 lbs and thin, but not weak. Seems mom does not have a lot of milk to give, I have tried to take calf aside to add a bit of addtional milk via bottle, but such a fight and keeps her mouth jaws clamped tight as vice. Seems that I do her more harm then good by the trauma of messing with her, as she obviously has not been handled before. She will not even take any interest in grain.

The advice I seek..................
Should I just continue to feed momma well in hopes that she will bag up a bit more, as i am somewhat confident she was not being fed as richly before, although her condition is good.
Should I take calf and put it in one of our hutches and turn it into a 100% bottle calf?
Should I simply leave things as they are and cross my fingers hoping she will eventually come out of it?

Or is a simply the same as six and one half dozen at this point?

Thanks all!

 

[Farmhand]

I would get a good feed program going for the momma. If the feed wasn't enough before all of it is going to keep her going and not much going for milk production which may explain the small bag. Keep going with the supplement bottle on the baby. If it has never gotten much milk then its belly could be shrunk and needs gradual increasing to make it hungrier. Also the hungrier the baby the more it should want to nurse which in turn should make momma produce more milk. I would leave calf with momma 'cuz milk replacer just isn't as good as mommas and the calf is usually a little behind on it. Any from momma is better than none unless mommas milk is bad from sickness. Should check that too. It IS hard to work a calf at first but keep going - it gets better and pays off in the end. Watch the calf and if it starts going down hill then pull it and make it a bottle calf only. Momma should grow wheels if she doesn't start making more milk. Some just don't milk and will do this with every calf. Hope everything works out.

 

[txag]

if you're wanting to feed it, since the calf is 4 mos old, i'd give it creep instead of extra milk replacer.

 

[jerry27150]

soon as the grass greens up ,she will have more milk & calf will grow on the grass fast anyway, meantime i would put out a little grain & the calf should start to eat along side of its mother. i would also worm both

 

[SF]

Get the calf started on grain. I've got a calf that's mother died when she was 3 months old (the calf). I put the calf in with some others that I'm feeding grain too. The calf started eating grain right away. The calf has been doing great for the past five or six weeks.

Good luck.

 

[Workinonit Farm]

At this point I wouldn't try to bottle-feed the calf. Put the groceries in the direction of the mom. Better nutrition for her may improve amount of milk. While mom eats the feed, baby will learn from mom to eat feed also. I would keep these two to themselves if at all possible, it will be easier to get the extra feed into mom. Spring is on the way and that should help make a difference. And as jerry said, I'd deworm them as well. Good luck.

Katherine

 

[TheBullLady]

It's not worth the fight to try and get the calf on a bottle.. some bottle calves are weaned at 4 months. If there's anyway you can put her somewhere she has access to a creep feeder, and other calves that can show her how to use it, she'd improve greatly. She probably doesn't have much interest because of the "forcing" issue. I've had calves like that.. but since they are inherently nosy, all she has to see is other calves eating, and she'll catch on.

 

[CattleAnnie]

'IF' you were going to get a calf that is nursing a poor milker onto a bottle, best tactic is to isolate the calf from the cow. Once the calf is good and hungry, you'll have a better chance for success.

Went that go-round with a heifer calf of Honey's this fall. Useless cull wasn't milking, late calver to boot, so he shipped her and I got the calf onto the bottle. Weee. Fun.

Took a bit of persuasion (wrestle-mania) to get the calf to nurse (and made a large hole in the bottle nipple to allow her to get a better taste of the house special), but she was hungry and after a few tastes of that milk a light when on between her ears and she downed her supper.

For the first couple days still had to rope her and back her into a corner at feeding time, but less and less time between fighting and acceptance.

Day three she heard me coming and met me at the gate.

Ugly little beggar, though. Anyway, don't know if any of this is actually informative, but good luck with your calf all the same.

Take care.

 

[Medic24]

Thank you all for the informative advice and past experiences, thats what this board is all about. I appreciate each and every one of you!

They where both wormed and vacinated the moment they hit my place, and actually, they were all set to go with a bunch of others to the sale barn saturday, but not enough room on the trailer, so I had to do some quick culling, etc, and these two were left behind. And of course I was left to deal with this small problem.

I actually left the sale barn rather happy for once with the size of my check................I hope that lasts for ever but all good things come to an end, often sooner then later. I celebrated by buying a pair of muck chore boots..........Gees I hope all of you that were bragging on them are right! They aint cheap! But againt the walmart boots that cost 13 bucks and last less then a month, maybe it's a deal!

 

[J Baxter]

You'll love those muck boots. They are all I wear when I'm not in the office. I would wear them to the office, but everyone would complain about the odor.

JB

 

[Rustler9]

Muck boots are worth every penny-I was going through those cheap $12 boots at a rate of about a pair a month so the Mucks definitely paid for themselves very quickly. It's nice to be able to keep your feet warm and dry.

 

[jerry27150]

that is not an acorn calf is it?

 

[Medic24]

Acorn calf?



Oh I slipped those muck boots on yesterday and gave then the first work out............soooo glad i bought them. The ground right now is so saturated that even walking along lightly brings up water as if you are walking on a sponge..........and half way throught the day...my feet felt hot. Looking foward to many years of use! I like it when I find some of my money is well spent. Tomorrow they are taking me up a mountain to look at a 94 acre tract i want to buy for trees. Hope they work well as hikers too!

I have decided to keep calf and cow together, and just suppliment the feeding for both. I know the calf sure does like the barn where she can actually lay down on something dry and warm. Unlike what she had previously. That in itself is sure to help. Keeping my fingers crossed is all. She is an ugly, cute calf.

 

[sidney411]

What is an acorn calf?

 

[jerry27150]

acorn calf, if mother eats too many acorns when she is at a certain stage of pregnancy it does somthing to the calf. an acorn calf never grows good even on good feed

 

[Medic24]

trust me this was no acorn calf. before i got them this was more like a aint no grass to be seen calf.

 

[1848]

A little late, but what the heck.

Got a cow/ calf pair sold to me the other day

How do you get one sold "to" you?...... ;-)

Should I just continue to feed momma well in hopes that she will bag up a bit more, as i am somewhat confident she was not being fed as richly before, although her condition is good.

Heck no! If moma looks good, save your money, try some dairy mineral instead.

Should I take calf and put it in one of our hutches and turn it into a 100% bottle calf?.

No again. It's already to old to mess with. Just put dry milk replacer in any feed you give it.

Should I simply leave things as they are and cross my fingers hoping she will eventually come out of it?.

Sell the calf, and if the moma dosn't milk a good'n next time, then breed her back and sell her too! Oh ya...trying worming it!...

 

[Medic24]

Update....
Momma looks in great condition still. She and her calf were wormed and vacinated the moment they hit my place, always, and everything that comes through here is.

Calf has finally taken to the grain, and she is getting some at least twice daily. I am pleased so far.

Oddly, I have some suspicion that she is not the greatest mother, she pays little head to the little one. Perhaps this has been part of the issue all along.

 

[cowgal]

Maybe the introduction of a dog to the situation would help. It is amazing how a predatory response can enhance mothering instincts.

 

[dun]

Maybe the introduction of a dog to the situation would help. It is amazing how a predatory response can enhance mothering instincts.

I was thining sort of along the same lines. When they're seperated, grab th calf and ear tag hiim. They'll usually squall and momma should be there checking your shorts plenty quick.

dun