Observation of 'Fostering'

[Donlin Stud]

What we called the observation of ‘fostering’



We decided for last year’s calving season, we would encourage a very tight calving pattern. I was taking holidays!!!

And this year I claimed, there will be only the one sire to compare apples with apples.
Hank was placed with girls for 3 weeks and 4 days. Anyone missed or late placed their ovaries on holidays for the season.


Two days after the expected start date, Leala had a very little bullcalf named Eric.


4 days later was first time mum-to-be Bindi’s turn. We watched in interest Bindi’s sudden and quite forceful ‘fostering’ of young Eric. She was late in the first stage labour. Awwwwww first time mum getting a little confused with the smell of a newborn we thought.

We were about to move the upset Leala and bub when Bindi went into second stage. Elsa arrived in true Dexter style and Eric was no longer a thought


The fostering of Eric announced the arrival of each of the next four calves. I would have assumed the last calf born would have been the chosen one, but no, it was Eric.

This was becoming ‘the thing’ so much so that the bloke rings me around 4am as he exited the property. Midori was ‘fostering’. Ed arrived right on sunrise.


The only mum who didn’t foster was Sahara. Little Ellie arrived just after sunrise, the last calf of 7 and 2.1 weeks after Eric arrived.

We had never seen this fostering before. And not just by new mums but very experienced mums to boot.

At first we thought it was the newborn smell – but Eric wasn’t the last calf born after Bindi’s bub arrived. He was the eldest – but he was the calf of the lowest ranking mum.

Anyone else experience this ‘fostering’ behaviour before?
Here are two photos of new arrivals showing Eric not far away

Attachments:

[lonecowhand]

Hi Donna , let me get this straight... when you say fostering , I assume you mean hanging with, and feeding off a different momma?

Does that mean Eric is going about getting everybody's Colostrum?

Or is he just hanging with the foster moms?

[Donlin Stud]

oooops sorry. No fostering I meant the mum-in-labour was licking and loving Eric while chasing his real mum away. These mums-in-labour were behaving as if Eric was their newborn calf.
One mum did this for several hours before she gave birth to her own.

No sucking.
Poor Eric didnt know what to do most of the time. You could tell he knew this wasnt "my" mum. Each time he tried to walk off towards his real mum, the mum-in-labour would nudge, lick and 'talk' to him.

And this type of intense attention was only given to him while the mums were in labour.
Once they gave birth to their own calves, Eric was ignored.

Actually Branna chased poor confused Eric away when her own calf went too close to Eric while attempting to stand for the first time.

It was all very bizzare

[lonecowhand]

Wow Donna, I'll say!
I am surprised that the "object of affection" (Eric) does not try to nurse those foster moms.Or maybe he does and is rebuffed.
Seems he's being used like a security blanket! This fickle-ness is something to ponder...
It's something of a surprise that "real Mum" allows her calf to be cut away.
Is Leala a low ranked cow?

[otf]

If this were to happen here, Eric and his true mother would be placed in a smaller enclosure to "bond," as they say. There is little to be gained, from the standpoint of the cow new to motherhood or the calf new to calfdom, from being confused as to which calf belongs to which mother and vice versa.

Some years back here, a bull calf was born to a cow pastured with a heifer (who wanted nothing more than to be a mother). The heifer took command of the new calf and the real mother didn't argue. We ended the discussion by removing the heifer. My concern was that the real mother needed to take ownership of her calf and learn to care for it, and the calf needed to recognize his true mother. It worked out okay in the end thanks to the separation! Sadly, however, the heifer was never able to carry a calf and become a real mother; she would have been one of the best!

[Donlin Stud]

Yes, Leala is a low ranked cow. She ranks just above the heifers now since having her first calf Doug in 2015,
Until then, she was considered an outsider after isolating herself from the herd when she lost her very devoted mother from snake bite when just 2.5mths of age.

This fostering behaviour only ever lasted 2 to 3 hours until second stage labour kicked in. At which time Eric would make his getaway, running to mum so I doubt he would have attempted tried to suckle. He knew who mum was.

We thought of separating Leala and Eric to stop this behaviour but returning a low ranked cow to the herd would have been worse for Leala.

This fostering experience seems to have placed Eric into a very favourable position indeed.

Today at 6.2mths old, Eric is a well-loved calf by the entire herd.
He has never experienced the chasing off or head shake from others. He is allowed to stick his head in someone else’s treat bowl – other calves are told to get out.