Cow /calf mismatch

Dickie10

3 cows calved on sunday in shed in space of 4 hrs however 1 calf started sucking another cow only spotted today. Let out the cow and calf that was being sucked and put the other calf in a pen with the mother , the mother didn't seem to keen (heifer, but very quiet whitehead), she did have a big bag of milk that hadn't been drank much so i milked a bit out of her and as the calf was fairly full(from the other cow I think!) I left them to it til 10 pm tonight, put the cow in the headgate in pen, tried to milk her but very little milk came, tried the calf to suck he pulled away didn't want to know about it, tried a bit with a bottle same thing, so let her out and hoped for the best, just as I was going the cow was licking the calfs head, hopefully there bonding again or should I be worried? hard to judge if he s full looking or not but he was lively enough to pull me round the place trying to get him to drink, plus he isn't bawling for hunger, could it be I am getting worried over nothing? would milk be that scarce or is it mastitis? sorry for the long winded effort

Genghis Cant

You've a couple of issues there. Firstly the mastitis, you know your own cow better than anyone on here, if she was ok in a elder a couple if days ago, its likely she's ok now. What do you think handling her?
The other issue is a weak bond with the calf. Is be thinking of isolating the pair of them for a couple of days to allow them bond without the complication of other cows/calves.
Is there a chance another calf is dragging out of her?
So isolate, keep a close eye on calf ans cows elder would Br my advice!

Dickie10

that's a god help thanks. First yes elder was grand milked all 4 spins this eve 5 pm, not much milk at 10pm, thinking calf must av got it out her.
second yes both cow and calf are isolated together in a calving pen, Im prob a bit over worried but its inmy nature. but I have learned a lesson that one of the small disadvantages of choosing very quiet cows for bulling is the fact thatsome don't mind other calves drinking them, I should have penned the quiet one of the three at least perhaps kept all three separate, thought this was merely a sheep problem!

Genghis Cant

If you handled the elder at 5pm and again at 10pm it suggests to me that mastitis is not an issue here.
The whole affair shows the importance of the first few hours in building a bond (or imprinting) between cow and calf. We tend to take it for granted to some extent!
If you're happy the cow is mothering the calf and the calf sucking well they can be let off to grass, nothing like it for bringing milk!
Best of luck with them.