Cow/calf weaning troubles w/?'s

[Momof8kiddoes]

HI all,
I have a jersey cow(Love) and a calf (Millie-she is 12weeks old). The calf is NOT Loves, she is due to calve in July. When I brought them home (together) Millie started nursing on Love. SO, for 2 months, Ive been seperating them.
I dried off Love about 3 weeks ago. Tried putting them together a few times...but Millie is still trying to suck, and Love is letting her.
I dont know what my options are here.
If I let her suck, will that stimulate the milk to start up again? OR, will she just give up, if there is no milk left?

Since its only been 3 weeks, I think there might still be at least a little milk left? If so, I dont think she will give up?

I saw in a mag a 'calf weaner'...any one use those? Wondering if that is the way to go?

What about this....maybe putting something really distastful on Loves teats (something like ceyenne-but maybe that is too hot??)...something that will detour her from sucking after trying again? That would be nice, since I wouldnt have to order anything from a catalog and pay shipping.
Any help would be greatly appriciated....getting tired of rotating animals since they cant be together
Mary F.

[wr]

By a calf weaner, I'm assuming that you are considering the little plate that hangs down to prevent the calf from sucking? I know people who have used them and they do claim they work but you do have to watch them because they fit in the nose like a humbug and you don't want a calf to get the appliance hung up on a fence or trees. I'm not sure how long you've had them separated because you mention a time when you were separating them. They should be fully apart for quite a while. Your little Jersey is doing pretty much what you'd want her to do in the sense tthey love babies and will take on any baby. I actually like to keep a Jersey in with my weaned heifer calves. The bottom end calves still get a bit of milk and the presence of a sweet tempered cow keeps weaning stress to a minimum and we treat very few calves during the initial stages of weaning.

[myersfarm]

a jersey will give milk for ever .......if a calf sucks on her might just give a cup full ever day calf will keep sucking and yes will start from a totally dried up cow...i have had no luck with those weaners i never used the real bad ones because they can hurt the cow and a big calf can REALLY hurt a cow...the weaners that just cover the nose a calf can suck from behind with them by turning there head sideways........john

[OD]

The only solution that I know of is to keep them totally apart for two or three months. If the calf isn't completely weaned, you won't be able to keep them together later after the cow has her calf.
If the calf sucks, the cow will make milk. I had a 16 month old Guernsey heifer that we took to a friend's farm to be bred to one of his bulls. We turned her in with some young heifers that he had & some of them started sucking the Guernsey heifer. Before we knew it, she was giving 2 gallons of milk a day.
We brought her home, & I milked her for quite a while before I dried her up.