Premature birth question

[tom4018]

Could a calf nursing a cow cause that cow to calve early? She should have been about 3 week's from due date. We have a cow with twins that we have noticed one of hers stealing milk from others, usually when their calf is nursing. We thought we saw her with one clean teat Sunday and wondered he had tried nursing her but never saw it.

 

[Son of Butch]

Doubtful... BUT... oxytocin is the naturally occurring hormone which controls milk let down.
When a baby nurses it stimulates the brain to release oxytocin into the bloodstream which in turn kicks in the maternal instinct to feed an infant and let milk down. It also causes mild uterine contractions and if a pregnant female already has a high level of estrogen in her bloodstream it could trigger labor. In a perfect storm, yes it is possible for her to go into labor early.
Oxytocin is labeled WARNING females of child bearing age to handle with extreme caution.

 

[tom4018]

Doubtful... BUT... oxytocin is the naturally occurring hormone which controls milk let down.
When a baby nurses it stimulates the brain to release oxytocin into the bloodstream which in turn kicks in the maternal instinct to feed an infant and let milk down. It also causes mild uterine contractions and if a pregnant female already has a high level of estrogen in her bloodstream it could trigger labor. In a perfect storm, yes it is possible for her to go into labor early.
Oxytocin is labeled WARNING females of child bearing age to handle with extreme caution.

I knew I had read something about oxytocin before and thought part of it was about a nursing calf caused it to be released and helped the cow pass the afterbirth. This calf was probably 40 pounds and looked normal other than small size.

 

[TCRanch]

My concern would be whether her own calf got her colostrum if the twin was stealing prior to calving.

 

[tom4018]

My concern would be whether her own calf got her colostrum if the twin was stealing prior to calving.

I thought about that but would one die so suddenly from lack of colostrum? I saw the cow at less than 12 hours before with no calf. Really looked like it was right where she had it.

 

[TCRanch]

My concern would be whether her own calf got her colostrum if the twin was stealing prior to calving.

I thought about that but would one die so suddenly from lack of colostrum? I saw the cow at less than 12 hours before with no calf. Really looked like it was right where she had it.

Tom, I didn't realize her calf died. Sorry for your loss! Was the calf cleaned off? It's possible the calf simply couldn't get up and nurse. Neither of our preemies could stand; we were just fortunate to find them right away & subsequently tube colostrum. The calf in my lap in my avatar pic was a 40 lb. preemie & couldn't stand on her own for weeks. Had her 4th calf this year! Have no idea if there's a correlation or coincidence but both damns of my preemies died from hardware within a few months of calving.

 

[tom4018]

My concern would be whether her own calf got her colostrum if the twin was stealing prior to calving.

I thought about that but would one die so suddenly from lack of colostrum? I saw the cow at less than 12 hours before with no calf. Really looked like it was right where she had it.

Tom, I didn't realize her calf died. Sorry for your loss! Was the calf cleaned off? It's possible the calf simply couldn't get up and nurse. Neither of our preemies could stand; we were just fortunate to find them right away & subsequently tube colostrum. The calf in my lap in my avatar pic was a 40 lb. preemie & couldn't stand on her own for weeks. Had her 4th calf this year! Have no idea if there's a correlation or coincidence but both damns of my preemies died from hardware within a few months of calving.

It was cleaned off. Not sure if it ever got up, found laying on its side and wasn't warm. I saw the cow before going to work, she was heading off by herself but no signs of being in labor. Less than 12 hours later when I got home from work and checked her.