Surely guys, 'nursed unassisted' should be the norm, not the exception!
I only calve about 60-70 cows but usually only get less than one heifer a year, on average, that doesn't nurse straight away, and then she gets a black mark for the future!
Throw the difficult cows out, or, at best, give the heifers a chance.
I always wondered why my father culled (different breed) what I believed to be good cows for reasons like, temperament, difficult calving, abortions, born dead calves, malformed calves, bottle teats, difficulty in nursing, as well as low weaning weights! Now, after ten years on my own, I see why!
After having started with what I believe was a number of good 'cow families', I am now down to just over half of what I started with, just more of the dependable ones!
I haven't got to culling cows that have poor progeny, if they calve every year, as my stocking numbers were not at capacity until this year, but will be more ruthless in 2013. So far, the progeny only gets thrown out on their own performance.
It only makes sense to throw out the 'difficult' cattle, as cattle breeding should be a pleasure, not a 'job'!
