Diet for family cow
 

I need to know what is the diet for a pregnant cow and what to feed after calving when we will use some of the milk. Im concerned when reading about the milk problums . What are the safegards . We went to our vet and got her shots or what he thought she should have . She is two months preg. her weight is nice. she seems to be a happy cow considering that she is alone...I would appreciate all the advice I can get :happy2:

Good pasture or hay,this is the great thing about a home milkcow if she is of the right breeding this is all she may need .some modern milk cows are bred for super production and must be fed grain in order to maintain body condition .with my brown swiss I feed a little cheepest sweet feed or grain while she is dry just because I like to keep her tame and she is my big pet.while she is milking .feeding me and a calf I give her about a gallon and a half at milking time this keeps the production up and she is here at milking time she is an old pro at this and was broke to milk when I got her.if I were you with a new cow i'd feed her any treats in the manger of the milking stall this could be grain garden or kitcken veggie scraps groom and handle her pet her at this time .this will make milking or breaking her to milk much easyer by the time the calf arrives put a halter on her and get her used to being tied or in a stantion while she is eating her treats and some of her hay this way she will look forward to her time in the milking stalll so she won't be forced into stress full situations after calving..feeding for condition is the key some cows like people can stay shiney a put out plenty of milk on good hay alone my grand parents always kept a milker and fed very little grain if any .but some cows litterly take the fat off there back to fill the bucket and have to be fed extra to keepin good shape modern hosteens are like this often.

Ok Great What kind of hay? Im am feeding oat hay and a little alfalfa.. May buy some round bales of some feed if nitrates arnt too high ...However we havent had much rain since spring .. My pasture is all but done....I give her a little range cubes also...My Paso Finos get the same but I know cows have differnt requirements.

Cows are able to get nutrition out of lower quality hay better than any other farm animal but of corse better hay is prefered .I feel sorry for your area being so dry we were in that situation a couple years ago .but have had record rain this year oat hay is good if it was put up befor overly ripe .mine gets round bales with the beef cows,;; pretty good mixed grass clover timothy some weeds but no alpalpha she do's fine on this in winter with little grain when I milk her I give her a ration of grain and feel that this increses the milk out put I milk on one side and the calf on the other ,him being from our angus bull he is growing fat and fast and will be my beef supply for the year going into the butcher as a baby beef at around 800 pounds at 10 mounths as the cow get dryed off to rest for a few weeks till she freshens in march this also gives me a break from milking during the coldest part of the year and getting her milking as the grass starts in spring ..unless she is already broke to milk as I mentioned early er now months before she freshens is the time to get her in the habbit of comeing in and into the milking stall for her treets even an old pro cow will benifit from this training .you will soon be milking 2 times a day .the more this is a routien calm time for her and you the better

Ok Thats the plan then, I have her bred also to a Angus for meat if its a bull calf I'll band him when he is young if its a heaifer I may keep her for milking and calfing We will see...
The drought was worse last year . We had a nice spring so oat hay was nice but I dont know about feed hay its not doing well at all with no rain this summer Alfafa is irrigated but so high in price . Now all the grain is going through the roof... I have to buy all as we only have 10.06 acres just enough for spring grazing....However Im trying to hang on....

The good thing about cows is they can eat and utilize alot of things. The only caution is feeding too much starch or grain at once, over a gallon, especially if they aren't used to it. More refined carbohydrates can make them sick - I once thought old donuts were a good cheap feed source until I got a cow sick on them.

Today I have fed my cows:

limited pasture
mowed lawn grass
lower quality alfalfa hay
certain weeds from the garden
carrot tops
beet tops
onion tops
old lettuce from frig
pepper plant scraps
zucchini (feed a couple a day - always too many zucchini around)
a few cups of grain ration to keep her coming in

I usually sprinkle a few cups of salt/mineral mix on the grass/hay each day for a cow, heifer and steer. They won't consume enough mineral from a salt block. And we are low on selenium here, so I make sure to add more of that. You can ask your feed store what loose mineral mix is good for your area.

Wow I had no idea they could eat all that stuff . I uasualy feed all that to the chickens... Now what about when they lactate, I read about a calcum deal , not enought of the stuff in their system and having a complete muscle shut down.... What Can I do to ward off some of this ickey stuff also nasty milk? I also feed some range cubes they contain vitamins....

lay off the high calcium alfalfa hay in the later part of pregnancy, no grain either till towards the end of pregnancy if you plan on feeding her lots while lactating.

Is that becuse, to keep the calf small? Just lower end hay untill the calf is born??? Why ? I give her a hand full of alfalfa now no grain and a little range cubes ( Cake) every few days ..

to prevent milk fever and too much grain before birth can lead to fatty liver syndrome.

so is that the same as mastites or is thats caused from something else? And what is fatty liver syndrome?

here is a great website devoted to keeping a family milk cow... Keeping A Family Cow - Home . There is tons of info on all the question you are asking. Mastitis is an infection in the mammary glands..the udder...of the cow usually caused by a bacteria.

Got it ,I know the site! Thanks Guys

mastitis is an infection in the udder nothing to do with milk fever.
Mastitis is about cleanliness and proper milking.

I have a friend who owns a produce store .I gladly take all the old ,brused,dridered out and other wise headed for the trash produce my cow loves watermelons canelope just drop em off the tailgate so they crack some things like sweet corn I break in half apples tomatoes cucumbers when she eats peaches she spits out the seeds I usally pick up this stuff twice a week through the warmer mounths while his store is booming the chickens get in on this as well .just use common sence and don't over feed shee has no problem eating a half busbel of tomatoes and a watermellon .or 3 cantilopes and a dozen ears of sweet corn .this is on top of her regular grain ration I consider this high mosture food a addition to her pasture .if she eats onions it flavores the milk she also has free range on pasture and will still walk a mile or more to hang out with the beef cattle but will come in to her calf and for milking will walk right into her stall where her grain is when I open the gate they like a routine and if I'm late she will often moo for me as she walks by .the milk cow is the main contributer to a homestead not only filling all my dairy needs growing a gormet beef . But as the older skim milk goes to the dogs or pig keeping them fit and shiney lowering the feed bill.one other thing I'll mention your cow will help keep you from getting sick the same way she keeps her calf healthy with mother natures antibodies: a good deal that the advocates of pasturizing don't mention this is a personal opinon .but sence getting her 4 years ago I have not had 1 bout of flu or a cold .

I can't feed my Holly ( an old Jersey) any grain of any kind during the last part of her pregnancy because she freshens with unbelievable edema.... some of the old timers call it "salt poisoning". Not only will her udder become swollen and congested, the swelling fills her whole under belly, chest floor, lower brisket and even up into her neck and jaws. It is miserable for both of us trying to get her milked out.

I let her have all the dry hay and grazing that she wants and then ease her into a grain ration after she freshens. I make dang sure she gets a tube of the milk fever preventative right after freshening. She still has quite a bit of edema but it works itself out after a week or so. My dairy friends all tell me that is a common problem with heavy producing Jerseys.

I also try to give her all the hay she wants while she is dry in the winter but I still give the old gal a small amount of the cheep sweet feed 1/2-1 gallonfeeling the mallases is good for her and to keep her in a routine I also take it easy on the grain for the first week after calving while she is produceing colustrum then as I start milking I raise her grain to a gallon and a half at each milking .remember this is the heapest sweet feed at the SS co-op or the local feed store 9-12% proteen I tried the 16% dairy pellets but fell the extra cost and milk were unnessary

What is the best cleanesing agent for the udder and is it best to milk them dry or leave some for the calf? I will be hand milking.

Ok , what do I need to have on hand, I have been going to sites and they give you a long list of stuff that is very costly.. I do business with valley vet for my horses and dogs so I can order through them What is the necessary stuff? Thanks

Folks will give you all sorts of suggestions for both dips and washes, everybody has their fave.

On the farm we used an iodine udder wash concentrate diluted with hot water and an iodine teat dip both pre and post milking. Dip, wash off and then dry with separate paper towels. Later we used individual lint free cloths for washing.

Or we used a Chlorohexidine dip pre and post with no udder wash. Dip wait a minute and wipe off. Dip again after milking.

With goats we started with a basic udder wash from Fleet Farm and an iodine dip post milking. Later we didn't use any sort of wash or dip and we didn't have any change in udder health at all.

I am not a fan of milking the cow and leaving the calf on her. I would rather milk her out night and day and feed the calf (kept separately) by hand.

I bought a bucket of Teat-chek udder wipes for the goats and use it on my cow, too. I will be the first admit that I have a commercial teat dip for after milking but often times Holly leaves the barn before I remember it. Otherwise, I just make sure that we are all very clean before handling her. We have made it two years with out any mastitis.

So how common is Mastits and milk feaver .. With Mastits keep the udder clean is a preventive, but what about milk feaver what do you do about that?




www.horsetalessalestips.blogspot.com

milk fever is cured with an IV of calcium.
It can be prevented with proper feeding and some folks will dose cows with an oral calcium paste when they freshen.
Prevalence or either will vary from farm to farm due to management practices.

Well :-) here's my long lost of chemicals a wet wash cloth with a weak solotion dawn dish wash if she needs it I will use some bag balm after milking .when I milk the calf now almost 500 pounds is waiting at the gate for bessy and I .the milking barn floor is coverd in straw I have put the grain in her manger and have my wash cloth in my pocket stainless seamless milkbucket in hand I open the gate and bessys hustles to her manger the calf dives in on the left side and I wash wipe off my 2teats set my bucket in place n start milking with both hands .I will usally stop milking the back teat as my left hand gets tired and tart only milking yhe front bigger teat that is easy er to milk due to its size .by now thereis about a quart of milk in if the calf was younger I would have taken more milk from the back .now I continue fast as I can till my frount udder is emty and the calf is now finishing off my back teat and as there is about 3/4 a gallon in the bucket and as I stop the calf latches on and drains her out I head to the house to strain the milk into a big glass pickel jar that goes right in the fridge and I wash up my strainer n bucket right away in warn water and let it drip dry upside down this has all taken 20 minits .prably 10 mins. With the cow like I say this is a ruteen and the three uf us know it well and all goes well :-) 'some times I may have to clean her a little more because she may have layded in a muddy spot or somthing and will do this before entering the barn haveing a small plastic bucket with soapy water. As needed but not very often my cow is healthy and shiney as is the calf fat shiney and healthy like me :-) :-) .now I go and with a small amount of grain or whatever fruit treats I have I let bessy out of the calf lot carefull not to let the calf out as she eats from a rubber bowl I strip out n apply the bagbalm to prevent chapping and I may give the calf some grain he has a big round roll of the best hay I picked from when I was helping put up hay on my cousins farm so he has free choice of this but when I did not have this id put a ration on the manger for him. I may just be lucky but there has never been any problems with sickness ect.other than the rare scratched teat cause of blackberry brares in the pasture she now has a couple hundred acres of wooded to open pastuepre to roam in and grase a clean spring fed creek to drink from or to go hang out with the beef cattle .as the calf is bigger now and can handle all the milk if I'm haying or otherwise tied up I'll let him have all the milk if I have to be gone for a couple days I can turn him out with her .I hever worm her while I'm milking only while she's dry and have never medicated because she or the other cows have never been sick .I think this is due to plenty of pasture and clean water and not any other cow traffic from say buying and selling all the time and bringing in grems from all over .I could take and do some times more or less milk whatever my needs are and as the cow produces more or less milk .

Wow great insight of your milking procedure. I enjoyed the verbal Picture . I plan to keep the calf with the cow and share the milk . There could be times when I couldent milk ,stuck in town for some reason,or a bad snow storm allthough I allways go out to feed no matter what kind of weather I go to town no more then 4 times a month but the weather here is harsh at every season...You never know what may come up. Its better to think ahead.

Thats a good idea! I'll have some on hand!

When it comes to hay, any cow needs nothing more than just grass hay if it has a good protein level.

As far as udder washes, you don't need anything other than just a warm soapy water with additional rinse water.

Mastitis is a bacterial infection and can happen no matter how clean you have the premises and/or the cow.

Usually milk fever will show within the first couple days after calving.

Some farmers feed candy to their cows.

Cows get candy instead of corn - Technology & science - Science - LiveScience - NBCNews.com

Thats intresting If feed prices get much higher we all will be looking for something cheaper... I dont know If I can stay out of the candy myself... Hummm Cow candy how about Jolly Ranchers, or brown cows!

PASO FINO Horse Tales,Sales,tips & training ideas

The more genetically programmed your cow is for high production, the more careful you need to be feeding her to meet her needs.

One reason I don't have a pure dairy cow, but usually milk a beef/jersey cross. Much less risk of milk fever and udder edema and mastitis, and when bred to a beef bull, makes a nice beef calf. I guess if you need several gallons of milk daily, you might need a pure dairy animal, but they do have more issues.

I am actually now milking a beef cow, until my Hereford/Jersey cross heifer calves next spring. That heifer will give me more than I need, but a fellow with a few boys just told me he'd like to get milk, and might need even more people.

My Half Jersey half brown swiss is bred to a black Angus If she has a bull it will go for meat if its a heifer for milk ...Hopefully it will work out.

I have heard of several beef breeds being milked even highlanders with exception the hair can be a pain. They say they dont stay fresh as long as a dairy breed. I dont know about that!