Cattle don’t usually give birth to twins, and we’ve found that it is best to leave just one calf with its momma, and take the other one away. This one will be bottle fed until a new mother can be found for him. He’s always very insistent and you have to be careful! He will butt you and the bottle, a natural action which would stimulate milk in his mother’s udder… but, it can bruise you if you don’t watch out!
Bottle Baby from Carol Greet on Vimeo.
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Carol, but why can’t the 2calves stay with their mom? Doesn’t she have enough milk or will she refuse 1? & is it easy to find a foster mom? I feel sorry for the cute little one you were feeding
Beef cows usually will just take one calf, ignoring the other, kicking it away and letting it starve. If another cow loses a calf, we’ll let her adopt this one, and everyone will be happy.
Feeding calves was one of my favorite chores. With Dairy cows we never let them nurse. We always fed them from a bucket though, since bottles were another expense. It always amazed me how quickly they’d learn to drink from a bucket. Jersey calves were the hardest, since they were prone to scours if not fed precisely right. We had to be careful not to overfeed them. They were my favorites too though. So delicate and pretty.
You need to teach them about free-martin. I did with my cousins on a set of our twins and now they think I know everything. Little do they know the little I know.
That is one big bottle and one hungry little cow. Love it! Thanks.
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