Foster cow problems

[Abi10bb]

Ok, so here's my problem. Three days ago we had a first time heifer calve. Four hours into her labor when we didn't see any progression, we had the vet come out and pull the calf. He was dead when he was born. The sack had apparently ruptured during delivery. This cow, which is more pet than anything took off after the delivery and never even had a chance to come in contact with the calf before we removed it. Today we bought a five day old holstein calf from a local dairy to hopefully replace the one that she lost. The calf who had just been pulled from the cow this morning had yet to be given a bottle, took to her right away. We have them penned up together and he follows her around trying to nurse. She on the other hand is a little skeptical. She will let him nurse for a minute or two and then she will try to kick him away. I belive some of this is due to her being very sore in her bag. We tried milking her and were able to get enough out to give the calf some in a bottle. Any suggestions on how to get her to take the calf? We have already disposed of her calves body and amniotic fluid so that is not an option. Also any ideas on how to get the milk to start better?

[TSYORK]

The new calf needed the colostrum from its mother before coming to your farm.

[Farm 36]

My opinion is to start the hol calf on the bucket and milk the cow .This can be challangeing to start a calf on a cow . Holstien breed is very domesticated and produce to much milk for a single calf and the calves aren't the best at taking care of themselves . If you could find a couple Jersey or beef calves I think you may have more success

[BlackWillowFarm]

I bought a Jersey cow last September to milk. Along with her I also bought a 3 week old calf to share milk with. I was able to get the cow to accept the calf and the calf to go from being bottle fed to nursing, but it took me a couple days.

Do you have a way to tie your cow so the calf can nurse without her moving away? I had to tie my cow so the calf could nurse. I had to teach the calf to switch from a bottle to the teat, so I think you're ahead of the game there.

My cow tried to kick the calf off but the calf persisted and the cow finally gave up and let her nurse. I weaned the calf when she was 8 months old. It worked out great for us and I'll be doing it again soon. My cow is very gentle though. I don't know what your cow is like.

Can you tie her up or put her in a squeeze chute to keep her in one place so the calf can nurse? I think that's where you should start.

[bruce2288]

black willow has it right. If she keeps kicking you may want to get a lariet around one back leg and tie it back while the calf nurses. Put them together in a very small pen. Sometimes bringing a dog in will kick in the mothering instinct. Good luck usually it depends who has the most patience and will, you or the cow. In the future the sooner you try grafting a calf the better. Good luck.

[wildhorse]

I had an old timer tell me to catch some of the cows urine and pour it down the calves back to get the cow to accept it. Not sure if it works or not.

[francismilker]

Abi,
What you're trying to do is what I've been doing for years now. Some grafts go better than others. If you're cow is gentle and letting the calf start to nurse, I'd say your battle won't be a tough one. There are several methods to try but I'd say based upon the info you gave you should try to simply tie the cow and hobble one (or possibly both) of her back legs for a couple of milkings. I'm sure she has a sore udder and if she's a first time heifer she's new to the game of something groping her. What I've noticed is after the calf has been on the cow enough that it's fecies is being made by the cow's milk she'll start to accept him a little better. And, the urine trick really does work. I not only pour it down the calf's back but also some on it's nose and tailhead. If you notice, most of the time a calf approaches a cow she whirls around and sniffs either or both ends. Good luck.