yearling heifer milking my bred heifer. What to do?

[Richburg]

my march 07 show heifer has been milking my 06 bred heifer who is due in a couple weeks.

reason i am asking is the yearling heifer has had dirreah for about a month and i have tried everything but she still cant get back to where i want her.

Can this be happening because she is milking her?

Anyone had this happen before and what would be your solution to get her to stop milking

thanks

 

[Bawndoh]

Separate them.  I have seen cows milk cows, and I think it is just an odd phase.  But you cannot have another animal milking your cow that is about to calve.  She will use up all the colostrum.  Separate them ASAP.

 

[dori36]

Separate them.  I have seen cows milk cows, and I think it is just an odd phase.  But you cannot have another animal milking your cow that is about to calve.  She will use up all the colostrum.  Separate them ASAP.

Agreed.  Easiest solution of all - separate them!  Problem solved!

 

[Shorthorn_Junkie]

Separate them.  I have seen cows milk cows, and I think it is just an odd phase.  But you cannot have another animal milking your cow that is about to calve.  She will use up all the colostrum.  Separate them ASAP.

That is exactly right. 

Back when I had a bigger herd, I had the same thing happen.  As a result when my first time heifer (that another animal had been nursing) gave birth, we lost her first calf because she had no colostrum for her baby.

Plus she had an infection in her udder.  It was really nasty. 

 

[TJ]

Separate them.  I have seen cows milk cows, and I think it is just an odd phase.  But you cannot have another animal milking your cow that is about to calve.  She will use up all the colostrum.  Separate them ASAP.

That is exactly right.   

Back when I had a bigger herd, I had the same thing happen.  As a result when my first time heifer (that another animal had been nursing) gave birth, we lost her first calf because she had no colostrum for her baby.

Plus she had an infection in her udder.  It was really nasty. 

Seperate And test the yearling for johnes!

 

[Richburg]

well kind of a problem because i dont have an extra runout pen, so i was kind of wondering if i used one of those things that you put in the nose of the calf where the mother wont let her milk?

 

[showgirl2010]

An easier solution would be to sale her because if they start they wont quit. 

My dad has said he has actually seen a cow twist around and milk herself.  Odd I know.

Jamie

 

[linnettejane]

ive been having a similar problem this year.....i retained a jan. 07 heifer in my herd...she was weaned mid june 07 and had been in the barn from then until jan 08 when i had to kick her out to bring momma's in to calve....well, momma's calved and after babies are a month old i kick them out of the barn....as soon as i put out the 07 heifer's momma and her baby, the 07 calf starts nursing her momma again!!!!  sucking her dry!!!! and the momma's 08 baby started to loose weight, so i had to bring the 07 calf back in the barn...which by the way ended up being like weaning her all over again...she bawled for 3 days and eventually lost her voice.....what causes them to do this???  i bought  one of those nose rings with the guard on it and put on her...she's been out for two days now and it seems to be working...she is still following her momma around, but cant nurse her.....im worried.... is she always going to do this???  how long should i leave that nose ring in?

 

[justintime]

If you cant seperate them, put a bull ring in her nose. She will not be able to suck with that in her nose. If you are planning on showing her, you will have to take the ring out and put it back in ... which will be a real pain. Once her sho career is over, I would leave the ring in her nose for a few months so that she will completely forget about sucking another cow. A few years ago I had a cow that decided to suck herself. I could not figiure out why her calf was getting so thin, as I saw it sucking the mom numerous times. I finally caught her in the act. She actually could turn her body enough to drain herself of milk... Talk about the untimate in recycling. I put a ring in her nose for about a year, and she never tried it again.

 

[Rustynail]

We had this problem a few years ago.  We put a ring in her nose with little spikes on it.  When she would go to suck a cow it would poke her utters and she would not let her suck.  Broke the habit in a couple of months.  We took it out and she never started again.  Nothing like a couple kicks to teach manners. 

 

[Rocky Hill Simmental]

I know a guy who had his bull sucking his cows so he put one of those rings with spikes in it on his nose and that stopped him.  (lol)

 

[red]

I had calves nusring a heifeer that was to calve last year. Idon't believe the colustrum is let down until the cow actually calves. I'm sure if I'm wrong someone will correct me.
I'd be more concerned about the scours. I agree & would get her tested.

Red

 

[fluffer]

I have also heard you have to worry about mastitis when they do that.

Fluffer

 

[linnettejane]

Seperate And test the yearling for johnes!
[/quote]

what is this?  and is the sucking as a yearling a symptom?

 

[red]

Seperate And test the yearling for johnes!

what is this?  and is the sucking as a yearling a symptom?
[/quote]

check out this thread. Lot's of good info from DL.

Red

 

[dori36]

well kind of a problem because i dont have an extra runout pen, so i was kind of wondering if i used one of those things that you put in the nose of the calf where the mother wont let her milk?

Don't mean to be critical here, but I believe that if you're going to have cattle, even just a couple, you've got to get set up for them.  Having only one pen for different classes and kinds of cattle just isn't good management.  Where will the cow calve when her time comes? So, try this:  get a solar (solar because you can put it anywhere) powered fence charger, run some electric tape to split you're existing pen in half, connect the tape to the charger, and, voila, two pens.  I've done this countless times in a pinch.  I use a Gallagher but there are others just as good.

 

[showgirl2010]

I have also heard you have to worry about mastitis when they do that.

Fluffer

Absolutely, they can get mastitis.  We had a bull calf that we weaned early and put in with the show heifers.  Well, he had been weaned for awhile so we thought it was all good, but he began to nurse on one of the show heifers.  She had mastitis, so we had to inject the medicine into her teet, which turned into a huge mess.  The heifer didn't like it and the infection was nasty.

Jamie