# Is my heifer rejecting her new born calf?



## glenolam

One of our heifers started the "labor" signs early this morning.  Her water broke around 8-8:30am so we started to watch her closely.  Almost 2 hours later my husband walked up to the barn to check on her and saw 2 hooves sticking out, so he grabbed a hold and held (we had seen a hoof pop in and out for about a half hour prior, so at this point he felt he should help out a little).  She delivered a heifer, who was very vocal at first.

We stepped out of the barn to let them bond and watched to make sure she nursed and that mom cleaned her off...

But that didn't really happen.  Mom wasn't interested in cleaning her off and when the calf stood up to find the teat, mom pushed her away.

We left them alone; since it's mom's first time calving we figured maybe she didn't want an audience, so we waited a bit and spied on them a little.

My husband says he saw the calf nurse _a little_ and I asked if he heard her nursing or if he just saw her mouth near a teat and he said he heard and saw it.

However, 2 hours later she's still not cleaned up and we haven't seen her nurse again.  We haven't been by their sides the entire time, and the calf is getting up to walk every so often, so are we just overreacting?

When do we need to intervene?


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## aggieterpkatie

Wow, I totally would not have expected a calf this early! Congrats on a heifer calf!  

Are they penned away from the other girls?  I'd do that if you haven't already.  Also, I would not offer any hay or feed at this point, only water. You don't want Momma to be distracted by anything right now.  You might try to sprinkle a little grain (just a little) on the calf's back to try to get Momma interested in licking.  Once she does that it might "click" with her.

Check the udder, and you should be able to tell if the calf has indeed nursed.  You should see a teat (or multiple teats) that are shiny and smaller than the un-nursed teats.  I would give them the better part of the day and re-assess.  You want the calf to get colostrum withing 12 hours, the earlier the better.


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## amysflock

Hmm. Sounds suspect if she hasn't been cleaned off yet. Some heifers just don't get it. Is #3 a heifer as well? Can't recall. 

Try aggie's suggestion with the grain, maybe. Also, if you don't already have powdered colostrum on hand, you should go buy some (just a bag or two) and a calf bottle and nipple. They need all their colostrum within the first 24 hours; after that it's not effective.

If your #3 is doing better in the mothering department, it might be good to separate them but leave them so they can see eachother, rather than separate them totally. #1 just might have no idea what she's doing.

If you see the babe pee and/or poop she probably has had a little something to eat, but if you're really not sure, be prepared to offer colostrum, at least by 12-15 hours old, I'd say.


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## herfrds

I like to use a little O-NO-MO (Orphan No More) with first year heifers calves. I know in some places you can't get it.
You sprinkle it on the calf and it helps to get the heifer to accept the calf quicker.

Just keep an eye on them. You will know soon if she has accepted the calf or not. As long as the calf is up and nursing that is good. Some first time mothers do not clean the calf off to well.
Now if the heifer starts kicking the calf away when it tries to nurse there could be 2 possibilities. 
One the heifer is rejecting the calf.
Or. 
Two the bag is full and tender and needs some relief.
Now if you have to milk her out keep the milk and freeze it in 2c amounts in a ziploc bag. Best stuff to have for a new born calf with no mom.

Had a first year heifer that rejected her calf and tried to kick it to death. Sold the calf to a friends daughter as a bottle calf and the heifer hit the sale ring.


where's the pictures?
I'm dying to see the little calves.


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## glenolam

We did sprinkle the calf with grain to try to get the heifer interested, but that didn't work...

But, things got a bit better. They are alone in the barn - the other heifer and her calf are doing well outside and we put up a lean-to for temporary shelter.

This is actually heifer #2 who's having a problem - #1 is the one I thought would calf first and she's doing really well with her bull.  All three of our cows are heifers.

We visited our friend down the road and he let us borrow a chute to put #2 in if we needed a place to hold her for nursing.  While my husband was getting that, I went to TSC and got all the calf essentials - colostrum, milk replacer, bottle, scour halt, etc.

When I got home, I made the colostrum bottle immediately and we tried to give the calf a bottle - by this time the calf was 4 hours old and we couldn't positively say we saw her get colostrum.

She took less than a pint of the colostrum, but as soon as she pulled away she went right to the heifer and looked for the teat.  Now, the heifer moooooooed her brains out while we were bottle feeding and I think she either got jealous or got the hint from the sound of suckling, because she didn't kick the calf away, she actually let her nurse!  She switched teats several times (I assume the heifer was really tight and sensitive, because as the calf nursed the heifer seemed in a transe) and nursed for about 8-10 minutes (Yes, I did time it, but lost track during a conversation we were having!).

We left them alone, finished up some other stuff and came back this evening with more colostrum to bottle feed again, just so we were sure the calf got her fair share.  The heifer's teats looked shriveled and dry, so we got the calf up (who, by the way, does have tons of energy and is romping around the barn) and she drank about 1/2 - 3/4 pint of colostrum, then headed right towards mom and nursed from her again.  We stayed again until we were content, and just left them for the evening.

Tomorrow morning and evening we're going to head out with a bottle of milk just in case.

I'll post pics on my other thread now.


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## herfrds

That's great news.
She accepted the calf. Now the calf switching from teat to teat is fine. It is getting all the milk she is giving.
Now first year heifers are not the best milkers, but as they get older they will milk better until around age 8 then it will either slack off or stay the same.
We have a 13 yo cow that raised a nice calf last year but is not milking too well this year. It just depends upon each animals make up.


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## jodief100

I want to see the baby cow!   I love baby cows . Pictures please.


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## glenolam

We went out this morning and tried to give the calf a bottle again.  The heifer is still pushing the calf around, knocking it down, and this morning after the calf had about a pint of milk, she went over to her mom and tried to nurse, but the mother kicked her away and pushed her down.  The heifer's teats looked dry and a little shrivled again, but definitely not engorged or full.

We left them together again and figured we'll just assess them when we get home.  If the calf is still up and running around, I guess the mother is a "closet" nurser and we should just let them be....if not, then we're going to try plan B....

Here are pics of the gal:


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## herfrds

Ok if the teats are shrivled then she has been nursed. Sometimes the calf will nurse a lot and the cow will keep them away because they made the bag sore.

Relax and give it a couple of days. Heifers take awhile.


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## glenolam

Should we still offer a bottle?


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## amysflock

I don't think I would if it looks like mama's udder is empty (or emptier).

I know on ours the cows' udders were still huge and didn't look like they were being sufficiently nursed for a week or so. It takes a little time for the calf's appetite and the cow's milk production to come into sync. Until then, she'll produce more than baby can consume.


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## glenolam

More good news!

Our heifer has completely accepted her calf, and has even gotten way protective of her.  Whenever we go near the calf she gets all vocal on our behinds and gets close to the calf to make sure we're not doing anything bad.

We went into the pasture yesterday (we let them out of the barn earlier in the day) to check on everyone and the calf was lying by herself soaking up some sun.  We got her up and going, she did a few frog hops and headed right to mom (who was YELLING at her to get away from us!).  She immediately went to nurse and mom just stood there patiently while the calf bumped away asking for milk to be let down.

Got to say we were worried for the first day - I know sometimes it takes 1st timers a bit, but when those first few hours are the most important, we didn't want to take any chances.


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## tiffanyh

Glad things are going well....


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## jodief100

I do not know much about cows so I have to ask, what breed of cow is she?  I think she is pretty; I like the coloring and the short horns.  

My aunt had Texas Longhorns and Brahmas and those are the only ones I am familiar with.  Most of the cow people around here have Angus, Limousines and a few black and white spotted ones that I am not sure what they are.  

Very cute baby, thank you for pictures.


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## glenolam

You're welcome!

Her horns are actually quite big, and dangerous.  We really didn't want a cow with horns, but that's another story....  If her calf isn't polled we'll be disbudding her for sure!

Our cows are white faced herefords, and are quite nice.  We've never had any issues with them being agressive, except for the horned one right now.  She's getting protective of her calf, so we're on alert with her.


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## jhm47

You REALLY need to at least cut the tips off those horns.  She is very dangerous to you, her herdmates, and her calf with those sharp appendages.  Cut them off so the tips are at least 1" in diameter.


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## WildRoseBeef

Jodi, those are Herefords (all herefords are white-faced).  In the past the Hereford breed society used to segregate the Hereford breed into Horned Herefords and Polled Herefords.  Now, horned or not, they're all Herefords.

I agree with JHM, #2's horns HAVE to be cut ASAP.  When she gets protective of her calf like that she knows she can use them horns against you.  

And I knew that #2 would pull through and accept her calf eventually! Heifers are usually like that, they can't really figure out at first that this thing that came out of their back end needs the groceries that are on them, but give them enough time alone (and keeping an eye on them at the same time) they eventually figure it out.


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## jodief100

More dumb questions.... Are Hereford's meat or milk cows?  I have been thinking of getting a feeder calf next year and am just starting to consider breeds.  I know it seems silly to want a "fun" and "pretty" animal when you are just going to eat it but I like to enjoy them while they are around.  

I think she is beautiful.  I know the horns are dangerous, I grew up with Texas Longhorns.  I still prefer cows with horns.  Probebly shouldn't get one though.......


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## amysflock

Herefords are a beef breed. I like 'em, too...although I LOVE Highlands.


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## glenolam

Yes, they're all beef cows.  We have yet to butcher anyone as these were the first 3 cows we got back in Aug 2008.  We bred them last winter so we could raise their calves and so no one has made the butcher list yet!


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## jodief100

amysflock said:
			
		

> Herefords are a beef breed. I like 'em, too...although I LOVE Highlands.


WOW!  Your Highlands are fabulous!   They are big cows though aren't they?  I was just going to get feeder calves and raise them for the table every year, so I need to stick with what is readily available.  I don't want to keep a bull around.  Not cost effective for the 30 acres we have and I don't want to deal with a HUGE unaltered, male animal.  Stallions were bad enough.....


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## WildRoseBeef

jodief100 said:
			
		

> amysflock said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Herefords are a beef breed. I like 'em, too...although I LOVE Highlands.
> 
> 
> 
> WOW!  Your Highlands are fabulous!   They are big cows though aren't they?  I was just going to get feeder calves and raise them for the table every year, so I need to stick with what is readily available.  I don't want to keep a bull around.  Not cost effective for the 30 acres we have and I don't want to deal with a HUGE unaltered, male animal.  Stallions were bad enough.....
Click to expand...

Highlands aren't big at all.  As a matter of fact the biggest cow only weighs up to 1000 lbs.  They ain't nearly as big as them big Simmentals or Charolais, and a bit smaller than most Herefords or Angus cattle.

Of you want to get feeder calves, get some steers.  Steers are castrated male cattle and are, IMHO, THE best for feeding up for your freezer.  We used to raise steers all the time for feeding them up prior to the feedlot and slaughter.  We were what most cattlemen call a backgrounding or stocker operation. 

Herefords are supposed to be the most docile breed that is available in the mainstream beef industry, a bit more docile than Angus or any of those Brahman type breeds.  But there can be a few crazy ones popping up here and there, as is common with ANY breed.  The steers you may choose to buy may not be purebred Hereford, they can be a mix of breeds, like Hereford-Angus cross (producing a black steer with a white face [called a Black Baldy]), or Hereford-Red Angus cross (red with white face), etc.  Make sure you get some calves that are docile and not too wild; I've dealt with wild steers before and have never liked the way they look at you when you're in the same corral or pen as they are.  Wild steers never finish quite like docile ones do either; their meat is more darker and tougher than the ones that can just about be made into pets.


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## herfrds

Jodie go check out the American Hereford Association. See if you can find a Hereford breeder near you. Sometimes word of mouth can get you to a good breeder.
If I knew where you were and you were close enough I would sell you a couple of our steers.
The crazies don't stay around here.
temperment is the biggest thing with us.

Had a bull years ago we got from a friend. He was either pure Black Angus or an Angus cross. Nasty tempered thing.
I had to keep a pitchfork with me when I went in the corral with him. Had to use it once. DH got him a couple times with a steel fence post on top of his head.
Didn't keep him long.


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## jay sean

Had a first year heifer that rejected her calf and tried to kick it to death. Sold the calf to a friends daughter as a bottle calf and the heifer hit the sale ring.



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