how many calves do you have on them at anyone time?
Depends on the cow, her production, but up to 3 so far. I don't think Plenty would ever have enough milk for 3 at a time but Hillie works hard so has managed 3 at a time. I could see her having four if I had 2 nearing weaning and was getting a new pair established - but I'd have to be managing their access to her so that the older ones didn't take all the milk.
How easy do Jerseys take to adopted calves? How easy do Jerseys take to adopted calves? Do they still have their own calf on when you foster another one on?
Hillie huffs and puffs a bit when you first put a 'stranger' onto her, so you have to manage feeding so the calf gets enough for a week or two. But once it smells of her she lets it drink. After the first set, once her own calf is weaned, she will then love the next like her own after about two or three weeks. When she still has her own calf on, no other calf gets mother love but is allowed to suck and she will take care of them all when they're out in the field.
Plenty hasn't taken to it quite so well, partly I think because I didn't manage the first set-on quite so well as I did with Hillie. But again, after a while she accepts that there'll be two suckling and #2 works out to nip in at the back when #1 is suckling. She never quite really loved her second set, but did take them out with her and let them suck. Hopefully she'll be happier about it this time (this is her second lactation.)
This time around I am running the two of them together, both with their own calf and a pair of set-ons. It's pretty much a free-for-all, everyone suckles everyone! It's working well actually, as Hillie has so much more milk than Plenty, so when Plenty's empty anyone who's still hungry moves over to Hillie!
Are you taking milk off them for the house at the same time and if so how much do you get?
Yes I take milk for us, and lambs, too. I take what I need. The cows are kept apart from the calves overnight, then fed and milked if I want milk. Then the calves get on to drink what's left. If the weather's nice they all go out together during the day, otherwise the calves are in a strawed area and the cows go into the cubicles. If they've been inside all day, I put the cows back with the calves in the evening for a few hours.
I mostly take around 2L a day for us, when I'm feeding lambs I may need more. One of the set-ons is a month older than the others, so he can be weaned earlier if I need more for lambs later on. And if I need twice-a-day milk for lambs then I may not let the calves run with the cows during the day.
I get the calves eating cake as soon as they will, which means they don't starve if mum is a little short now and again