What is calf sharing and why are we doing it?

Answering some of your most asked questions in regards to our family cow!

First off,

What is calf sharing?

You keep saying “calf sharing”- what does that mean?

In a nutshell, calf sharing means that mama and calf stay together!

From birth, Mabel and Waffles have always been together. Waffles gets all the milk, love and affection that he needs from his mom. He learns so much from her and Mabel is very happy to have him by her side!

Waffles will be with Mabel for at least 9 months- maybe even more. He will grow big and strong (already is!) and they both will be happy!

Essentially, we (our family and Waffles) share the milk.

For the first month or so, Waffles was with Mabel 24/7 and I milked twice a day. Mabel’s body adjusted and she easily provided enough for all of us. That being said, as Waffles got bigger, the milk we were getting started decreasing.

Now we separate Mabel and Waffles during the night. We waited until he was just over a month old (and the weather was warm enough) but what really sealed the deal was once the snow started melting, Mabel didn’t want to come in the barn in the morning. Three mornings of chasing her around the pasture at 5 AM was my limit.

After the evening milking, Waffles goes in a stall and we reunite them again after the morning milking. I leave a quarter for him and there really has never been an issue. Mabel doesn’t go far from her baby and has figured out that she gets him back after she lets me milk in the morning!

What are the benefits?

At the forefront, Mabel and Waffles receive the most benefit from this arrangement. Overall, they are happier and healthier together! It really is the way nature intended the cow/calf relationship to be.

We also gain something from this arrangement as well. With cow and calf together, we do not have to bottle feed Waffles. Although we did enjoy bottle feeding calves last year, not having to frees up a lot of our time and lessens the worry- mama cow takes the best care of her calf!

Another perk is we can actually leave our farm! If we (ever) decide to take a short vacation, we could easily just leave Mabel and Waffles together 24/7 and he will take care of the milking for us. Of course, we would do a “test run” to make sure he could keep up with her production and we would never try this on a very young calf.

This isn’t our arrangement but for some, they are able to have their cow foster more calves for them! Some cows will take in other calves as their own. If a farmer wants to raise more calves but doesn’t necessarily want to bottle feed- this sometimes works! This is especially is helpful if your cow is a very high producer.

Are there any drawbacks?

Nothing is perfect, right? What are the downfalls to calf-sharing?

Mainly, the downfall would be that the calf can take as much as he/she wants. For someone wanting most/all of a cows milk, this would not be a good arrangement. We did have to start separating Mabel and Waffles at night because of this, he was drinking as much as he could and we weren’t left with much. Don’t worry though, he gets plenty to drink all day long and is very healthy! He is old enough to not have to feed 24/7 and sometimes calves can over-feed if allowed full access.

Depending on your cow, the protective motherly instinct can get in the way. (Most) cows are excellent mothers and are always watching out for their calf. Some normally calm cows can become quite aggressive and protective after calving. When a calf is separated from the cow, after a few days they are back to their old self. However, when left together sometimes their vigilant nature can get in the way of milking. Cow may get upset if she can’t see her calf and may make milking troublesome. As the calf gets older, the cow does normally calm down some.

We didn’t have this issue, Mabel was very trusting of us (mainly me) around Waffles from the beginning and actually stood worse at milking when we had him at her head. She wanted him loose and behind/next to her.

In the case of mastitis, the calf can possibly spread it from one quarter to another. Since he/she is drinking from all quarters, this could be a potential issue.

Calf can also injure the cows teats as he gets older and more aggressive at feeding time. Sometimes when the calf is old enough, or causing too much damage, a “stop milking” temporary nose shield is placed on the calf so they can’t suckle anymore.

Calf sharing was a no-brainer for us.

In fact, calf sharing is what convinced my husband that we could handle a family cow! Before learning about the benefits, he envisioned me milking 8+ gallons a day and us literally drowning in milk! Not to mention, giving up any chance of a life outside the farm.

I absolutely believe this arrangement is best for cow and calf whenever it can be done. That being said, I do understand that some circumstances do not allow this to happen.

I hope this information helps you better understand our calf-sharing choice and possibly showed you that it is possible to have a family cow and a life off the farm!

Thank you for stopping by the homestead!

Until next time,

Melissa