Too much milk

[lancemart]

I have a Holstein that is about to calf. I was told she will have too much milk for one calf. I will be picking one up after she calfs that is a week old. When should I put her on the Holstein?
She is a Heiffer. I bred her with a bull that had calfing ease characteristics. I hope I do not have a problem. I had to pull calfs out of all my heiffer Herfords.
I want to take her in the barn so I can watch her. I have read where they rather calf outside. Can I get her inside for a day without her feeling strange about the new enviornment.?

 

[bigbull338]

if your going to put a 2nd calf on her.id wait till shes been calved 4 or 5 days.an give her time to bond with her calf.

 

[RVF]

I find that it does not make a difference whether they calve outside or inside. However, I have found that if you bring a cow inside a few days prior to calving you can delay the calving up to a week. For that reason, I bring the cows in the barn either 2 weeks before they are due, or after they calve.

Assuming that you bred the Hereford heifers to a similar style bull as the Holstein, I expect you will have to help the Holstein heifer just as much as the Hereford heifers. Personnally, I would only help 1 - 2% of all heifers, however, I have never been very quick to help the animals and it seems to weed out the heifers that do not want to calve on their own.

 

[randiliana]

OK, you may have to help this heifer. Especially if you have had to assist all your other heifers. Just be prepared for it, and maybe you won't have to.

They are usually happier calving outside, but if the weather is nasty, or you have other conditions that require it, they can and will calve indoors without too many problems. It is often a good idea to have another animal in the barn to keep her calmer. Not in the same pen, but somewhere that they can see each other. Putting them inside, when they are not used to it can delay calving for a little while, but unless she is really crazy or worried about it, it won't delay it that long, maybe another 1/2 hour. And if she has a friend, she may be a lot more relaxed about it. If possible, put her in the barn and feed her a bit of grain or even some good hay every day, she will learn to like the barn, and will probably be a lot happier when you put her in when she calves.

As for putting another calf on her, my take on it is to do so as soon as possible, it will reduce any problems you may have with her accepting it. However, make sure that her NEWBORN gets the colostrum it needs. Feed the older calf, so it is not hungry when you put them together, and try to keep it from nursing before the newborn calf. I would try to get a calf that is as close in age to your heifers baby as possible, this will equalize the playing field, instead of putting an older calf on the cow that may out compete the younger calf. If you can get a newborn, all the better, they can go together and both will get colostrum.

 

[Double R Ranch]

We have found if you can get a calf right around the cow that you want to grafts calving, stick the placenta on the "bought" calf and this greatly helps in the grafting. We have kept a placenta for a day to graft in the past when we can not get our hands on a calf right at calving or the original calf has died.
Hope this helps.
Double R

 

[milkmaid]

I prefer to graft new calves onto nurse cows the same day they calve... you're less likely for the cow to make up her mind which one's her's, and reject the others. When you introduce a new calf right away it seems they often have 1) enough maternal instinct to accept the new one, and/or 2) they think perhaps they had two calves. Cows aren't always known for being extremely bright, especially Holsteins. :lol:

For another viewpoint, if you have to graft one calf, you might as well graft two, which is what you'll be doing to some extent when you put multiple calves in with a cow. Haven't yet had a cow decide to reject all the calves including her own, but I've heard of it happening. Also, sometimes with the Holsteins you kind of have to teach them what it's like to be a mother, so you may be "grafting" her own calf on to some extent.

 

[mgman]

I agree with those who recommend getting the calf/calves grafted on to the cow asap. I have a couple of brown swiss nurse cows and I've had very good luck with them accepting multiple calves along with their own when I put the new calf/calves on as soon as the newborn has gotten it's colostrum.
Another thing to consider-my experience has been that most dairy cows have more milk than 2 calves can handle...usually a third is needed to keep up with the high volume of milk a dairy cow produces when she first calves.