Post by donnaclyde47 on Jun 7, 2023 21:28:43 GMT -5
So I got a wild hair and bought a seven year-old Jersey that was 30 minutes away from me. I was casually looking for a cow because my two cows and one heifer came back open, and I was expecting them all to calve this summer (dud bull).
I don’t love full Jerseys, but she’s very small and she was cheap, and we needed the milk. I tested two previously to her and one had BLV and one had Staph A. She was clean, so I bought her. She had never been milked and never had a halter. So far she’s doing great. I’ll keep her until my other girls calve, and then I’ll sell her, hopefully bred. She happened to be A2/A2 when I tested her. The previous owners just bought her because she was AI’d with sexed semen, and they wanted the heifer for their granddaughter to show. They’re not really cow people. Oh, and she has an amazing cream line!
Cinnamon (Guernsey/Murray Grey) calved June of 2022. Her calf is weaned and she was AI’d May 7th. I thought she went into heat again on May 29th, so I took her to my friend’s bull, but her patch showed she wasn’t mounted at all. So, either I missed it, or she is actually pregnant from the May 7th AI. Today and yesterday she gave me a little over a gallon, and she usually gives me two. So I HOPE it’s because she’s pregnant. I will test the first week of July. She is slightly overweight, and I give her one scoop of feed right now.
Sukie (Jersey/Brahman) calved May of 2022. Her calf is sold, and she’s been giving me about a gallon. She was AI’d May 4th, and then came into heat again so I took her to my friend’s bull on May 26th. Sukie is getting very heavy. She gets one scoop of feed. She has a roll of fat at her tail head and she seems overly padded all over.
My problem is, since I have the new Jersey, who gives me almost two gallons in the morning, and two gallons in the evening (90 days post calving) I don’t really want to milk the other two. But if they are confirmed pregnant in July, they could get even fatter if I dry them off. I could potentially buy calves and graft them on. Even if they don’t accept them, my daughter said she’d do the work of putting them on day and evening to nurse, but there’s the whole food thing - we’d need to give them a scoop of something. And, what if their production keeps dropping? That’s not enough for a calf, right?
It is SO hot here, I’d really rather not milk them anymore - one is plenty for now.
Any suggestions?
I don’t love full Jerseys, but she’s very small and she was cheap, and we needed the milk. I tested two previously to her and one had BLV and one had Staph A. She was clean, so I bought her. She had never been milked and never had a halter. So far she’s doing great. I’ll keep her until my other girls calve, and then I’ll sell her, hopefully bred. She happened to be A2/A2 when I tested her. The previous owners just bought her because she was AI’d with sexed semen, and they wanted the heifer for their granddaughter to show. They’re not really cow people. Oh, and she has an amazing cream line!
Cinnamon (Guernsey/Murray Grey) calved June of 2022. Her calf is weaned and she was AI’d May 7th. I thought she went into heat again on May 29th, so I took her to my friend’s bull, but her patch showed she wasn’t mounted at all. So, either I missed it, or she is actually pregnant from the May 7th AI. Today and yesterday she gave me a little over a gallon, and she usually gives me two. So I HOPE it’s because she’s pregnant. I will test the first week of July. She is slightly overweight, and I give her one scoop of feed right now.
Sukie (Jersey/Brahman) calved May of 2022. Her calf is sold, and she’s been giving me about a gallon. She was AI’d May 4th, and then came into heat again so I took her to my friend’s bull on May 26th. Sukie is getting very heavy. She gets one scoop of feed. She has a roll of fat at her tail head and she seems overly padded all over.
My problem is, since I have the new Jersey, who gives me almost two gallons in the morning, and two gallons in the evening (90 days post calving) I don’t really want to milk the other two. But if they are confirmed pregnant in July, they could get even fatter if I dry them off. I could potentially buy calves and graft them on. Even if they don’t accept them, my daughter said she’d do the work of putting them on day and evening to nurse, but there’s the whole food thing - we’d need to give them a scoop of something. And, what if their production keeps dropping? That’s not enough for a calf, right?
It is SO hot here, I’d really rather not milk them anymore - one is plenty for now.
Any suggestions?