Our new cow- pic

[southerngurl]

Here's Elsie. She was delivered a few hours ago. She has already eaten nearly 1/3 of one of my expensive bales of bermuda. Thankfully we just got a round bale of not-so-expensive-but-still-good-hay delivered.

I hope our first milking goes well. She was delivered right after morning milking, but I can see her udder has already filled up some so that's good. She'll be getting higher quality hay here so maybe that will prevent a drop in production. I picked up the grain she's been getting yesterday.

Oh and she's already drank a ton of water ha. I expected that though of course. But I'll be carrying her water by bucket to the pen until her test comes back or I buy another hose to reach.

[jill.costello]

Oh my! How lovely! And I see a perfect, hand-sized teat! Good job!

[myersfarm]

reminds me of my Elise...one nice cow

[Callieslamb]

Very nice. I hope she does very well for you. Expect some drop in production from the stress of moving...not that she looks even partially stressed.

[southerngurl]

Well she finally laid down so she must be relaxing some. I also fed her some apple slices by hand. That bumped me up a few notches in her book, she follows me around now.

[nduetime]

She is beautiful! Is she as gentle as her face imparts?

[oldtimer]

southerngurl,

As I haven’t worked with dairy cattle for a long time I may be off on my rating of your new family member so here is the best I can do.
I rate her a 7, and that is exactly where I would want her to be if she were mine.

Here are a few of the things that I took into consideration.

She seems alert and attentive
She is neither under or over weight
She carries herself well
She seems to be in good physical health
Udder and teats seem good from what I can see
Horns, ears, eyes and nose all look good
Seems to have been well care for and not from a puppy mill operation
I have her age as 3 - 4 YO?


Questions:
Is she purebred/registered as I see no tags in the ears?
Why was she culled aka sold?

What unknown could change my rating:
Milk production both quality and quantity
Breed ability

Feeding:
I would put her on free choice hay, and mineral salt and 2-3 lbs per day of a premix 12% protein feed and watch her condition, milk production and the weather and adjust the feed accordingly.


Word of caution:
I have read on several other threads that in an attempt to get the maximum amount of milk some people have engaged in “stripping” to get every drop of milk they can.
Stripping is what you do when you want a cow to go dry.
It is what a calf does that causes momma to kick him off and then go dry.

IMO this is why dairy farmers have to breed their cows back every year to keep production up and sometimes do a lot of unnecessary culling..
IMO not all cows give the same amount of milk and the auto milking machine should not be left on the same amount of time as a cow that gives more milk or you will be stripping all the lesser producers based on the preset milking time.

Any who, I think you made a good investment, if you bought her right
Good luck and thanks for sharing.
OT

[genebo]

She's very pretty. I love her horns.

Genebo
Paradise Farm

[linn]

Beautiful cow. I can't see her back teats but the front ones look just right for hand milking. I hate to hand milk a cow with short teats.

[southerngurl]

Oldtimer, you can see hows and whys we got her here:

Lifespan of a Jersey cow?

They said she was "about 6". I looked at her incisors and they looked good. I couldn't see further in there, she didn't like us messing with her mouth.

She seems fairly gentle. I know last night when we pulled blood from her tail she never kicked, but she did dance when the needle went in. She doesn't want me to get her halter, but when I have food she will go ahead and concede. She is kinda defensive with those horns which I don't care for. Like when you lead her, you can pull her towards you, but when you try to turn pushing her away from you, she lets you know she has horns. I've got a different halter I'm hoping to put on her. that one's broken.

Her teats are, indeed, very big! The ones in the back are good sized too.

[oldtimer]

southerngurl,

After reading that my “caveat Emptor” light went on.

At breeding time watch her very carefully.
Watch the bull mount her. When he dismounts watch her not the bull.
What you want to see is for her to stand with her back arched for any where from 15 to 30 seconds, or even more. This tells you the bull did his job.
It is best to see this for 2 or 3 times, then you know if there is a problem you know the bull surly did his job right.
Mark your calendar, if she comes back in heat in around 21 days, you got a non breeder or your bull is sterile.

For now, be very careful around her as she may very well attempt to mount you. ( It’s a hormonal thing. Kind of like “I can‘t get no satisfaction“) Possible temperament problem.
OT

[myersfarm]

I think if I had a good milk cow I would give her more then 2 times to bred before I thought I had non breeder or bull was sterile

[southerngurl]

Well I just milked her for the first time! Such a relief, she did fine (I don't have a headgate so I was concerned). Her feet were in the same place when I quit as when I started. I got a gallon which I think is real good considering: this is the short milk time,t hey milk 5pm and 7am, I milked an hour early and some ended up on the ground (One teat squirts screwy and I scooted the pail once and some sloshed out). So yay!

My arms are tired. My hands are used to milking goats, but holding my arms out under that big belly- I'm glad she's not real fresh!

[oldtimer]

Myersfarm,

If I read southerngurl right she wants a cow that is a good milker and a calf producer.
And if I am not mistaken from what I read, this cow has been open for at least 60 days since calving.
So she has had at least two heat cycles since calving and will be on at least her third cycle (90 days ) at her next heat. Therefore calving is no excuse for not breeding.
IMO she is more then past any acceptable breed back time if she had been with a bull. I use a 60 day breed back time after calving. If a cow only produces half ( milk or calf only) of what they should they get wheels put under them ASAP.
An open cow is a liability not an asset.
I breed for cows that breed back within 60 days. That way I get a calf every year and every 5th year I get two calves that year. It doesn’t always happen with all cows but that is my goal.

The next time she comes in heat I would put her with a bull and if she came in heat again, she would go down the road.
But that’s just me!
OT

[myersfarm]

I think if I had a good milk cow I would give her more then 2 times to bred before I thought I had non breeder or bull was sterile

[Germandairy]

Beautiful Jersey!!!!!

[springvalley]

Originally Posted by myersfarm

I think if I had a good milk cow I would give her more then 2 times to bred before I thought I had non breeder or bull was sterile

I`m with you myersfarm, if a cow is a good to great cow I will give her more chances than a cow that is a pain in the ars. I have one nice little jersey that wouldn`t breed and wouldn`t breed, finaly got her bred, she milked a year and a half before we dried her off. She was worth keeping, besides I like my cows to well to put "wheels under them" in to much of a hurry. > Thanks Marc

[springvalley]

Oh, southergurl, nice looking cow, I like the horns also, even thought I don`t like them on mine. > Marc

[francismilker]

I like those quality lengthed "handles" she has. It's not often in these days I see a handmilker with enough teat length to get a hold of. Good looking cow in my book.

On the breeding issue: Provided you have easy, convenient access to either a bull or AI technician I'd give her a heat cycle or two to breed. If she turns out to be a repeat offender you might end up shipping her due to the hassle it is to haul her to a bull or pay another AI techs trip fees. I'd give her a chance though.

[willow_girl]

Nice looking girl! You did good.

I breed for cows that breed back within 60 days. That way I get a calf every year and every 5th year I get two calves that year. It doesn’t always happen with all cows but that is my goal.

I would consider that pushing the cow pretty hard. The voluntary waiting period (time between calving and next breeding) was around 90 days on most of the farms I tested. I'm curious as to your herd average? Higher-producing cows often seem to be slower to breed back for some reason. One of the very good herds I tested (90+ lb. average) tended to have cows "go way out," sometimes requiring five or six breedings to settle. Another high-production herd (again, consistently over 90 lbs.) resorted to using beef bulls to settle a few of their cows.

I'm not sure, from Southerngurl's earlier posts, whether this cow has even been exposed to a bull yet!