cow suckling another calf

carole · Post by **carole** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 7:43 pm

Wandered into the fields today to see one of our new first time mums suckling not only her own calf but another calf as well (by another first time mum) saw the other mum feeding her calf quite happily yesterday so I don't think there is a problem with milk supply. Is this 'use the nearest milk bar' rare?

Clive Taylor · Post by **Clive Taylor** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 4:31 am

Hi Carole,
We've been going for just 3 years and have 75 head. We've just had the same thing for the first time (that I've seen). In our case we had to separate them because the "thief" calf was so big. So if our herd is anything to go by, it's not exactly rare but does happen. My main concern would be the first day or two when I would keep a close eye on them and separate the group if an older calf looked as though it wished to suckle from the dam of a new born (which is what we had).
Clive

Inger · Post by **Inger** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 9:59 am

Reserve that cow as a suckler cow Carole. If she's willing to feed other calves, you can put extra calves on her once her calf has had its 4 days of colostrum. If she's fed well, you can keep putting new calves on her every 3 months and weaning the calves onto grass and calf meal. Suckler cows are a wonderful asset and very hard to find.

We have a whole industry over here of rearing calves till they're weaned and then selling them to beef rearers. I'm guessing you have town supply herds that you can obtain calves from.