# breeding back after calf rejection



## MaineHighlands (Apr 10, 2013)

Hi all!
Hunkered down for the winter and didn't post much... but spring is in the air and I am looking forward to new highland calves!
My two highlands calved mid june last year - one was a beautiful mama, the other tried to kill her baby (history on that posted here somewhere).
Anyway, the heifer that tried to kill her baby looks MUCH bigger than the other one.  Could she have bred back sooner since she wasn't nursing?

Also, an update on our two calves from last year... the abandoned one is doing very well but much smaller than the one with the good mama!
We are prob. going to sell her - we just don't have the room with the two new babies coming.  The other one (had flystrike - history also posted here) is stunning.  Truly a beautiful girl.
I will post some pics. when I remember to bring my camera over to the barn.

Thanks for any input on the breeding back question!

-Jill


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## goodhors (Apr 10, 2013)

I would sell the non-mothering animal for meat.  This is a BAD trait
to have in a cow, and does seem to be considered as passed on 
to her babies.  With the Highlands being such a successful 
"self-sustaining" breed, they NEED to be good mothers so you have 
a good calf crop from them.  You can see the difference in what
a good mom does for her calf in getting it up to weight in short order,
so those calves are salable as a crop for income.  The little calf 
may stay smaller, or take a much longer time to reach full growth, 
which is going to make it cost more to you, in time and feed.

All the beef breeders I know, do cull out those cows that don't 
mother their babies well.  More trouble than they are worth in
the extra time needed to raise the calves.  They breed for good 
bodies AND good instincts, so the cows need little or no help with
raising their babies.

Small farms with only a couple animals, often have more time or 
people available to feed those orphaned calves, get them going 
well when mother won't do her work.  But once a bad mom, and she
is likely to continue being a bad mom to any more calves she has.
She might even get aggressive and hurt the calf when it tries to 
nurse, you may not be around to save the calf next time.  She is 
mentally a "BAD" cow, needs to go for meat and not let some other 
breeder try getting calves off her and also be disappointed.

If cows are in with a bull, he will breed her when she comes in heat.
She can come in heat right away or not, depending on her body.  I never
heard that nursing a calf would prevent her coming in heat for any 
period of time.  Breeders I know don't turn the bulls out with cows until
later in the season, calves are 2-3 months old, well started.  Gives the cow body a 
chance to heal after birth, gaining weight on good grazing, so she is 
physically in good condition to start a new calf, and with the 2-3 months
off, she will calve in a good birthing season, not usually the dead of winter!  

I know they say breastfeeding prevents cycling in 
people, so you can't get pregnant.  HOWEVER, breastfeeding is NOT
a sure-fire birth control method and should NEVER be the only method 
used to prevent more babies right away.  What works for one woman
may be totally different than for her sister or other women in their bodies.
I know a number of brothers and sisters who are only 10-11-12 months 
apart, who were totally breastfed babies!  Quite the surprise to folks who 
"believed that breastfed equals birth control" line of thinking!!


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## jhm47 (Apr 10, 2013)

Yes, the cow with poor maternal instincts probably did breed back earlier.  The onset of estrus can be triggered by removing a calf from the cow for as little as 48 hours.  We sometimes use this "trick" to induce a heavy milker to come into heat.  I have used it myself on cows that have had twins.  Worked quite well.

Just asking---why would you want to give this cow another chance?  I'd have culled her in a heartbeat.


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## MaineHighlands (Apr 10, 2013)

After our experience last summer, we contacted the breeder we purchased her from.  He told us that he would take her back, and replace her with a different open heifer.  His feeling was that the calf was premature (some of the comments I got from members of this forum also indicated that she looked premature from the pictures I posted.)  He also said that he had one issue of this happening on his farm (he has bred a lot of Highlands) and that cow went on to be a great mom and had many, many more calves.  We are still in contact with him, and he assured us that if she rejects her calf again, he would take her back and beef her and replace her with a different heifer.  We don't have any intention of selling her to another breeder for them to be disappointed if she is, indeed, a truly non-maternal cow, nor do I think that the breeder we got her from will turn around and try to resell her if it doesn't work out with this next calf as he is a man of integrity with a good reputation in the Highland community here in Maine.

My experience tells me (from previous cows here) that they typically re-breed about three months after giving birth, therefore giving birth roughly the same time each year.  The one cow looks much larger than the other, so I was just wanting to know if I should be watching for signs maybe a month or two earlier than last year.

Thanks,

-Jill


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## Mike Fronczak (Apr 23, 2013)

We had a similiar issue last year with a calf (there are many posts on here about him), we too are giving the mom a second chance.  Not sure what went wrong she is attentive now, allowing him to feed (how much he gets I dont know), licking him etc.  Still dont know what went wrong, like yours he is smaller than the heifer calf that is 3 days younger than him.  She has this year & then we will decided if she stays or goes to burger.  We were blessed last season to get what I would hope for.  Out of three bred cows we bought, we got 2 females & one male.  Our bull is unrelated giving us 5 breeding cows, we could afford to get rid of a problem animal.


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## greybeard (May 5, 2013)

After calving, a cow will usually come back into estrus in 10-20 days, but not always capable of conceiving at that time, but IF she is in real good physical condition, not stressed, on a good mineral program, she can conceive in those early post calving heats. Normally tho, expect the first standing heat and ability to settle to occur in about 40 days. 
Any cow that refuses a calf is gone from my place.  Stays open after breeding--gone.  Loses a calf, I will sometimes give her a 2nd chance, but not more. 

Adding to the info goodhors posted..


> This is a BAD trait
> to have in a cow, and does seem to be considered as passed on
> to her babies.


An excellent point!!
Maternal instincts are often part of genetics, expressed in phenotype--iow, what is actually seen.  Poor maternal instincts can be passed down to the offspring, just as good or bad milking is, just as good or bad weaning weight gains are, just as calving ease traits are. These combined traits  are known as maternal combined  EPDs. Expected Progeny Differences. They aren't failsafe, but are very good indicators of what to expect. Momma is a bad mother? Odds are, baby heifer will grow up to be a bad one too.


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## peterpuck (Nov 6, 2013)

Cull the cow and don't breed her calves. 
Any undesired traits in the animal and it should be culled from the herd.


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## HarlowHeritageFarmRandall (Feb 17, 2014)

I have a cow who went 10 months 3 days between calves.  We were very surprised when she had a second calf in the same year.  Feb 25th and Dec 30th.  We haven't had any closer than 13 months outside of those two.  Two of my Hereford crosses have had some difficulties with being motherly right after birth.  We have removed their calves for 2 to 12 hours and then gave them back and they did fine after that.  They will be worked out of the herd eventually and replaced by Randalls and Randall crosses.


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