How many days will a dairy calf stay with its mother?

A dairy calf needs colostrum in its first few hours of life, so the calf is allowed to stay with its mother for a day or two. It is then, in commercial dairy operations, taken away to be placed in a calf hut or pen or in a calf barn and is bottle-fed with milk-replacer for a few months before being weaned.

However, on farms where dairy cows are kept as either nurse cows or as a hobby-farm milk cow, a calf will stay with its momma for at least 4 to 6 months, sharing the udder with one or two other orphaned beef calves.