Poor milk production

[Medic24]

Well, I am droping calves like crazy around here, even if the cows seem to pick the worst times, and in the worst storms to have them,.......but I do have a calf just born today, a bit of a suprise, as I had been watching for mom to freshen and start bagging, something which never happened.

So, I suspect I have a mother with good maternal instinct, as she treats the calf great, but is lacking in the amount of milk she is producing...........thus, to be on the safe side, I did tube the calf while it was still wet with commercial colostrum, and added a vitamin shot to boot.

I have left them alone for the day, but plan to put mom in the barn tomorrow and try to milk her out a little just to see what she is producing.

Now, the questions, as I am sure many of you have had this situation occur before.

If she is producing just a little, and not copius amounts, how have you best supplimented her milk in the past, and for how long?

While I dont want to over feed the calf, I certainly dont want to starve it either. What signs have you used to gauge the amount of suppliments?

It might be easier to just pull the calf off of mother and bottle feed it in a hutch, but I wouldn't think that was a good idea except in a dire situation.................

Some suggestions? :cboy:

 

[SPRINGER FARMS MURRAY GRE]

Medic...How old is this cow? A first time heifer? If an older cow I would say ship her and bottle feed the calf then ship it also.If a first time heifer she may produce more milk with subsequent calves. ;-) :cboy:

 

[jcarkie]

i am guessing you don't have any history on this cow. it is not always the size of the udder, most cows don't let thier milk down for a few days.you will be able to tell in a month or so. i personally wouldn't mess with bottle feeding, i would ship them. i did a 2 year old, her calf looked awful at 2 months and the cow was bred back, because she was starving her calf.

 

[Medic24]

Well, my bad, yeah I should have given more details...so sorry.........Second calf for herefordXsemmintal. I guesstimate approx 3-4 years old. I have owned her for only this past year.

Oddly, I am not new to the cattle game , but every calving season brings new challenges..........even those that require not more then to be handled with common sense.......but I still always appreciate and respect opinions of others.And I do mess up.

I will likely suppliment for just a few days, in anticipation of her mum dropping more milk, then see how she does.

I am going to judge the milk production strictly upon the behaviour of the calf. Tell me if I am in the ball park........

IF I see the calf sucking on her 24/7 this may very well mean, she is not giving much.

If the calf is running around with spunk and vigor, this should be a good sign.......if it is walking or laying listlessly..........means not enuff milk.

If I see good size poop piles with correct colour......should be a good sign.

Perhaps I worry to much....................but I try and play it safe when it involves part of my income.....not to mention, I would simply hate to see anything not thrive..................so am I missing anything. :?: :?: :?:

 

[Victoria]

You'd think a Semm. cross would have a pretty visible bag. :? I'd be going by what the calf does and how full the stomach feels after a feeding. The more the calf drinks the more milk should come in.
I'd supplement the calf if he really needs it, and maybe give something to his mother to help bring in the milk. When we had a cow here helping us raise four calves we went to our local feed store and they gave us a dairy cow ration (sorry, I don't remember all that was in it) that would help her to produce more milk. It seemed to increase the milk, not by huge amounts but it saved us some milk replacer and feeding the cow was cheaper than feeding the calf.

 

[CattleAnnie]

You could try isolating her from your other pairs/cows and giving her a good ration of grain as well as her hay (remember to start the ration off light and then increase gradually).

If she's going to give milk, the extra grain ration should hypothetically help boost production, but as Victoria pointed out, milk production is usually related to demand...therefore if you're supplementing the calf with bottles, the cow won't be feeling a demand to produce more milk.

This being said, we've had the odd dud cow over the years who was simply a poor milker. Kept herself fat, but reared a hairy, pot-bellied calf. Those kind of girls are best served by a bus-ride to the auction mart. I guess time will tell as to whether or not your animal is in that category or not.

Take care and good luck with your pair.

 

[SEC]

I would say watch the calf if it's bawling lots then it's hungry. Just because the calf is sucking lots doesn't mean it's hungry, just has an appetite. I would agree if you grain her that might help as well, but that doesn't mean she is going to milk better if she doesn't milk at all.

Mother nature has a way of releasing milk as needed. We had a cow that had a bag which would fit in my hand and yet she produced one of the bigger calves all the time.

If a calf isn't dry haired, pot bellied, the mother has enough milk.

 

[cfpinz]

One thing we have done in the past is give the mother a scoop of Calf-Manna for a few days. It's basically powdered milk in a pelleted form. Made for calves, but makes mom milk like crazy when she eats it-don't ask me why.

 

[warpaint]

One thing we have done in the past is give the mother a scoop of Calf-Manna for a few days. It's basically powdered milk in a pelleted form. Made for calves, but makes mom milk like crazy when she eats it-don't ask me why.

Once again, I've learned a new one. Thanks!

 

[J]

Me too. That sounds like a good experiment to do with a small herd.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Calf Manna is super high EASILY digestible protein. A high protein feed will help her produce more milk. Some cows just don't "kick in" for a few days. I would do like you said, seperate them, feed the cow good high protein feed, and do not feed the calf. As said, the more the calf demands, the more her body will produce - IF she has the ability to produce. It won't be long, you should be able to tell if the calf is "just surviving" or thriving. If the calf has a strong will, after you turn them out, it may try stealing from other cows if mom isn't giving enough. This is good and bad. If stealing from a heifer, than she probably won't have enough milk for her own calf. If stealing from a heavy milking cow, this could be good.