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Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 11:23 pm
by Minnie
Hi all,
Our first calf was born in late August and has been doing fine other than he keeps sucking at a heifer who is due to calve in late December.
She just stands and lets him, and his mother doesn't mind that he's sucking on the heifer either.
His mother has plenty of milk and he's doing well except for this.
Should it be something I ignore and all will be fine, or should I stop him?
Any advice greatly appreciated.
Kind regards
Vicki
Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 12:17 am
by Duncan MacIntyre
When you say heifer I presume you mean one which is going to have her first calf in December. If that is the case I would try to separate them if you can. If she has had a calf and is in milk she will probably stop him a couple of weeks before she calves and colostrum will form. I would not be so sure of that happening if she is not yet in milk.
Duncan
Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 2:24 am
by Minnie
Hi Duncan,
No she hasn't calved, this is her first. I notice milk on her teats but I'm not sure if it's his milky mouth or she's producing milk due to the stimulation?
I'll need to see if milk comes out I guess (absolutely hopeless at getting milk out of a cow I'm afraid but will try) so I know if it's her milk.
There's difficulties separating for the couple of months but I could for two or three weeks prior to the calf being born. If left until then would she still form colostrum? Or should I put something like Vicks on her teats to give the calf a nasty taste?
She's obviously going to be a cow that will take on orphans... she allowed a brahman calf to suckle at her and she wasn't even in calf then!
Thank you for your help, it's very appreciated.
Regards
Vicki
Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 11:49 am
by ann
Hi vicki
could you borrow an electric fence from anybody and partiton your field so that the heifer is at one side and the cow and calf the other. I don't think Duncan meant you to try and milk the heifer. I may be speaking out of turn on that subject. I would not be so concerned if the cow had previously calved although I personally feel that all cows need to be dried of at least 6 wks before they calf again.However as your heifer is still growing she does not need a calf sucking her full stop. good luck
Ann 
Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 11:17 pm
by welshdexterboy
Hi Minnie this advice is purely down to experience as a livestock farmer and farm worker. I very much doudt that the heifer to calve has milk yet but that would depend on how well she has bagged up already. One problem that you may have if he persists is that when your heifer calves your first calf is going to be four months old and if she is still letting him drink then he will have the lions share compare to her own calf. You will have to try and find somewhere for her to go for a while to get him out of the habit. The upside to this is your August calf is going to be a whopper suckling two cows if it continues. Good Luck and dont fret too much.
Posted: Sun Oct 28, 2007 4:46 am
by Minnie
Thank you Ann and Welshdexterboy,
I certainly hear you both.
At the moment we've electriced off a couple of paddocks to get some pasture growth. We're coming out of winter and it's quite dry here, even though we're sub-tropical (just at this place we're about a month behind in season as those 15 mins down the road, we're up in a range so no pasture until Nov/Dec). So there's nothing much to cut off for her, without a lot of handfeeding, and lucerne is still over $20 per bale (small square bale) due to the drought in Aus over the last years.
Hmmm what I can do is clean up a small paddock that house the chooks (when I say small it's about 1/4 acre) which I locked up the cow and calf in when he was first born to bond well and we put the alpacas in every so often.
If I put her there about 6-7 weeks prior to calving hopefully that will work. I'm loathe to adgist her with other cows and calves as she'll probably let them do the same... she is a worry.
I guess when she has her calf I'll need to feed her up to ensure she's making enough milk for her calf and if any others drink from her... her mum had a good milk supply and she looks to be taking after her.
May try my Mum's suggestion of the Vicks Vapour Rub as well, I thought Vegemite but she thought he'd love it :D
Thank you all very your input it's been really helpful in giving me some directions to try.
Kind regards
Vicki
PS As a side issue we weren't sure how much feed to buy in, in Autumn (rhodes hay was $3.70 per bale at the time) and we only got 60 bales, next year it's 120 bales and any good bales over the summer when it's cheaper we'll buy in as well... great lesson to learn and mind you ours have held their condition and look good but more hay is better! Anyone new to cattle it's a good rule of thumb if you have a good dry shed to store (as we do with an old dairy).
Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 10:18 pm
by Minnie
I thought I'd let you all know what I ended up doing about this calf sucking one of our heifers.
My Mum suggested Vicks on her teats, which worked until he worked out that it wears off and he was back again at her.
So we ended up putting up electric fencing in our garden and now we have cow and calf in the garden all day and then late afternoon take them and lock them in a large 'stall' in the stables of a night where they can talk to the others.
Not idea but it gives me a chance to feed her up, so she's getting dairy meal and hay plus the grass, nibbles my orchids (oh well the alpacas took great chunks out of them in winter) and although they'd like to be out with the rest it's working and just has to be.
Many thanks to everyone's help with this.
Kind regards
Vicki