Separating calf from dam...to do or no to do?

[zyklonbetty]

Hello- I have a calf due in the next week. The heifer is a Jersey, and she is our only one at this point.
We do plan on milking her, she is very tame and certainly a pet.

This being said- I'm trying to decide between separating the two or letting them stay together. I know I'll be able to do the bottle feeding (assuming the calf is willing ) but my question is about how long to keep them apart.

I would like for Sophie to have another buddy to run around with (as now she just paces the fence in front of the neighbors cows,) I'm just not sure about whether or not the calf will figure out how to nurse even if I am bottle feeding it.

I have done a LOT of reading, and am (in theory) well versed in what to expect, but I am finding little to no information regarding this decision.

I suppose my question is-
Is there a benefit to splitting vs. separating the two?

 

[WildRoseBeef]

It's easier to keep them together because you can still have plenty of milk to get from the cow while she nurses a calf. A Jersey cow is not like a beef cow where she produces only enough milk for her calf, she produces twice, if not thrice that amount, enough to feed her calf and for you to get a lot of milk from her. But back to my point about it being easier, it's less stress on you (having to feed the calf all the time), the calf (being separated from Mom and having to learn to drink from a bottle), and the cow (having her calf separated from her).

That's my opinion, would love to hear from the others.

 

[boothcreek]

With our dexters we keep the calves on the moms and still milk them. The calves generally favor 1 side of the udder and mainly drink from there so I always milk from the not used side and its all good.
Also this way I feel less bad when I cannot milk for a day for one reason or another, like last tuesday I had an appointment in another city which took a whole day of driving just to get to and from. Altho our cow was happy when I milked her Wednesday morning but by far not as dire as a cow without calf would be.

Our little dexter cow with calf on her side gives me just over a Gallon of milk a day which is plenty for us(we've been giving it away), I bet your Jersey is gonna drown you in milk even with calf.

 

[animalfarm]

I keep my calves on my Jerseys. If you don't, you will have to milk 2x a day no matter what. You will also have to feed the calf 2x day no matter what. Its easier if you can teach it to drink from a bucket, but you still have to feed the calf 2x day. If you leave the calf on the mom, you will have to milk 2x day for about 3 weeks. After that, you can separate the calf at night and milk the cow in the mornings.

After milking in the morning, turn the calf back in with mom and it will do the milking for the rest of the day and evening. Do not lock up the calf till after 6pm to be sure it gets its evening feed. This will free up your evenings. You will get plenty of milk from the morning milking. Why do all the milking for the calf when it can do it for itself and be your relief milker when you want to go to a movie or something.

You will get more sleep if you lock the calf up where mom can see it but the calf cannot nurse.

 

[zyklonbetty]

Thanks guys! I am thinking I will keep her with. I appreciate all the input, and will post pictures as soon as he/she is here!

 

[Cricket]

Do you wait until you dry your cows off before you wean? Or does the cow get sick of the calf nursing before it's an issue?

I have a 3 month old Jersey bull calf who was born Nov 15 to a first calf heifer who was out to pasture. 14 degrees for the 2 nights before he was discovered. He was brought into the dairy barn and his first bottle feeding got 3 1/2 bottles (miscommunication on who was feeding calves that night), no meds 'cause he was being shipped, 4 days in the barn. Obviously a keeper! He never got the scours, hasn't had any problems at all despite being in a 3 sided barn (well bedded) in -20 degrees. And that's just 2 to 3 days with Mom.