# Questions about raising Calf



## cowboyupkcmo (Mar 26, 2012)

We have a calf that is 3 weeks old. The momma has rejected her. Not allowing her to feed. She kicks her. First time calf Syndrome as we have heard it. We have tried haltering the heffer to force her to feed, and she continues to kick. We have left the baby locked up, and allowed the momma to come in to feed certain times of the day. No matter what we do she wont allow the baby to eat. We have done some bottle feeding. We have heard that allowing the baby to go to pasture with the mom may make the mom accept the baby............has anyone else heard of this? I would hate to let the 3 weeks old baby out to a 20 acre pasture if the mom is not going to take care of her. I guess any advise would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance. Chris


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## SmallFarmGirl (Mar 26, 2012)

Wish I could help you! Could you possibly bottle feed it?   :bun


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## WildRoseBeef (Mar 26, 2012)

Put her in a chute and hobble the heifer. Haltering does nothing to prevent kicking except controlling the head.  You could just leave the hobbles on the heifer for a week or so until she figures out that the calf's hers and needs groceries from her.

How long has the calf been off mom?  Has the heifer just started kicking at the calf or has this been happening since the calf was born? Three weeks is a terribly long time for a heifer to rejecting her calf, hope the calf's been bottle fed since then.  Usually it would only take a few days until a first-calf heifer to figure out that that calf that came out of her is actually hers to mother, not this long.

What breed's the mom?


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## herfrds (Mar 28, 2012)

Chris had a heifer like that. Cow went to the sale barn calf became a bottle calf.

Turning that calf out with the cow is just asking for a stunted calf or a dead one.

Bottle calves are selling for $400-$500 up here.


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## redtailgal (Mar 29, 2012)

With the calf being three weeks old, the calf has definitely been able to nurse at some point.  Something is wrong with the heifer, if she is just now rejecting the calf.

Does she have something going on with her udder?  Is it swollen, or hot? Has she dried up?  You'll need to check the cow for mastitis or other udder problems.  If she dried up, it would be painful for the calf to nurse.

1st calf syndrome presents at birth, not three weeks later.

The calf needs to be started on a bottle, calves do down fast, so you should start it soon.  To delay it will result in a stunt or dead calf. Put the calf in the stall, and dont let it have any contact with the mother....it will make things a lot easier to get it started on the bottle.

I'd recommend putting a little yogurt in the first few bottles, to ease the transition.  A three week old may be slow to start on the bottle, so I'd consider going straight to a bucket.

here's a page with some info on bottle raising:

http://www.backyardherds.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2952-bottle-calves


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## Cricket (Mar 29, 2012)

I had a Hereford heifer do that.  I bottle fed the baby and gave the heifer another year.  The second calf she did the same thing and she was hamburg shortly after.  She would actually go after the calf even when it wasn't trying to nurse.  I wouldn't recommend turning the calf out with the heifer, either.  (Isn't it bizarre to see an animal mom act like that?  Guess it isn't all that uncommon, but still . . . !)  Good luck!


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## dwbonfire (Mar 29, 2012)

just saw this thread, how is the calf doing?

great point made my RTG, 3 week old calf has been able to nurse at some point, so theres got to be something wrong with mom. good luck!


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## redtailgal (Mar 29, 2012)

any update?


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