Post by brigitte on Jul 1, 2020 6:44:54 GMT -5
This is a strange one.
Sapphire calved Sunday (June calf watch) with a big bull/three quarters jersey. I watched her pop out the calf, get up, and walk away from him as if he had been a distraction from grazing.
She came back, looked at him, mama mooed appropriately, but had no interest in licking or cleaning him. When he was up and aiming for the udder, she blocked him. As he gained strength and went more determinately to drink, she head butted then kicked him. The whacks with her hind leg were so forceful I worried about him. Brought her in that night. she had only a predictably mild learning curve to the milking claw. With my cinch rope, really no big deal. So essentially she seems to accept me and the claw as her calf...and not her calf.
I brought the calf in for two days at milking to see if she would accept him. She tolerated him with the cinch rope and the claw, but once she figured out he alone was sucking, tried to whack him again. Her tolerance after three days has not improved.
Finally, he wasn't interested in the udder after I was feeding him what he got from a bottle to keep him alive. Even hungry, going for the udder this morning, she pushed him away.
Yet....she moos for him in the barn when she's out and when they are inside together at rest she's content. The first night I put them together in a box stall. What does she do? wants to get out to go back to where she calved to connect with the calf she has rejected.
I should note that she was born on another farm where they remove calves soon after birth. As a heifer, she was weaned way to soon by my standards (part of a group of heifers set out to pasture). At this point Im reluctantly ready to separate them. The stall needs to be open for all of the calves anyway. What do you think.
She's milking a solid 4.5-5 gallons a day.
Sapphire calved Sunday (June calf watch) with a big bull/three quarters jersey. I watched her pop out the calf, get up, and walk away from him as if he had been a distraction from grazing.
She came back, looked at him, mama mooed appropriately, but had no interest in licking or cleaning him. When he was up and aiming for the udder, she blocked him. As he gained strength and went more determinately to drink, she head butted then kicked him. The whacks with her hind leg were so forceful I worried about him. Brought her in that night. she had only a predictably mild learning curve to the milking claw. With my cinch rope, really no big deal. So essentially she seems to accept me and the claw as her calf...and not her calf.
I brought the calf in for two days at milking to see if she would accept him. She tolerated him with the cinch rope and the claw, but once she figured out he alone was sucking, tried to whack him again. Her tolerance after three days has not improved.
Finally, he wasn't interested in the udder after I was feeding him what he got from a bottle to keep him alive. Even hungry, going for the udder this morning, she pushed him away.
Yet....she moos for him in the barn when she's out and when they are inside together at rest she's content. The first night I put them together in a box stall. What does she do? wants to get out to go back to where she calved to connect with the calf she has rejected.
I should note that she was born on another farm where they remove calves soon after birth. As a heifer, she was weaned way to soon by my standards (part of a group of heifers set out to pasture). At this point Im reluctantly ready to separate them. The stall needs to be open for all of the calves anyway. What do you think.
She's milking a solid 4.5-5 gallons a day.