Weaning, adding new foster?

[farmerjan]

I am a little late to weigh in on this nurse cow foster calf deal so don't know what you did. I would let the younger nurse when the older was on her, the older getting less milk, wean him at 3-5 months, keep the younger on her to nurse as long as you can deal with it. If you breed AI then no problem to keep the younger one on her, cut to once a day when you want to dry her up then in 1-2 weeks stop the nursing. A couple of tricks to get them to take a foster calf/calves. If the calf is born dead take it away ASAP. If you have a calf to put on her, try spraying mommas nose with a cheap perfume and the new calf head & tail area with the same. A friend used this all the time. However, I have had nearly 100% success with taking the dead calf, skinning it out in a "tube" and putting the new calf into the tube, fur side out so that the "new" calf smells like the real calf to the momma. If you do it as a tube you don't have to tie the skin on with a baling string; cut around the hind legs peeling it down as you go, do not slit the belly, then cut around the neck so it peels off the dead calf. The cow will lick the calf and in 24 -48 hours will "lick the skin" off the calf and by then the baby is "hers". Usually find the skin in a little pile in the pen. Sometimes will keep the calf away from the cow for the first nursing or two, then see if she is aggressive, if not keep them together for a couple of days until you see the calf nursing on its own. A little grain enticement is always good to get her to stand there for a few days. Your cow may have been letting the calf nurse when you didn't see her but I suspect that she associated the letting nurse with the grain feeding. Try grain feeding without the tying up and she might surprise you. They are all different.