Severe drop in Milk production

[ColoradoGirl]

I am looking for some ideas as to what may be going on with my milk cow. She is almost 4 years old and this is her first freshening. She aborted once and then this last time the calf was still born at full term and had to be pulled. I went and bought her another baby, but she hated him and would never allow him to suck.

She has been fresh 3 months. I milk twice a day and feed the calf with a bucket. He is out with her and the other two cows and they come in when I call. 6 weeks in, she was giving me around 7 gallons a day. (She is a huge cow) But last week production started dropping. Today the evening milking was only 1 3/4 gallons.


At first I thought she must be coming into season because she was a little ornery. But shouldn't that have passed in a week?

The management conditions are: We live on 300 acres in Colorado that sits at 7300 ft. We haven't had much rain so things are dry. We are not able to irrigate most of the pastures. But there is plenty of grass because there is so much land and only 4 cows. Its mostly brome and its topping out right now. Some places in the fields its belly high with grass. I don't fence, the milk cow has full wondering ability. (The beef cows are tether and rotated through out the property. They are fat as hogs.) The Milk Cow is free to find the best grass and she can water at any of the three tanks I have around that I fill each day. She has free feed minerals.

I notice that I could see a couple of ribs about a week ago so I upped her grain to try and improve her condition. She isn't skinny by milk cow standards, but I saw a difference and wanted to bring her back to the same place. She has not regained the weight even with the extra grain. But she seems to be dropping a little more.

Its hot and dry here. Do you suppose she is just eating less and making less milk? would it make that much difference. Do you think she doesn't like the grass all of a sudden (she was raised here and has always done well). Because she is free to roam, do you suppose she eat something she wasn't supposed to and its effecting her? Gosh i just don't know. any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I really liked the 7 gallons a day!

[willow_girl]

1) Has she been tested for Johnes? What does her pewp look like? (Any diarrhea?)

2) How does her milk look? Any blood, chunks, watery stuff? Sometimes a noticeable drop in production can signal an incipient case of mastitis.

On last test day, one of our best cows registered only 18 lbs. I was sure the tester's meter was whack ... until, a day later, the cow became symptomatic. (And I had to eat my hat, LOL.)

So ... keep a close eye on that milk, and consider testing for J's.

[ColoradoGirl]

1. Poop is normal. Doesn't that cow has to be exposed to Johns? I purchased her from a friend and he has a small, healthy herd of about 6 cows. I live on an isolated 300 acres. This cow has been here since she was 4 months old.

2. milk is great. I strain it when placing it in the glass and we use it everyday. good color and cream content.

But, I'll call the Vet on Monday and see if we can figure out what's going one.

[cowbelle]

The heat we've been having could influence the production, - they tend to head for the shade and not eat as much, but shouldn't be as much as you say. Something else must be going on.

[sammyd]

poor grass. Best grass would be around the bud stage not nearer the seed stage.

[tinknal]

My guess would be the heat, and the calf.

[ColoradoGirl]

Originally Posted by sammyd

poor grass. Best grass would be around the bud stage not nearer the seed stage.

If the grass was lacking, wouldn't she want the alfalfa pellets? She gets mad when I put them in with the grain. Swishes her tail at me.

[ColoradoGirl]

Originally Posted by tinknal

My guess would be the heat, and the calf.

I penned the calf up yesterday so there was no way for him to be stealing. So its not that. I am starting to get worried.

[Cannon_Farms]

Now, mind you I do goats but the cause of our big decline earlier this year was worms, Hot Complex worms are well known to decrease production. Worms shouldnt be as much of an issue for you as it is me, but just throwing that out there.
My goats also hate alfalfa pellets, I use mini horse and pony feed because like several nutrina products it is mostly alfalfa hay and they eat it like its the best thing ever, production increased overnight.
If its possible to get a fecal or try fresh hay I would do either or both.
They can be exposed to Johnes at birth and not become symptomatic for several years, so even though your friend has a nice clean herd some one down the line may have not had.

[Jennifer L.]

Poor grass at this point, plus the heat. Milkers don't like high heat. Worms could certainly be part of the problem if they've built up.

How much grain is she getting? Fifty pounds plus of milk would take a lot of feed to keep up.

[ColoradoGirl]

Originally Posted by Jennifer L.

Poor grass at this point, plus the heat. Milkers don't like high heat. Worms could certainly be part of the problem if they've built up.

How much grain is she getting? Fifty pounds plus of milk would take a lot of feed to keep up.

That scoop is about 8 cups. She gets one of those each milking. She was wormed in the winter. I can do it again just in case. I am thinking its the grass. But I have to work out something. I already have to feed hay 7 months out of the year. I can't afford hay year around. I have 300 acres for heavens sake.

[sammyd]

problem with grazing is you have to have the animal on it in the vegetative state to provide the best nutrition.
You may have to mow some off so it will not be as mature later when you want to pasture it.

[topside1]

300 acres is a lot of land, however cattle are only going to graze within site of the barn yard, human attention, shade, or source of water. They utilize what's available first, face it they are lazy. So if the issue is grazing then they have eaten all the nutritious, milk producing vegetation in the general vicinity, lets say 20 acres. That's why rotational, mob grazing, and multiple pastures are so popular, providing they have a water source within 500 yards. Eating mature plant growth is unproductive, overgrazing around the homestead perimeter is also just as unproductive. Keep in touch....Topside

[Jennifer L.]

You can't maintain 50 pounds a day on eight cups of grain, that's only a few pounds, if the grass isn't lush. She freshened right on peak grass, too, sounds like, so that 50 pounds was boosted due to that. Because of the timing of freshening in the year, and the feed quality dropping, that's most likely why the drop. If a cow freshens in February or early March and hits fresh pasture in early May (in my part of the country, anyway), they get a good "lift" on production due to the flush on grass.

I would up her feed some. You aren't going to get a big lift now, but you'll probably get some more milk back. Grain costs, though, so you have to ask yourself how much extra milk do you need now and feed her accordingly.

Good luck with her.