Thinking of making my Jersey a Nurse Cow

[cchardwick]

I'm brand new to cattle this year. My very first calf I bought off of Craig's List about 9 months ago, it was a cute little Holstein. I quickly learned about scours, pneumonia that almost killed her, and after a few months found out she was a Freemartin! It was quite a roller coaster. Since then I sold her and bought a Jersey calf from a local farmer and knew she was healthy and not a freemartin. She is about six months old now and has been off of the bottle for some time now, she is a wonderful calf. I'm considering ways to make as much money as possible from her with my busy schedule. I'm out of town two days a week so I can't be there every day to milk her, so I've been thinking about making her a nurse cow. My brother in law is really into cattle and he says this is his biggest money maker with the least amount of work.

Anyway, my question is about putting the very young calves on a nurse cow. I've read on the internet that people just put four calves on a nurse cow (after some training) but never talk about the beginning when the small calves don't use all the milk. Do you have to milk out the cow after each feeding in the beginning when the calves are small? Can you simply leave the calf on 24/7 and not worry about milking out the cow daily? Some people have told me that the calves might over drink and get scours and die, but don't they do this in nature? Can't they raise a single calf on their own without human intervention?

 

[regolith]

You match the number of calves to her production, and if she is a new calver her production will increase as the calves are growing older.
As a rule of thumb I put on a baby for every six litres a cow is producing, and expect a six - eight week old calf to handle up to ten litres (though six litres is still enough). At that rate, there shouldn't be any need to do more than supervise because the calves will keep her milked down right from the start.
Your brother in law is right - one cow raising three or four calves at a time is a money maker.

 

[cchardwick]

What about the colostrum? Should I keep the first calf on the cow by herself for the first 2-3 days and then add more calves? If so, in the first few days do I have to do anything (like milk the cow out?) or will the new calf do all the work?

 

[suzorse]

you will need to milk her out 12 hrs after calving and freeze the colostrum as it is like liquid gold,
I usually take some off after calving and milk 2 times a day till the calves can keep up with the production, I freeze the colostrum in gal jugs with label day 1 day 2 day 3
because if you get a bum calf it will need 1 gal the first day
Suzanne

 

[backhoeboogie]

you will need to milk her out 12 hrs after calving and freeze the colostrum as it is like liquid gold,
I usually take some off after calving and milk 2 times a day till the calves can keep up with the production, I freeze the colostrum in gal jugs with label day 1 day 2 day 3
because if you get a bum calf it will need 1 gal the first day
Suzanne

Exactly. I have had to use my colostrum on occasions. Thaw it out in the sink with warm water. It is not something you want to microwave.

My nurse cows go into a nursing crate. Once calves have nursed the cow three days they have her scent. She accepts them without a crate. If I only go with 3 calves, I can turn them all lose in the pasture. With 4 calves I am always concerned about one calf not getting enough as the calves age. So with 4 I let the cow in to the pen twice a day. As nurse cows age, you might consider just going with 2 calves. You still make money on them.