This is the Twin Mama with her 2 babies...
Calf 10 and Calf 11
The Twin Mama has decided she doesn't want
one of her calves......Calf #10
notice calf number 10 stealing milk
from behind her?
That is because she won't allow him to nurse,
he must steal milk when she is busy grazing.
Here is Part 2 of the story:
One of our cows, Moonie,
had a dead calf a couple days ago.
We removed the hide from the dead calf
and put it on the twin calf number 10:
Twin Calf #10
Now smells and looks like Moonie's calf...
We put Calf #10 in the pen with Moonie:
Moonie smells the calf...
she decides it smells like her calf...
Moonie says, okay, I'll take him!
They have been together for a few days now,
Calf #10 has a full belly
and Moonie just adores him !
Happy Ending...
p.s. When they have securely bonded,
we will remove the hide from the calf.
A great deal of time and energy goes into
grafting a calf onto a new mama cow.
It doesn't always go as planned,
but when it works....it is a wonderful thing.
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May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,
LuAnn Kessi
What a wonderful story!!! Hope all goes well...of course, we'll be waiting for updates!!!! Bless you! We would do similar with our foals...I had a mare who died 24 hr after birthing twins...she was an older mare but bred every year. We had to end up getting a goat to be her stall mate!!! And had to feed the foal every few hours...my friend who worked 2nd shift would come over until I got home from work early. That foal turned out to be a pretty good mare herself!!! Vet said the goat would teach her to eat and she did. We kept that dumb goat for years too. He would wrap around my son's shoulders and you'd see the two of them walking around the farm/barn! What a sight!
ReplyDeleteHi Robbie, we believe the cow and calf have bonded. We will remove the hide in another day and turn them out in a small area to keep an eye on them for a few more days....just to be sure. Then they will be turned out with the rest of the cow and calf pairs.
DeleteLuAnn
I've read about farmers doing that with sheep...they just sew the hide on the "bummer" lamb and because it smells right, the ewe will usually accept it. One less bottle calf for you!! I always wonder why moms sometimes reject a baby.
ReplyDeleteLots of twin mothers will reject one of their babies. Having twin babies for a cow is an unnatural thing, they are only supposed to give birth to one calf. Perhaps the cows do it to be certain they will have enough milk to feed one?
DeleteLuAnn
Beautiful heart on that darling face!!
ReplyDeleteYes, Calf 10 has a perfect white heart on his forehead. The mama and calf are quite content. We will remove the hide in the next day or so and turn them out together. Success !
DeleteLuAnn
Oh that makes me so happy!!!
ReplyDelete