Bottle Fed Calf

[Bryon]

I am currently in the process of weaning a calf off the bottle. She is 3 months old and I want her to be with the rest of the herd. I had another calf born 3 weeks ago that is doing great with it's mother. The problem I have is when I put my bottle fed calf with the herd she immediately starts to nurse from the cow with the calf. The cow would prefer her not to but she is very persistent, so the cow just lets her. Is this going to have a negative effect on the 3 week old calf at this point? I am just concerned that she will not have enough milk if she continues to try and feed both calves.

 

[Goatgirl47]

I think your younger calf will be fine. What breed is the mom?

One of our calves did (and still does) the same thing, she isn't weaned, is eight months old, and in addition to some of her mothers milk nurses along with two of our other calves. As I said, she is eight months, and the other calves are 3 months old and 6 months old, and they are fine.

 

[Goatgirl47]

I forgot to add, neither of the two cows that Piper nurses off of are nurse cows. They do not produce a ton of milk.

 

[Bryon]

Great thanks. The cow is an Angus.

 

[Goatgirl47]

She should have enough milk for both calves, but just in case I would keep an eye on your 3 week old calf just to make sure she/he doesn't lose weight.

 

[WildRoseBeef]

Keep an eye on the cow too to make sure she isn't losing weight. Even for an Angus, feeding two calves can bring her down a bit if she's producing at maximum and not getting sufficient feed to keep up with the demands of both calves. Good feed (and the right type) is always important to help a cow produce enough milk for more than one hungry calf.

If the older calf is putting a strain on either the dam or the younger calf (it doesn't have to be both), put a spiked nose ring (or even nose flap) on her for a few days to a week to get the cow to teach her to stop suckling. The ring is temporary, and will just stick on the cartilage that forms between the two nostrils. If not the ring, the nose flap should work just as well, but it just prevents the calf from trying to suckle rather than both doing that and encouraging the cow to kick her off.

 

[Azriel]

I would keep an eye on both the cow and younger calf, but you should be fine. 3 months is rather young to wean a calf unless it is getting grain/calf starter. I never try to wean my bottle calves before 5 months and they still get grain when they are fully weaned and added to the herd.