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grafting calves i need help

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RMUG

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I am a young cowboy and calve cows in the fall. I have had pretty good luck, it seems this year already i am having a streak of bad luck calving. I lost another calf this morning and immediately took the calf away and skinned it and got another calf from a beef calf raiser. The mother has taken to it right away, the calf is slower to wanting to nurse and even bottle feed now. How long should I keep the skinned hide on the new calf in this warm Idaho weather when the mom seems to take to the calf. I am thinking about taking it off tomorrow mid day.

As a young cowboy i feel a large weight of responsibilty and pride in asking for help, even with my fellow neighbors always thinking "he wil fail" so I never ask for help and feel I might get some here without feeling so humiliated.
 
I honestly couldn't say how long to leave a hide on. We never use one. If you immediately removed the dead calf (preferably before she had a chance to mother it) then you will probably be fine taking the hide off already. If she mothered the dead calf it may take longer. A lot also depends on the cow. If she really wants a calf then you have 3/4 of the battle won. We have had cows take a calf immediately and we have had cows that we fought with for weeks, and in the end gave up on.

Best thing to do is 'test' her. Remove the hide and see what happens. If she still wants the calf then you have the battle won, if not put the hide back on and give them some more time.
 
Once the cows milk moves through the cow, it has her scent about it and should be no problems.....Good Luck

How did you attach the hide to the new calf?


PPRM
 
BTW,


Being humble enoug to let someone know you don't know everything......I guess I don't worry about asking my nieghbors for thier thoughts.....
 
I have had it work immeditely and sometimes a litttle longer. 4-12 hrs. Any longer than that and I will try something different. Something that I do, after I put the hide on the calf. Is to tie the live calf down where her dead calf was laying. I let her mother it for awhile before I let the calf up.
Patience will go along ways when grafting calves.
 
You may have to milk the cow, then bottle the baby to get some of the milk into it if she's really pitchin' a fit.

But the guys are right once that milk passes thru the calf... <<nasty>> but rub some of the calf poop on the cow's nose...she'll smell her milk and it will help things along A LOT!
 
Try a product called o-no-mo. It is powder. Mix it with the cows milk and rub it on the calf's back. We've had very good luck with it. We haven't had to skin one in a long time.
 
nd said:
Try a product called o-no-mo. It is powder. Mix it with the cows milk and rub it on the calf's back. We've had very good luck with it. We haven't had to skin one in a long time.
Click to expand...

Tried this product last year with a heifer that wouldn't take her own calf. She fell in love with him about 15 min after we sprinkled it on his back didn't use the milk tho. However getting her milk thru him is a must, I don't think you need to rub the crap on her nose she can smell it on him better than you would think. Good luck
 
If you can bottle feed the calf,pen him next to the cow and when her bag gets tight she will be wanting him.could be 24 hrs.or 2 or three days but it beats any other method.
If your neighbors won't help you p m me I'll give you what help I can.

KEEP THE FAITH
 
When we have had to graft calves in the past, we always skinned the dead calf like you have done. The most important part is the TAIL.
If the cow wants the calf, you have the worst of it made. Let the calf get a little hungry so that he wants the cow would be the best advice I could give you.

I know, I don't like letting them get hungry either. But it is short-lived.

And NEVER be afraid to ask for advice. Why take the hard road when it can be paved for you? We are glad to help.
 
P.S. when you find that one good ol cow that will take a calf, be it hers nor not...keep her !

We had one ol girl that would take on any and all calves if you needed her to and we kept her around till the day she died. If we had an orphan or whatever...she'd just show up at the barn gate 3x's a day, like clock work, turn her in, she'd let the baby nurse and then she'd go back out to her baby.

Once the orphan got up in size....just one day she was at the gate to go out after nursing and took her ' other' baby out and the rest was history.
 
It has always workeed for me if you have some persistence and time you will get a match. There are scents that will generally work. Commercial scents are out there. I never let them together other than nursing until I am sure there is a take. Once in a while you will have a silent mother, She doesn't act like she cares for the calf but if you turn them out and watch close she will let the calf eat and even seek him out quietly but she won't mother all over him.
I do not skin a calf, just one of those things. I say let the calf rest in peace.
 
We give the cow a shot of Atravet. It will last about 6 hours. We don't bother the dead calf, just get it away from her before she can see it. Then we drape the cleanings all over the calf to adopt. It's gross, but probably not as gross as skinning a dead calf. :shock: The result is a dopey cow who doesn't pay much attention to anything but licking that calf clean. By the time the Atravet wears off, she's licked it from head to foot, and it's hers.

The first time we tried this Hubby said "No way. :shock: I'm not touching that! :shock: If you want to do it, go back out to the shed and get it yourself. :shock: " So away I went with a pitchfork and the calf sled and came back with my slimey treasure. Once he saw how well it worked, he even does it himself now! :wink: :D :D :D
 
I've never used a calf hide to graft calves, and I've grafted a lot of them. I always won out with persistance... snub the cow, put the calves on, and given time she'd accept them on her own. Depending on the cow and the circumstances it may be instantly or two weeks.

Where are you at in Idaho?
 
Thanks for all of your advice and help

I won out, the cow pretty much accepted the calf the very same day and the next day took off the hide (stinky and hot) the mom had definately taken to the calf, couple more days of stripping out the colustrum and bottle feeding the calf the calf two days later sucks on its own

That was alot easier than I thought, I think I was very lucky and blessed. I have only ever watched gpa and he is passed now. Even though it was lucky i was exhausted after that first day.

Again Thanks to you all
 
One of my neighbors when I was growing up, who was a really good cowman, showed me a way to graft on calves that he said was as good and easy as any way he had tried. He laid the dead calf on a gunny sack and left it there for a while. He then cut the seam along one side of the sack and cut one corner out of it and made a blanket out of it and tied it on the calf. The sack had the dead calf's scent on it and she would usually take him in a day or so.
 

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