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CloversMum
3486 Posts
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 Posted - Mar 10 2014 : 10:08:46 PM
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| Our Clover had to be bottle-fed as her mom was a long-time dairy cow and just didn't know what to do with her baby. Fortunately, the owner of Clover's mom was able to milk her and we froze LOTS of Jersey milk for Clover. Clover had all of her mother's colostrum and was on her mama's milk for the first month. After that, we tried to use powder formula for Clover and that caused issues with Clover (scours). I asked our vet about goats' milk and he highly recommended that for Clover. So, we started to mix our goats' milk with the remaining Jersey milk and Clover thrived. Clover loved her bottle and we bottle-fed her until she was 13 weeks old. She became very attached to us and that was a positive aspect; however, I think in the future, I would love to watch a cow care for her baby and not have to worry about the bottle-feeding. But, we are new to this...so after hearing others' experiences, we may change our minds. |
Loving life and family on our Idaho farm, Meadowlark Heritage Farm; A few Jersey cows; a few alpacas; a few more goats, and even more ducks and chickens |
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maryjane
7074 Posts
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Posted - Mar 12 2014 : 09:21:12 AM
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I know a woman scientist who's employed to work on human baby formula. Apparently, experts are constantly working to improve it as problems arise. She said to me, "Creating infant formula is like inventing a rain forest. There is so much detail we struggle to know."
Seems like any mammal's milk would have the same challenges. How about the latest that says that lactating cows produce. not only a richer milk when their calf is a girl, but more of it?
Your situation with Clover sounds ideal. I would have loved to be in that situation in that you had good milk to feed her. I've only bottle-fed once and definitely it can help with bonding. I was milking a cow and brought home a young calf from Kansas and so I bottle fed her for a month or so. It's definitely a great experience to get to bottle feed a calf, especially if you have youngsters around.
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MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~ |
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CloversMum
3486 Posts
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Posted - Mar 22 2014 : 9:07:24 PM
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| Our children loved bottle-feeding Clover. Clover still is very affectionate to our kids and I think bottle-feeding really helped with the bonding on both sides! |
Loving life and family on our Idaho farm, Meadowlark Heritage Farm; A few Jersey cows; a few alpacas; a few more goats, and even more ducks and chickens |
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![[flourish]](/images/flourish-txt_mobius.png)
Bottle-fed out of Necessity
![Heritage Jersey Organization [logo]](/images/HJO-logo.png){kind=logo}
