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Bottle Feed or Not

I

I Luv Herfrds

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Joined
Nov 8, 2007
Messages
1,639
Location
Montana
That cow that had the twisted uterus just seems to not be putting out the milk for the calf.

I've been giving the calf 2 full bottles a day. She does go to the cow afterwards and tries each teat and butts the cow repeatedly.

hubby is not too crazy about the idea of a bottle calf, but I bumped up my Jerseys feed and she put out over 2.5 gallons of milk yesterday.
she's getting 4 scoops (an old Delmonty stew can) in the morning at milking and again at night when she is cut off from her calf.
So that is where we are getting the milk for the calf from.
I tried to get the calf to nurse the Jersey, but she won't.

Going to check the cow tonight to see if she is putting out any milk. She has gotten alot better and is eating like crazy.
 
No milk in the front teats. Very little in the back.

We cut both calves off and they are in pens and the cows are in the main part of the barn eating their hay.

Calf was eating some hay this morning. Going to put her dam outside tomorrow morning and see if I can get the calf on my Jersey.

forgot to say Honey (the Jersey) is getting bull developer feed.
 
The calf might be chewing on hay, ILH, but he really can't eat hay
at this point. You might try putting some grain in with him after
awhile and he may or may not eat it. We used to have something
that the bum calves loved and they went right to it, because it
smelled so good, but we no longer have it. Milk is the very best
thing for at least a month, and if you can get the calf to eat
some grain along with it, good for you.

And good luck. At least you have a live calf and a live cow!
 
Let the calf suck its mother first, and then when it is slurping full tilt, take it away from the mother and put it up to the Jersey's teats. Hunger and instinct should take care of the rest and soon your life will be easier. If the calf is a heifer, and if its biological mother is short of milk, don't keep the heifer calf for a replacement.
 
Tried that Soapweed didn't work. Going to put her up to the milk cow first thing in the morning and see if she will nusre then.
Will see if the dam has any milk in the morning too.

was it calf manna Faster?
 
It was a product called VigorKalf-R. It was great stuff. But we no longer
have it. I have fed calf manna in years past and it was okay. Still hard
to get them to start eating it.

We had a herford heifer years ago that would NOT suck a bottle.
Just WOULD NOT. We taught her to drink out of a pail and she
would do that. I added calf manna and grain and she did eat it
finally. That was before we knew anything :wink: :oops: and
we kept her for a replacment. She made a fine cow. :D
 
From an old mans perspective I think I would love replacement heifers that were bottle fed as they should be easy to work with - - - but the flip side they might not know how to be mothers - - - Just a passing thought.

I try to walk thru my "herd" at least twice a day and I carry a flake or two of good alfalfa that the cows love to eat from my hand and that keeps them calmer than many but I still have to be very careful when taging about half of them and the others I just move the pair up and sort the calf into another pen, tag, then return to mom!

If I had a bigger herd I would borow Soapweed's idea and let my wife do the tagging :lol: :P :wink: or at least make myself a good catcher like Peach's
 
Bad news is the cow is pretty much dried up. Very little milk and the bag was soft. Going to kick her out with the pairs tonight. Has not bothered to even call for the calf.

Went through our regular routine. Ran the Jersey into the head catch and gave her her feed.
Got the calf out of the pen and in with her. Took the bottle nipple and got the calf to follow it under the Jersey and she latched on and took off.
Nursed all 4 teats. When she was done she looked like a tootsie roll with a head and tail. :lol:
Never tried to kick her off or anything even when the calf butted her.
the Jersey is in the barn with both calves.
Going to see how they do today.
 
Getting calves to suck isn't rocket science but enough patience can be helpful. It's best if you've fed the calf well for a few days so that it is strong. Then let the calf get hungry before the real thing is offered to it. Normally 12 hours without milk will do the job but if not, wait another 12 hours. A little encouragement with a squirt or two in the mouth, will usually do the job.

Ya know how when a calf is sucking it's mother, she will lick it's A$$ while nursing? I always tell my Hired Hand that if he'd get down there and do that, the calf would catch on much faster. He's never tried it, to my knowledge.
 
Kicked that calf's dam out with the pairs and she never looked back.

When she had the calf her bag was full. Just wondering if the infection and her barely eating for a week might have caused her to dry up early.
Tried giving her some of the bull developer pellets, but her milk never came in again.
she was leaking colostrum the night the calf was born.

Had a cow years ago that was a non milker. Never brought a calf back for 2 years. Hubby didn't believe me when I told him there was no milk in that cow. He did after that last year. Finally sent her down the road.
 

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