Twin calf abadon

Jesusfreak101

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The herd came by stopped to check her out then walked on she been running around ever since my husband decide he had to let or six year old in there with the calf i am overly cranky about for more then one reason. I have to check on what her twin was. Husband trying with regular milk now he forcing it some not sure that the best ideal.
 

Jesusfreak101

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The same cow either isnt feeding the other calf or lost it. Her udder is so full its reduclious i highly sought she fed the other calf hubby put looking for her. Well that calf took another bottle from me so total of one quart of milk in her
 

Baymule

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I see a cow headed for the sale barn. If you can get her to raise the other baby, great. If not, off she goes. You don't need lousy mommas dropping their calves and walking away.
 

Jesusfreak101

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Thats no joke on that. Here the notty cow
 

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YourRabbitGirl

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I read last night that you could dip the nipple in karo syrup. My goat loves that stuff!! Some got on my pants and the kid was sucking on my pants like crazy! It also said to tickle the roof of the calf’s mouth to get the sucking reflex going, then slip the nipple in, like I said I am doing with my kids. Perhaps you have a farmer friend who has some spare colostrum replacer on hand? My farmer friend offered his up right away the other day, but that wasn’t my issue. Good luck...I know how hard and frustrating it can be to get these new guys to have full tummies!!
That good know-how... I hope it will do good for those goats... mine, they're doing great, I hope that they will be for a long time. Kudos to you!!
 

YourRabbitGirl

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Score it took the bottle, however i refuse to eat crow on this he took a unnessacry risk with my baby... just saying anyways it likes the regular cows milk.
I think regular cow's milk will be just fine, That exactly what I did for my pet goats before, Kudos. I hope they will be in good condition asap. good luck.
 

farmerjan

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I hadn't seen this thread until just now. I was somewhat otherwise occupied with the surgery and all that.

It is too late to change what you did by interferring with the cow and her calves. If I read the thread right, you found the cow and believed she had twins. You found one twin by its'self quietly laying in a spot. You decided that the cow had 2 hours to come back to the calf. Since I don't know the cow, I am not saying she is or isn't a good mother. Did you have any history on the cow? Unless you know for sure that she isn't a good mother, then you were totally off base to make that sort of decision not being well versed in cattle. They are not like goats or sheep in the way they take care of their calves.
If you did not see the cow actually calve, and whether she allowed the calves to nurse her for colostrum, then making a random decision to remove one because it was by its'self, was not necessarily a wise or fair choice to the cow. If the calf was dried and seemed perfectly content laying there, it is a very good chance the calf was licked off, nursed the cow for the colostrum, and the cow put that calf there and in her own way, told it so stay put. Cows do that. I have had cows leave calves for hours when they feel there is no predator threat. It is no different than a deer will put her fawn in a spot, and that fawn will stay there because it was "told to say there". To the extent that we have actually ; sadly; run over and killed a fawn with a bush hog and not realized it until the next round around and found the carcass. That is the way nature ensures that the momma can lead off a predator if she feels there is a threat, or she can graze, and go to a stream to drink, knowing that the baby will be right where she put it, when she goes back to get it.
What I am saying that I think you totally jumped the gun expecting the cow to come back on your time table. She might have left the calf there for 12 hours tending to the other calf. She might have "parked" the other calf, then come back for the first one. She also might have just abandonded it and not come back. But you did not give her a chance to "be a mother". If this was her first time with twins, sometimes it takes then a little bit to figure it out.

A beef cow's udder will look full and "swollen" for several weeks . A Charolais, as she looks to be in the picture, will be a little more protective, and a little more apt to leave a calf to come back to it later than some other breeds. They are not a "warm and fuzzy " type of cow. They do what nature has ingrained in them. They are not dependent on humans. Since you did not start with her as a calf, she is not going to look to you for anything.
The cow will nurse her calf, or calves, and within an hour or two, will have a full looking udder again. Until the calf is a month or 2 old, she will lose a little of the swelling but will look full. Once the calf gets some size on it, then it will nurse more frequently, and will then look empty most of the time but she will have more milk in reserve than you can realize. It is nothing like a dairy animal.

Since the calf gave you trouble trying to get it to nurse at first, I think it more than likely had nursed her mother. It would then not want something that did not smell or feel like the cows own udder. Homogenized milk from the store won't hurt them, but it doesn't have the taste or texture of the cow's milk. Beef cattle run an average 4.5 to 7 % butterfat and store milk that is homogenized is like water to them in texture. So another reason why the calf would refuse unless it was very hungry.

Since it is all done and over with, I hope that you have sucess raising the calf/calves. If you are buying milk replacer, buy an ALL MILK ,, milk replacer. Do not use something that is soy based. Their systems do not do well trying to absorb the soy base and will have a harder time getting a good start. And do not over feed the calf. No more than a 2 qt bottle a feeding for the first 2-3 weeks.... no more than 2-3 times a day to start. So the calf can have 1 to 1 1/2 gal a day split in 2-3 feedings a day. The calf should be a little hungry at feedings or it is getting too much. If they get more than they really need, it will cause them to scour that much easier. Once they scour, you will play havoc trying to get them "stopped up"
 

Jesusfreak101

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Not my first but my first with twins. She had left it for all day and my husband's grandparents wanted us to pull it before nightfall (techcally their cattle but we now take care of them completely i am newer to cattle but have handled them and took care of but never had twins) since we were expecting bad weather if she hadn't come for it by then. We ended up only pulling one and closely watching the other. One of the problems we had with this herd is a gene that has caused a few cows to be unable to feed their calves they have plently of milk but it won't come out do to their udders. We watch one calf starve because they wouldn't let us pull it, this time they wanted us to.
So we did. Now i have noticed they aren't like other cows i dealt with. However i watched and dealt with this herd for almost eight years and watch many of them grow and do great. I havent seen them leave their calves more the a few hours never all day. We estimated she was born on Friday or Saturday so one or two days old. She didn't have much energy and would not drink the formula we bought that was milk baised not soy(still smelled horrid nasty sweet smell i can't stand) same bottle and everything only difference was the store bought milk or goat milk which she downed without complaint. So far she doing much better then her sister. We discussing pulling her but depends on growth. I honestly debate about breeding this girl or not. Mostly because of the gene that they keep passing on. So another debate there. She a pretty calf and very sweet. She happy with her goat family ironically they keep cuddling and loving on each other.
 
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