UPDATE Jersey Calf Refusing Grain

[klcardella]

Thank you all for your advice. I usually abide by the "never one" rule also, but was assured a family cow will do fine as long as she gets plenty of attention and has other animals. I do believe you all may be right though. I spend several hours with her a day, leading her around, and she loves to play chase. She seems to have bonded somewhat with the rams, and spends a lot of time licking them and laying next to them. I will see about getting another calf, maybe to raise for meat, to keep her company, or maybe a small steer that I can keep for her to have company of her own kind. My neighbor keeps a small herd of beef cattle on my property to help with rotational grazing, but of course, I cannot let her in with them.

Thanks farmerjan for all your advice. I have had several lambs that never took to creep feed, but they were still nursing, then transitioned to grass without a problem. Since I am unfamiliar with calves, I just was not sure if she would do OK without grain or milk at her age. I can keep her on the bottle for another few weeks if necessary, but I was hoping not to bottle feed for a long time, which is why I specifically purchased a "weaned" calf. The seller assured me she was eating plenty of grain, but I found out later (not uncommon) that they really did not know if she was eating grain. When she started losing weight, I was not going to let her starve, so why I started back on replacer.

I did get her some alfalfa pellets, and am picking up some alfalfa hay next week. She seemed to like the pellets better than the calf starter. They have 17% protein versus the 20% in the starter. Would this be enough if she stopped the bottle? I do not see any evidence of a "pot gut", and her stools have been good.

She stays in a stall by herself at night for about 10-12 hours so she has more opportunity to eat more grain, and sometimes she does, sometimes she completely ignores it.

Thanks again for all the advice. It's amazing how things can be so different from one species to another, and hopefully the learning curve will be short-lived. I will look into getting her a companion of her own species.

 

[farmerjan]

If she is spending time with the rams and seems to have some bond with them, then possibly some of this is just the adjustment period. There are alot of people who just keep one cow and they do okay if there is some other animal for them to buddy with. They still prefer their own kind, but it is better than just being alone. Do you feed your rams any grain? She might get in with them and want to eat as she gets more familiar and comfortable with them. The alfalfa pellets will help with the protein intake, but at this point I think that just giving her time to adjust and find her "place" in the scheme of things. I would cut the bottle sooner than later and get her back off completely so her rumen develops. Putting her back on the milk causes the rumen developement to slow down and this is the time of year for all the good bugs to get well established with the grass and grazing. She might lose some weight, but it doesn't sound as if she is going to starve herself to death so let her system work its self out.

Why can you not let her in with the neighbors small beef herd? Once she gets to associate you with good things, if she gets to mingle with them then when you call her she ought to come back to you. Or at least, can she graze a pasture adjoining them so she can get her socialization that way? She doesn't have to be in the same field so much as have contact. Still getting a steer for beef would be a good thing for her.

In your playing and all, DO NOT TEACH HER TO PUSH YOU WITH HER HEAD. It is a way cattle establish dominance and you cannot win that one with her. Don't get in the position of her pushing even in play. She can hurt you just from sheer size and strength, not from being mean. They have no idea of how strong they are. A push from you on the side of her neck or into her shoulder to get her to turn in a direction you want is fine and leading on a halter and rope is fine. Work them from the side, Not head on.

 

[greybeard]

but was assured a family cow will do fine as long as she gets plenty of attention and has other animals.

That is usually true...of an older, more mature cow. She's just interested in eating and producing milk or calves.
Young calves are different. Still herd animals, and they like to run.
I weaned a couple of late calved heifers last year, and put them on about 4 acres of grass. After they stopped staying next to the fence where their mommas were on the other side, they started playing. One would take of for the other end, when she got to the fence, stop, look back and here would come the other. Then they'd repeat it going the other way. Over and over. It's good for them to expend energy. Develops good leg muscles, respiratory and cardiac systems, burns excess energy from feeding and makes them hungry for more energy rich feed..

Raising one in a small area won't do that. Might be enjoyable for the owner to walk in with it and pet it, but the calf needs to get good exercise and plenty of it. The few calves I've raised in small areas were always less active, didn't eat as well and didn't gain as well as those free to run and move around in a bigger area with their own kind.

 

[klcardella]

If she is spending time with the rams and seems to have some bond with them, then possibly some of this is just the adjustment period. There are alot of people who just keep one cow and they do okay if there is some other animal for them to buddy with. They still prefer their own kind, but it is better than just being alone. Do you feed your rams any grain? She might get in with them and want to eat as she gets more familiar and comfortable with them. The alfalfa pellets will help with the protein intake, but at this point I think that just giving her time to adjust and find her "place" in the scheme of things. I would cut the bottle sooner than later and get her back off completely so her rumen develops. Putting her back on the milk causes the rumen developement to slow down and this is the time of year for all the good bugs to get well established with the grass and grazing. She might lose some weight, but it doesn't sound as if she is going to starve herself to death so let her system work its self out.

Why can you not let her in with the neighbors small beef herd? Once she gets to associate you with good things, if she gets to mingle with them then when you call her she ought to come back to you. Or at least, can she graze a pasture adjoining them so she can get her socialization that way? She doesn't have to be in the same field so much as have contact. Still getting a steer for beef would be a good thing for her.

In your playing and all, DO NOT TEACH HER TO PUSH YOU WITH HER HEAD. It is a way cattle establish dominance and you cannot win that one with her. Don't get in the position of her pushing even in play. She can hurt you just from sheer size and strength, not from being mean. They have no idea of how strong they are. A push from you on the side of her neck or into her shoulder to get her to turn in a direction you want is fine and leading on a halter and rope is fine. Work them from the side, Not head on.

The only time she tried to push me with her head was after I started the bottle again, and she wanted more. I stopped it very quickly with a sharp rap on the nose. She stopped after a couple of times.

I do not feed my rams grain at this time of year as they get way too fat with all the grass. I start them about 2 weeks prior to breeding season which is still a month away. They are also very pushy with each other with the grain, so not sure she would jump in and compete. I can give it a try with some ram lambs.

I do bring her into the yard, which has plenty of grass, and is adjoining a pasture with the other cows. They come down to the fence sometimes, but spend much of their time higher up the mountain. I could talk to my neighbor about letting her in with them during the day, but I don't keep livestock dogs in pastures with his cattle, and he has lost calves to mountain lions and coyotes. Since all have calves, I am not sure they would accept her, but I could talk to him about it.

 

[klcardella]

Raising one in a small area won't do that. Might be enjoyable for the owner to walk in with it and pet it, but the calf needs to get good exercise and plenty of it. The few calves I've raised in small areas were always less active, didn't eat as well and didn't gain as well as those free to run and move around in a bigger area with their own kind.

She is only in a small area at night in the barn to give her more opportunity to eat grain. She is in a large pasture with the rams and livestock dogs during the day, and has plenty of room to run around and get exercise. I do agree that she might be more likely to do that with her own kind. The ram lambs hang out with her more than the adults, as they are more curious, but not as much as I am sure another calf or cow would.