Post by barefootfarmer on Dec 27, 2021 15:00:27 GMT -5
My 6 year old holstein Ella calved christmas eve with her second calf. We've had a long road to get to this point. Multiple AI attempts with the last attempt and blood test putting her with a June of 2020 due date...and then found out she must have slipped her calf at some point. I'd given up on her and just kept her in the field with our beef cows and our up and coming bull. Fast forward to just a few days ago and we have a calf on the ground. I never even suspected Ella was pregnant.
But her milk production is really poor! Her calf is with her for now. I am going to pull him as soon as I can get an enclosure ready. We've been having uncharacteristically snowy and freezing weather since she calved. She has free choice hay, her water isn't frozen (but only because I'm keeping it broken up- it is really, really cold), always had free choice loose minerals. And since she calved she's getting 8-12 quarts of an "all stock" feed. It's the same amount I have fed my other milk cows, both jersey and holstein and never any issues. She's getting it once a day because milking has been trying with the power outages and snow- I know lots of you deal with it all winter, but it really is a different deal when you don't ever get it. So I have only milked her once a day starting dec 25th at about 11am, yesterday, again at 11am and this morning, I was trying for 9am but it took almost two hours because everything was frozen and the power went out again as I was setting up. I use a machine.
So first day I got 1 gallon and 2.5 cups, second day 1 gallon and today 1/2 gallon and 2 cups.
She eats and drinks like normal, no fever, her bag fills up but not tight, no edema but also not really "full".
I can't weigh the grain until the road clears and I can get in to town where I have my scale at my shop. But like I said, it's the same amount all my cows in milk get and they always produce very well. I know the 3lbs per gallon of milk general rule and she's probably getting 6-8lbs right now.
So any ideas? Do you think it's because it's so cold that she's probably not drinking enough and burning calories just staying warm? She has shelter, but barely uses it. I can't believe a calf is drinking a few gallons at barely 3 days old. I really want to make this a successful lactation and it is discouraging to be off to such cruddy start. She's also my cow that freshened at 12 gallons on her first lactation 4 years ago. So she did have a long dry period and that one pregnancy that didn't go to term. Anything else you think I should be doing? I plan on milking her again tonight, but can't imagine what that will be like since I only got a half gallon this morning.
But her milk production is really poor! Her calf is with her for now. I am going to pull him as soon as I can get an enclosure ready. We've been having uncharacteristically snowy and freezing weather since she calved. She has free choice hay, her water isn't frozen (but only because I'm keeping it broken up- it is really, really cold), always had free choice loose minerals. And since she calved she's getting 8-12 quarts of an "all stock" feed. It's the same amount I have fed my other milk cows, both jersey and holstein and never any issues. She's getting it once a day because milking has been trying with the power outages and snow- I know lots of you deal with it all winter, but it really is a different deal when you don't ever get it. So I have only milked her once a day starting dec 25th at about 11am, yesterday, again at 11am and this morning, I was trying for 9am but it took almost two hours because everything was frozen and the power went out again as I was setting up. I use a machine.
So first day I got 1 gallon and 2.5 cups, second day 1 gallon and today 1/2 gallon and 2 cups.
She eats and drinks like normal, no fever, her bag fills up but not tight, no edema but also not really "full".
I can't weigh the grain until the road clears and I can get in to town where I have my scale at my shop. But like I said, it's the same amount all my cows in milk get and they always produce very well. I know the 3lbs per gallon of milk general rule and she's probably getting 6-8lbs right now.
So any ideas? Do you think it's because it's so cold that she's probably not drinking enough and burning calories just staying warm? She has shelter, but barely uses it. I can't believe a calf is drinking a few gallons at barely 3 days old. I really want to make this a successful lactation and it is discouraging to be off to such cruddy start. She's also my cow that freshened at 12 gallons on her first lactation 4 years ago. So she did have a long dry period and that one pregnancy that didn't go to term. Anything else you think I should be doing? I plan on milking her again tonight, but can't imagine what that will be like since I only got a half gallon this morning.