Why can't the calves stay with the cows?

A question that is frequently asked by visitors on dairies.

We had a case in point happen last week.

We moved a cow from the dry cow pasture to the milking herd because we weren't sure what she was up to; if she had already miscarried a calf and was going dry, or if she was yet to calve. Hubby was going to get her in the barn and examine her.

That very evening though she had a calf. By the morning one of the other cows had claimed it. And that is where you run into trouble. In every herd there is always a cow, or two, or three... that tries to claim other calves. They chase the mother cow off and nurse the cow themselves. This isn't a bad trait when you need a nurse cow for bottle calves. But in this case we are afraid she prevented the calf from getting any colostrum, or first milk, from the mother cow. This can be a very critical thing because the colostrum has antibodies and such that the calf needs to prevent health problems on down the line. When hubby milked the cow later I tried to get some into the calf via bottle, but she (the calf) had tanked up on the other cow and wouldn't drink it.

If you had several cows with calves it'd be an issue trying to get them all separated for milking, and hubby just doesn't have that much patience. So we separate them after 24-48 hours. And if we do so earlier then we make sure and get colostrum into them.

It is snowing here this morning. I cancelled my regular Friday morning shopping trip. The past couple of days it has been in the single digits and dipped down to zero (about -15C I believe) at night. It has warmed up to the teens this AM (about -8C).

Yesterday I bought tickets for my mom to visit us in June; June 26 through July 10. I hope it's not too horribly hot then, but it probably will be. Anyway, it'll be fun for her to spend time with Ellen.

Comments

Amrita said…
Now that 's called kid-napping.
January 16, 2009 at 9:31 PM
moe said…
How is the calf doing NOW ? Your snow? Your family ?
January 21, 2009 at 8:20 AM
Calfkeeper said…
amrita-hahaha, yes, I guess it is.

moe-calf is doing well now. We are all doing OK also. The snow is gone, thank goodness.
January 21, 2009 at 9:33 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Oyster

It isn't even halfway through the month yet and I have run out of lists or anything amusing to tell you about the dairy. So here is a poem I picked up on a homesteading forum. It does deal with ag issues, just of a different sort... Enjoy! The Oyster Baxter Black The sign upon the café wall said OYSTERS: fifty cents. "How quaint," the blue-eyed sweetheart said with some bewildermence, "I didn't know they served such fare out here upon the plain." "Oh, sure," her cowboy date replied, "We're really quite urbane." "I would guess they're Chesapeake or Blue Point, don't you think?" "No ma'am, they're mostly Hereford cross . . . and usually they're pink But I've been cold, so cold myself, what you say could be true And if a man looked close enough, their points could sure be blue!" She said, "I gather them myself out on the bay alone. I pluck them from the murky depths and smash them with a
Read more

Like Cats A'Fightin'

Image
That's a local saying when it's snowing hard. Snowing like cats a'fightin'. You can look out and see the fur flying. Ellen had never been outside while it was actually snowing. She was enchanted. She had to have a bucket of it to carry around. It was in the mid-20s but we took a bit of a walk before coming back in for a nap. The snow is still too dry to be able to make a snowman, it is really powdery. So far we have somewhere between 3 and 4 inches, I would suspect.
Read more

The Blind Calf Story

Image
This happened last month. I thought it was an interesting case. Wed Aug 15th 2007 8:30 AM: Went out and brought new heifer calf and cow in from field. Not too sure how old calf was; umbilical cord sort of dried up, but calf still seemed damp. Left her with cow all morning ‘til maybe early afternoon, then separated them. Beautiful, normal calf. 6 PM Fed calf bottle. She slugged back the whole thing. Thurs Aug 16th5:15 AM (approx) Calf comatose. Or as near as I could tell. She was on her side, non-responsive, drooling, head on ground, eyes closed or just barely opened. I tried to feed her bottle but she only swallowed convulsively once or twice, then milk just drained from her mouth. 5:30 AM. Husband went out and looked at her. Drug her out of pen and out of the way to be taken to boneyard later after chores were all done. She was barely breathing and as I said, totally non-responsive.This was a real grief as the cow she came from is a great milker and to get a heifer from her was a joy.
Read more