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arikeden

Holstein Calves: sucking vs bucket or bottle

arikeden
13 years ago

I would like to emphasize that I'm asking about purely dairy breeds. What may be true about Holsteins may not be so true about Highland cattle.

1. When do you separate your cows and their calves?

2. Would separating calves on day one eventually increase milk production in their mothers?

3. Same treatment of heifers as older cows or some exceptions?

4. What is the common practice at large dairy operations?

Thanks.

Comments (6)

  • oregonwoodsmoke
    13 years ago

    Calves are separated at birth. They are never allow to suckle the cow.

    The cow is hand milked for colostrum and the calf gets that for several days before converting to either milk or milk replacer.

    I hugely prefer to feed with the bucket that hangs on a fence rail and has the teat at the lower edge for the calf to suckle. You can get pretty beat up trying to hold a bottle for a strong 2 week old calf.

  • arikeden
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Right, that's what my parents use to do in my old country with dairy cows (only).

    But here I met lots of folks that ***believe*** in allowing a calf to suckle for about 2 or more weeks.

    I did some research, and here are two very insightful articles - well-balanced, in my opinion.

    So, I decided to ask here to check out what is the prevalent practice here, in the US. We aspire to use eco-friendly or organic practices, but it seems crazy to allow calves to suckle. At least we could NOT do it as the cow would start reserving milk for her calf and we could not get much. I think it makes perfect sense with Highland or other meat breeds, but does not make sense to me with dairy cows.

    Here are the articles I mentioned.

    http://oacc.info/Docs/AnimalWelfare/AWTF/Dairy_calves.pdf

    http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/outreach-extension/uploaded_files/4-h-files/files/beef-handouts/feeding%20bucket%20calf.pdf

    Oregonwoodsmoke, thanks for your input!

  • oregonwoodsmoke
    13 years ago

    I suppose that since the colostrum can not be added to the regular milk, it saves labor to allow the calf to nurse and remove the colostrum.

    But for me there are 2 major issues. From an economic standpoint, I would worry about damage to the cow's udder.

    From a animal welfare standpoint, it is emotionally easier for the cow to never bond with her calf. She would be heartbroken to lose a calf that she had suckled for 2 weeks. It's hard enough for her to lose a calf at birth that she never got to know.

    It's also easier for the calf to never know and bond with its mother.

  • oregonwoodsmoke
    13 years ago

    Another option is to remove the calf from it's mother as soon as it is born, and graft it onto a beef cow who is raising her own baby. A beef cow can feed as many as 4 calves.

    You need a very good natured, tame beef cow, and the calves must be born at the same time. But I've seen a mama cow happily watching over and suckling 4 little babies, only one of them her own.

  • miwa
    13 years ago

    1: Depends on the location, some places separate cows from calves within 12 hours, others are right away (within 2-3 hours for some commercial operations)

    2: The reason for separation is not driven by milk production, but rather health reasons for calves and the cow entering the milking herd. The cow will produce more milk than the calf can drink, so moving the cow into the milking herd will allow for her to be milked out properly and for the calf to be fed according to what it needs.

    3: If you mean first-calf heifers versus older cows at calving, then yes, the treatment is generally the same.

    4: Common practice for larger dairies are much the same. A lot of the time the cows are in larger maternity pens versus the small operations that many times will have individual box stalls for the cows to calve in.

    Miwa

  • arikeden
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thank you for your responses.

    I was curious about local (US) practices.

    My mother-in-law let the calf to suckle despite my objections (I was at work), and then the cow (helfer - it was her first) would not give any milk. My mother told us that the cow was holding it for the calf.

    Anyways, next day my mother-in-law finally agreed, and now everything is fine. The calf is very strong and bucket-trained. The cow is on the adjacent field, but does not pay any attention to the calf.

    Thanks again for the responses. I knew that that's the way it's done, but my mother-in-law confused me a bit... ;-)

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