Will a cow take another calf?
Most cows or heifers accept the calf after one nursing, but a few still try to kick him and may need hobbles for a few days. “We often put a substitute calf on another cow because we have so many twins, and with the tranquilizer trick, you know within an hour whether she’ll love it,” he says.
Will a momma cow leave her calf?
Older cows tend to be more consistent mothers and have more maternal drive than heifers, but hormones are the key factor. “The cow is most receptive to wanting her newborn calf when she gives birth,” says Joseph Stookey of Western College of Veterinary Medicine, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
How to get cow to accept another cow’s calf?
Get the calf to suck your finger than slowly LEAD it to the teat with your finger. Keep them penned up together (unless the cow is being mean to the calf). After 3 days, the calf’s manure & urine will smell like momma because of her milk. Click to expand…
Can a cow die before giving birth to a calf?
Your calf may die. We had a cow who had a miscarriage 2 months before the calf was due. She delivered the (already dead) tiny calf & the placenta and the afterbirth and everything else…. and guess what? The milk came flowing like mad.
How old does a cow have to be to adopt a calf?
Yes, there are those years when the hunts were unsuccessful, the pork has been consumed and your freezers are empty. This is when you begin to look around your homestead and decide that the 7-month-old calf looks pretty tasty.
Can a cow keep a calf in the barn?
No matter how milking goes in the barn, I know that the calf in the field is going to finish things up and empty that udder like I never could. Additionally, when there is a calf in the field, milk is constantly being moved through the udder. When I have had a mastitis-prone cow, a calf was about the only thing that would keep it away.
