How old?

[dosthouhavemilk]

How old does Mamba look to you all?
I know exactly how old she is but I think she looks marvelous for her age.



These photos were taken about a week ago and she is due to calve in August, so she is working on drying up.
She is one of our best cows. Requires very little grain and produces way more than anyone would ever guess by looking at her. We make more money on her than others because she can maintain her weight and produce with little grain.
Her daughter, Moulan, was outstanding but showed up positive for Johne's, so we are hoping her younger daughter, Gadget (joins the herd in July), will follow in her footsteps.

The answer to her age will come tomorrow.

Just for kicks...one of my favorite shots of Mamba.

[Ronney]

Hi Roseanna,
I can't guess peoples ages let along that of a cow :haha: However, judging from her skin and hooves, she will be getting on in years and is possibly up around the 14 plus mark?

Your right though, she is in excellent nick but is it possible to trim the front hooves back?

Cheers,
Ronnie

[tyusclan]

I'm gonna guess around 12.

[JeffNY]

Did you buy her a bowflex? . I would guess somewhere in the range of 10-12. What is most impressive is the udder, still in darn good shape.



Jeff

[Rouen]

i dunno her age but her back hooves look like they need a trim aswell as the fronts

[dosthouhavemilk]

She turned ten on March 25, 2005. She is currently in her sixth lactation (two daughters and four sons) and is going dry for her seventh. As of March 18, 2005 (the most recent results I could locate in a hurry) her average production per year was 12,498 pounds of milk. 4.9% Fat and 3.8% Protein.
Average 305 Day M.E. is 14,987 pounds of milk.
She calved the first time at 23 months old...been producing ever since.
She has produced for us a whopping 100,124 pounds of milk in six lactations!
Not one of our highest producers (nothing like Hoolie who produced 80 pounds a day until three days before her dry date), but a steady producer. Doesn't need much grain since she can maintain herself so well.

As far as the hooves go, we rarely trim feet here. We have nice sandy soil that does a lot of it. Her feet are looking a little long, but she gets around well.

I can't recall what her most recent classification was but she was raised a couple of points last October. I think she's in the mid 80s at this point. Classifier comes in June but she'll be dry and she was already bumped up this lactation. Her fault will always be how thick she is. You couldn't tell she gives as much as she does just by looking at her.

[Ronney]

Well, I did say I was useless at guessing ages

In all honesty, I would be seriously concerned if I owned a cow with hooves like that. I've lived in both sand and pumice country which can be good for keeping the hooves in trim (and the teeth unfortunately) but it doesn't preclude overgrown hooves, some of which can be genetic.
I trim the hooves of one of my cows every four years or so and suspect that her problem is genetic. Another bought in cow gets done annually - when I bought her, the hooves were so over-grown they curled and crossed over each other and it will be a life long problem for her. It has also ruined her legs.
Overgrown hooves causes the balance of weight to be shifted back on the heels causing strain on the joints and tendons. Your beautiful cow - and there is no doubt that she is in otherwise excellent condition - is already showing signs of that, particularly in the front legs.

Cheers,
Ronnie

[dosthouhavemilk]

It is genetic, no doubt about it. We also have a three year old with the crossed over hooves and we try to trim them. That is also a genetic mistake. We used Select on another bull we shouldn't have. So now Bicentia has problems.
The biggest issue is it is just the two of us (my father and myself) and so things like trimming hooves falls way down on the list. There are more pressing matters. Especially with what the milk prices have done the alst decade and with us never milking more than 29 at one time.

[BeeFree]

When I saw the picture I said I am going to guess 10, as she looks like one that my neighbor had and it was about that age.

Then I looked on down the page and saw you had already put the age up, so bummer.

My neighbors like that would have a calf, and they could buy one at the sale barn [calf] and put on it with her calf and she would raise both of them.

She was a really good cow. They took her to another pasture and she got into a pond and got stuck up and no one was there in time to save her before she just wore out from the exertion of trying to get free.

We bought one that looked like her once but she wouldn't take anothers calf and I guess she was used to automatic milkers as she didn't want to stand still for you to milk her. She would be still just long enough, so you could have put the milker on her.