Cow won't accept calf problem

[farmboy]

situation : Dr Who cow has calf. lays down. doesn't lick it or anything. When she gets up she acts like she's afraid of it and would have killed it had we not intervened. The cow is an ex show heifer. broke to lead. her first calf was last year and was born still. So now both the cow and the [All Aboard Heifer, very nice] calf are in the barn seperated. Its getting a bottle of colostrum here in a bit.
So how do some of you old timers correct this? If she doesn't take it, she'll end up for sale on here and she is a hell of a looker. Tons of milk too.

 

[olsun]

It doesn't always work, but if you could have them in the same pen, get a dog to go in and sniff the calf.Put something the dog likers on or near the calf, so that the dog will show an interest in the calf. Sometimes the protection response will trigger the mothering response. Earl

 

[johnmetzger]

I'v used the product called O-NO-MO formally calf claimer powder. U sprinkle down it's back from tail to ears and the sent usally draws the cow to the calf. Works best if a little damp. I've also done this with grain down the back if the cow  is hungry. If that all fails I get rough with the cow and either tie her or put her in a chute and force the calf to drink. Don't give up if the cow is a good one.

 

[JWW]

if your old show heifer is like any of the ones like mine, they still know what a feed bucket and show feed is.... when the calf is laying down, pour some feed on the calf, the cow will come over and lick the feed and the calf... triggering the maternal instinct... also have used the dog in the barn too..... sometimes with these poor mothers right off the bat, they jsut need something to trigger the maternal response


JWW

 

[farmboy]

I'm going to try some of these in a while when I head back down there. She still does remember feed. she followed me 200 yards right into the barn with just a bucket in my hand.

for those of you wondering about All Aboard (full sib Mon. ThFree) the calf was around 80lbs, solid black, good bone. Very vigorous. Looks to have a big top and HQ, no issues with the joints and legs. we bred her to AA because the cow is Heatseeker on the bottom side and we don't know her TH status.

 

[OH Breeder]

Zach what we did with an old show heifer was halter her and put feed in front of her. Took another set of leads and tied to her back legs. Anytime she tried to kick she couldn't- hobbles basically. Once she got use to the calf nursing and the milk was passing thru she accepted the calf. Took a couple weeks. Never had trouble with another calf after that one. It was a c-section to boot. It is always better if you can get the calf to nurse direct as you know.

 

[CCW]

I've done same thing OH breeder did and after 4-5 days the former show heifer took the calf on her own, and haven't had any problems with her since then. Been 5 calves since her first one and she is very motherly now.

Guess she had post-partum depression from going from show ring beauty to calf-birth pain. 

 

[farmboy]

Alright while I was asleep my dad and a friend of ours tied up the cow to a pole and hobbled her. The calf got all 4 teets and a bottle. I just went down and she still seemed aggressive, so we'll keep it up for awhile.

 

[firesweepranch]

Zak, my daughter's show heifer calved Saturday evening, and at first we were concerned. She was slamming the little guy around pretty roughly, knocking him over and kicking him everytime he tried to get to the nipple. This is my daughter's baby, first bred and owned she has shown, so very spoiled. My husband and I ended up tying up her head and I had to tail her to get her to let the calf nurse. She faught it, but after about 20 minutes of him being persistent and me keeping her tailed so she could not kick him, she finally allowed him to nurse without my interviening. She was still shoving him around (she is the boss girl in our herd, pushing everyone around) when we went to bed. In the morning, I went out to check him and brought the dogs with me. When the heifer saw the dogs, instinct kicked in and now she is VERY loving to him and hunts to kill the dogs, even if they are on the other side of the fence!  ;D

 

[cjcranor1806]

I had this same problem  6 months ago out of a first time heifer. I had to keep them seperated because she was trying to kill the calf. The cow didnt want anything to do with the calf and would not let her eat. We tried everything and then finally decided to put the cow in the grooming chute. As long as the cow was in the grooming chute and we were out there with them, the calf was able to nurse. To begin with, we put the cow in the chute 3 times a day for the first couple weeks and then bumped it down to just morning and evening and gave the calf feed too. Towards the end we just fed the calf feed in the mornings and let her nurse only at night. We weaned the calf at 5 months. She grew normally and is the same size as the other calves. I hope this helps!

 

[AG TEACHER]

Alright while I was asleep my dad and a friend of ours tied up the cow to a pole and hobbled her. The calf got all 4 teets and a bottle. I just went down and she still seemed aggressive, so we'll keep it up for awhile.

Keep doing what you are doing.  Also do not be afraid to correct your cow. if she acts aggressive toward the calf correct her with some aggression then release!  you can tell that foot is coming up! yell at her and move at her show her that kicking the calf is unacceptable. then retreat when the foot stays down!  if you do this right it will only take 2-3 days.. I have never had a cow fail to accept her calf.

Also wanted to tell you from your original posting.. a huge swollen udder does not mean lots of milk!  you will know how much milk she gives at the end of the summer when you weigh her calf at weaning time.