How do you tell if a Calf is nursing? And, we need help with unsocialized cattle?

Question

My grandfather has three new calves in his unsocial herd. Two brown, and one black one, who we've named Oreo. They're all almost the same size. They seem to be only a few days old, Judging by their size, and the fact that you can see two puddles of what looks like some of the fluids from when they were born that still look wet.

I was out walking in the pasture a lot yesterday, for a few hours at a time all throughout the day, and noticed both of the brown calves nursing quite a few times. This morning I went outside from 9 AM untill 1 PM, watching the calves. While out there, I counted one of the brown calves nursing twice, and the other brown nursing three times. But not once did I see Oreo nurse. He would lay down very often, he'd wander through the herd and sniff all the cows, and he got seperated a lot. I also watched him chew on bark an mud. Could this mean he can't nurse? How do you tell? If you know about cows, please contact me; I have other questions!

Answer 1

First off, you don't say if you know who the mother is. If you know who the mother is, watch her udder. Look for a not-so-tight udder, it may look a little flabby. Also look for signs of wet hairs. Ringlets of hair around the teat that were wet from the baby's nursing. Also watch the baby, they are very curious and will chew on anything, so don't worry too bad. He should look a little full. He could be a moocher, or calf that takes whatever milk any cow will give him. We have one like that, and a two year old that mooches too.