I have 28 month old heifer with her first calf. She had some difficulty calving. After calving she aboanded her calf. Now when the calf trys to drink she kicks it. We put her in a head shoot so that the calf can drink. We've been doing this for about 2 weeks. No improvements yet. Been giving her a little grain to clam her. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Problem Heifer
- Thread starter Rick
- Start date
Help Support CattleToday:
CattleAnnie
Well-known member
Put a set of hobbles on her. She'll soon realise resistance is futile. The first time the calf sucks her with them on, it helps to have her in the chute. You might need to make her stand when the calf goes up to her in the pen as well, for a day or two.
A warning, though: Give her lots of room when you let her out of the chute with the hobbles on. Some cows kick like the beejezus, some refuse to move forward. Just had to shorten the hobbles on a cow that I'm grafting an orphan onto, because the old bag could actually lope around the pen with them on.
Good luck with your heifer. Take care.
A warning, though: Give her lots of room when you let her out of the chute with the hobbles on. Some cows kick like the beejezus, some refuse to move forward. Just had to shorten the hobbles on a cow that I'm grafting an orphan onto, because the old bag could actually lope around the pen with them on.
Good luck with your heifer. Take care.
TLCfromARK
Well-known member
Rick":272s2v37 said:
Sometimes a heifer with her first calf is like a teenage mother, just doesn't understand how to take care of her baby. Her bag / teats are swollen & sore at first when she has the calf and that may be the reason she was kicking but after two weeks she should have accepted the calf and it should be strong enough to take the milk from it's mother ( just worries her until she stands for it ). If she contiunes to fight the calf it might be time for her to " grow wheels" as more than one poster likes to say.
;-)
We had a heifer this year that kicked the crap out of her calf whenever it even touched her udder, eventually (second day) it woould kick her any time it even acted like it was going to nurse. This heifer was letting calves nurse her before she calved and comes from an exception maternal line. I put her in the chute three times a day and she let the calf nurse with no problem. As soon as she wa out of the chute she would kick the calf away if it got near her udder. Knowing that something had to be not quiet kisher, I checked her udder before and after the calf nursed. Turned out she had severe edema and it wasn't getting any better. We gave her Lasics (sp) one evening then again the next morning. By that afternoon she was letting the calf nurse with no problems.
If after the calf has reduced the original pressure she still doesn't allow it to nurse, there is either still a problem or she is a nut case and needs to grow wheels. The neighbor had a heifer kill her calf, then she killed her second and third calves. I would have shipped her long before, which is what he finally ended up doing. He had paid very significant dollars for her as a yearling and didn't want to loose the money.
Any employee that doesn't do their job needs to be fired, cows are employees, and raising calves is their job.
dun
If after the calf has reduced the original pressure she still doesn't allow it to nurse, there is either still a problem or she is a nut case and needs to grow wheels. The neighbor had a heifer kill her calf, then she killed her second and third calves. I would have shipped her long before, which is what he finally ended up doing. He had paid very significant dollars for her as a yearling and didn't want to loose the money.
Any employee that doesn't do their job needs to be fired, cows are employees, and raising calves is their job.
dun
TLCfromARK":2zme4l0f said:
Cattle Rack Rancher
Well-known member
I had one last year who was kicking her calf. We tied her up twice a day for over a week. We ended up Selling the calf to a guy who lost one. The steaks off the heifer are very tasty 8)
Campground Cattle
Well-known member
Rick":3p785ykd said:
After two weeks its time for her to take a ride. Or as Dun would put it your fired. Pocket the money and smile the next time you pull into Jack in the Box. Go buy a good cow. I have grafted a new calf to a surrogate in less than two weeks.
