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N FLA | I have had a few hard headed cows and some calves that didn't have much desire to live.
You didn't jump the gun. Only thing I would have done different is to squeeze the cows milk into a bottle and give that to the calves. Otherwise I bet you and your wife were both mad. Nothing harder on your psychological state than a calf that doesn't have the instinct to nurse/live.
I usually will milk that cow once a day to give the calf, and give bought milk replacer once a day in a second milking. And that is just about enough to whoop you. The cow will smell her milk going through those calves, and the cow will get used to being nursed if you are doing it and the calf will try to nurse also in between bottles.
I did have one cow like this, and she wasn't really claiming the calf, I'm pretty sure she killed the calf by wearing him down/rejecting him. When I left them penned together. It was a twin situation like this. There was more to it, being as I didn't find the second calf for a day. But in hindsight I should not have left him where he would try to nurse and she would spend the day kicking him away. | |
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Twin calves - did I screw up
