"2nd Calver" not letting calf suckle

[willie waver]

i've got cracking cow with a lovely temperament, but when she had her 2nd calf (indoors) she went mental at it, trying to kill it and throw about the pen, i managed to get her to take it after about a week of crush suckling and all went fine, so because she was such a good cow i kept her and hoped it was just a one off
next year she calved outside and totally abandoned the calf, wasnt interested, but at least wasnt trying to kill it this time. brought in and another week crush suckling and all fine again
call me mad but i kept her again for this year, she was out in the field but i brought her back in the day before she calved, and yes, not interested in the calf again. but luckily only 3 days to get her to take it this time
i'd say unless you're particularly fond of the cow, get rid

 

[Cowslip]

I have put a set of shackles on one like this before, it worked well as prevented her from kicking the calf off and putting it off sucking, she soon got used to it feeding and after 2 days I removed them.

 

[AftonShepherd]

i've got cracking cow with a lovely temperament, but when she had her 2nd calf (indoors) she went mental at it, trying to kill it and throw about the pen, i managed to get her to take it after about a week of crush suckling and all went fine, so because she was such a good cow i kept her and hoped it was just a one off
next year she calved outside and totally abandoned the calf, wasnt interested, but at least wasnt trying to kill it this time. brought in and another week crush suckling and all fine again
call me mad but i kept her again for this year, she was out in the field but i brought her back in the day before she calved, and yes, not interested in the calf again. but luckily only 3 days to get her to take it this time
i'd say unless you're particularly fond of the cow, get rid

Don't worry, her card is well and truly marked.

 

[AftonShepherd]

I have put a set of shackles on one like this before, it worked well as prevented her from kicking the calf off and putting it off sucking, she soon got used to it feeding and after 2 days I removed them.

I like this idea, worth remembering. Calf not even trying to suck either cow or bottle at the moment, suspect he might have had more of a kick than I realized.

 

[Cowslip]

I like this idea, worth remembering. Calf not even trying to suck either cow or bottle at the moment, suspect he might have had more of a kick than I realized.

Maybe worth giving a dose of metacam or loxicom as a pain relief to see if it helps.

 

[dannewhouse]

How much colostrum do you tube down new calves?
They recommend over 2 litres but some of my cows don't have that as colostrum!!!

 

[AftonShepherd]

How much colostrum do you tube down new calves?
They recommend over 2 litres but some of my cows don't have that as colostrum!!!

Normally one to two litres depending on size but will be (un)lucky if I tube 2 or 3 out of 70 cows. In general our calves are lively enough to see to themselves. This is only the second one this year, the other was a cow that hurt itself in cubicles and took a day or two to get up.

 

[harperfarmer]

How much colostrum do you tube down new calves?
They recommend over 2 litres but some of my cows don't have that as colostrum!!!

I either watch them suckle the cow/put them on and make sure they suck well for 20 minutes or else give them 2/2.5l ASAP and then another 2l or so after another 3hrs and then let them work it out for themselves. Fortunately blues will give 2l from one quarter quite easily and are quiet enough to milk out. I will usually strip cows out and freeze for when I need it but in the midst of calving there are nearly always available fresh calved cows if the cow in question is a little light.

 

[welshy]

Had 1 last year would let any other calf suck except her own, in the end just sent them all out, her calf was sucking anywhere it could. She calved this year and is really good mother.

 

[livestock 1]

Throw your coat over her head if she’s not too wild and see what happens

You will get cold

 

[livestock 1]

Put 30ml iodine down it’s back and give it 2 days

 

[Farmer 83563]

Had a calf born yesterday to a 3 year old 2nd calver and she just won't let it suck. She didn't nurse a calf last year as it was born with a large umbilical hernia which we were unsuccessful at repairing. She seems to love this calf and it could suck her brisket all day but she won't let it back past her shoulder without either following it or brushing it away with her back leg. Can't decide if it's tried to suckle and she didn't like it or if she's just over excited at actually having a live calf. She's currently shut in a calving gate and the recorder for the calving camera is trained on her lol.

I will persevere and no reason yet to think I won't get there, but is such behaviour common in this situation? Most, if not all up until now, off our cows are no bother whatsoever. Or do most folk not give such a heifer a second chance at the bull? (vet said it was just a freak occurrence and not heifers fault)

Had a similar one this year. Gave her metacam twice over six days to stop her being so sensitive, fed her blend as a distraction and made sure she saw me raise my arm every time she tried to brush the calf away ... we (me and the calf!) got the better of her after about a week ... just as I was about to give up.

 

[johnspeehs]

I've a hfr calved 6 weeks and still won't let calf suck unless in calving gate, I've tried everything, nasty and nice but she won't give in, loves the calf and stands and licks it which makes me seath even more. I think mine has hormone problems as she stands and paws the ground but is quiet as a lamb, she's about 750kgs so won't be worrying about her doing it next year

 

[livestock 1]

I've a hfr calved 6 weeks and still won't let calf suck unless in calving gate, I've tried everything, nasty and nice but she won't give in, loves the calf and stands and licks it which makes me seath even more. I think mine has hormone problems as she stands and paws the ground but is quiet as a lamb, she's about 750kgs so won't be worrying about her doing it next year

Iodine deficiency makes them do that

 

[AftonShepherd]

An update. So yesterday went back and forth between trying to encourage calf to suck the cow (at least she's stopped kicking), trying to encourage the calf to suck a bottle and eventually tubing it to keep it alive (milk twice, electrolytes once).

First thing this morning, calf lying where I left it last night so I went and fed sheep etc first. Came back half an hour ago and it's in sucking vigorously. Just have to keep an eye on it and make sure it's getting enough now.

Good result!

 

[Timbo]

An update. So yesterday went back and forth between trying to encourage calf to suck the cow (at least she's stopped kicking), trying to encourage the calf to suck a bottle and eventually tubing it to keep it alive (milk twice, electrolytes once).

First thing this morning, calf lying where I left it last night so I went and fed sheep etc first. Came back half an hour ago and it's in sucking vigorously. Just have to keep an eye on it and make sure it's getting enough now.

Good result!

They will surprise you sometimes !!!

 

[AftonShepherd]

They will surprise you sometimes !!!

I hadn't totally given up but wouldn't have been surprised if I'd ended up with a pet lol.

 

[dannewhouse]

We had a c section Monday on a 15 month heifer.
The calf's tongue was mega swollen, so jabbed metacam 1 hr old. Metacam next day as well.
This did really good.
Tubed it Mon
Tue am and pm
weds pm
Thurs am
I think it's tongue is hurting it, it finds teet nearly instant and gets it in mouth, does 1/0 sucks then comes off not particularly interested. It is empty so not getting enough and I have spent a fare few times trying, squirt milk in mouth, get teet in mouth and run my fingers over top of teet to squeeze milk etc everything that normally kicks theme off.
Any suggestions or just keep going till it's tongue is fixed?

 

[Farmer 83563]

We had a c section Monday on a 15 month heifer.
The calf's tongue was mega swollen, so jabbed metacam 1 hr old. Metacam next day as well.
This did really good.
Tubed it Mon
Tue am and pm
weds pm
Thurs am
I think it's tongue is hurting it, it finds teet nearly instant and gets it in mouth, does 1/0 sucks then comes off not particularly interested. It is empty so not getting enough and I have spent a fare few times trying, squirt milk in mouth, get teet in mouth and run my fingers over top of teet to squeeze milk etc everything that normally kicks theme off.
Any suggestions or just keep going till it's tongue is fixed?

How's the calf getting on?

 

[dannewhouse]

How's the calf getting on?

Took some getting it to suckle on about day 4 it was sucking out of bucket never used fingers to encourage bucket sucking.
Did a few feeds like that, it was emptying bucket as I filled it .
Was rushing 1 night so it got powder milk morning after it was slow and came off teet a lot but I ignored it so it figured it out. It wasn't fooling me must have been hurting it's tongue earlier