New cow question-- help!!

allenslabs · #1 03/13/05, 03:36 PM

What is Sally? Jersey? The mooing is normal I'm pretty sure. DId you get her to milk her? If so I would go ahead and milk her. Why not? I would! You could also turn her into a nurse cow and let her take on one or two. But you can't just toss it on there yo uhave to teach her to take it and on that I'm not sure how to do. Never done it only read about it.

Anyway best of luck! Keep us posted!

suswaski · #2 03/13/05, 04:09 PM

Sorry, I was kind of rushed when I posted about Sally.
She's a holstein/hereford cross... we'd like to get get some calves from her, and perhaps graft another calf on to her when she calves. She's not bred right now, will be getting her AI'd in a month or two.
Not really sure if I want to start milking her...my husband is not encouraging it, but maybe if my neighbor wants to...??

Susie

Paula · #3 03/13/05, 05:43 PM

Yes, a six month old calf was probably getting a lot of milk. You are risking mastitis if you let her dry off this way. You need to relieve the pressure, then dry her off a little slower.

evermoor · #4 03/13/05, 10:58 PM

Can you get her tied up or restrained? Then go ahead and milk her till you can get a calf or two. We usually start a new calf by tying up the cow and showing Jr where the tit is. It take patience ,a hungry calf, and time. Be sure that the calf you get is new or on a bottle. Older calves or bucket raised calves will wean themselves. Hopefully she will cooperate since she misses the previous calf. Keeping a cow for almost a year without a calf or milk can be costly. I wouldn't let her go to long as she will dry up fast, or get mastitis if she was milking reasonably well.

suswaski · #5 03/14/05, 09:02 AM

How do people normally wean the calves, without risking mastitis?
Yes, I can put a halter or rope on her, and I think she would be ok with me milking her, she didn't mind me massaging her udder. ( as long as there's food in front of her!)
Thanks so much!
Susie

evermoor · #6 03/14/05, 02:22 PM

Some dairies that bottle raise calves are weaning under 6 weeks of age. I wouldn't recomend itthough. We leave calves on the cowfor at least three months. Usually we wean in the fall, Thanksgiving weekend, on calves born in March and April. I believe the standard is 205 days?? Is that right Jena?? However a calf can be weaned as soon as it is consuming enough grain , pasture or whatever to meet the needs of a rapidly growing animal.

suswaski · #7 03/14/05, 03:06 PM

How is weaning achieved w/o the risk of mastitis?
I spoke with the prior owner of the cow this morning. he said the calf had been trying to nurse, but the cow was not allowing it. So he thinks she was mostly dried up.
Her udder DOES look ok- it's a bit firm, but no redness or heat... the teats look a little smaller, perhaps. so I guess she's not got mastitis.
Since she was not allowing the calf to nurse, I doubt if she would accept a grafted baby...
That's fine, we figured she'd just be dry until she calves next spring. We'll be getting her AI'd in a couple of months..Thanks,
Susie

SkyOne · #8 03/15/05, 09:11 PM

We have Jersey nurse cows. To dry one up we give a shot that aids in the drying that I pickup at the vets but I'm sure feed stores would know what that is. Drying up a milk cow is different then a beef cow. We also relieve the pressure by pulling some of the milk until she is dried. To get our cows to except a new calf we first milk her and then pour the milk on the calf. Sometimes we have to do this two or three times and some times only once. When I wean a calf I do it by the moon signs...never on a full moon and I try to catch the signs in the legs. Easier on both as they stress less. Because mine are nurse cows I don't dry them most of the time. Sometimes it is a couple of weeks between weaning and putting another on the cow. I milk them daily at that time and use the milk for the home plus I make my butter then. We purchase the colostrum for a new born if we haven't dried the cow...which we seldom do. Never had a problem. I get my calves at a dairy or the local auction. If you get them from the auction be sure to give them anti sour meds and a penicillin shot. Good luck. Sky

myersfarm · #9 03/15/05, 09:34 PM

shyone what do you use for anti scour meds...thanks john

SkyOne · #10 03/15/05, 10:24 PM

Hi John, We just terramycin and sulmet tablets together. One table each. Terramycin is the yellow one and sulmet is the blue. We have found that combining the two is the trick to stop calf loss to scours. Any calf I pick up from an auction is given that immediately for three days..longer if needed. We've not lost a calf since we combined the two meds. Hope that answers your question

Sky

myersfarm · #11 03/15/05, 10:56 PM

skyone thanks i have looked for them on ebay and found two different ones a .......2.5 g and a 5g which one do you use

SkyOne · #12 03/16/05, 02:49 PM

John we use the 5 ....sky