Twins

[Anonymous]

I've got a great set of twin heifers that are driving me crazy. The cow has enough milk and is getting extra feed to keep it that way. The calves are "A" and "B". A is always near her mom. lays down inches from her and gets up is mom starts to move away. B always finds a "safe" place to nap in hiding and doesn't always notice when mom walks away. Mom never looks for B as long as A is there to nurse. I have to go find B at least once a day and get her back with mom. Any solutions? I almost to the point of putting dog collars on them and a short leash between!

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[Anonymous]

It's not unusual for a cow to claim one calf and ignore the other. How old are they? By the time they are a week or two old the ignored one will go looking for mom when she wants to be fed. The important part is that she is getting adequate groceries and mom lets her nurse.

dunmovin farms

> I've got a great set of twin
> heifers that are driving me crazy.
> The cow has enough milk and is
> getting extra feed to keep it that
> way. The calves are "A"
> and "B". A is always
> near her mom. lays down inches
> from her and gets up is mom starts
> to move away. B always finds a
> "safe" place to nap in
> hiding and doesn't always notice
> when mom walks away. Mom never
> looks for B as long as A is there
> to nurse. I have to go find B at
> least once a day and get her back
> with mom. Any solutions? I almost
> to the point of putting dog
> collars on them and a short leash
> between!

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Dun

They are two weeks old now, but I think B would hide in the brush for days waitng for momma to come find her to nurse. Cow is great with both of them, lets both nurse at same time, but I don't have time to find B every AM and PM. I work 8 hours a day and daylight hours are in short supply.

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[Anonymous]

Do you have a small holding pasture you could put mama and the twins in? How about an old corale with mama and the twins and then feed momma daily? Essentially anything to keep momma and her twins together for about another two weeks. The less actual dragging of the "B" twin the better, as long as she is near momma and gets hungry she will soon get the idea that she has to actually go to momma, rather than you taking her to momma.

> Thanks Dun

> They are two weeks old now, but I
> think B would hide in the brush
> for days waitng for momma to come
> find her to nurse. Cow is great
> with both of them, lets both nurse
> at same time, but I don't have
> time to find B every AM and PM. I
> work 8 hours a day and daylight
> hours are in short supply.

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[Anonymous]

We don't have a small pasture. We had them in a small pen for the first ten days and all was fine. I can't keep them there, because that is my sick pen and I have others in there now. I won't expose the calves to sick cattle. B is just gonna have to learn. If i had it to do over, I would pen the calves by them selves for the first week and just let the cow in to nurse. That way the calves would bond to each other and stay together so momma would always find two.

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[Anonymous]

As of yesterday afternoon the twins are staying together. Sometimes they follow mom and sometimes they don't, but they are doing it together. Now perhaps B can catch up on nutrition.

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