Post by Deleted on Apr 16, 2006 0:49:43 GMT -5
Molly has been out at a friend of ours ranch. She was due to calve 2nd week of May, and since I had to have major surgery in December and wasn't able to care for Molly, we decided to leave her at the ranch with our friends encouragement to do so.
Well, we went to get her this am so we would have enough time to work with her before she calved. We couldn't find her right away, then we found her far off from the other cows about a good 2-3 miles from them. As we drive up closer we see Molly just looks terrible, she is all drawn up very skinny, can visibly see all ribs and her hips are very clear. We drive right up to her and lying down under her is her calf, very early almost a month. Little heifer calf, small but ok, she had just calved either early that morning or the night before.
Anyway, we brought them home very angry at our friend for not taking better care of her. If we had known that she would have been turned out or had he told us he was going to we would have brought her home.
My concerns are these;
1. Molly has virtually NO udder, she did not bag up, and the calf is sucking constantly. Do we need to supplement the calf until we get Molly fed back up?
2. I am giving Molly lots of good grain and plenty of greens, good grass, molasses, and minerals. Any ideas of more that I can do for her?
3. We have not milked her for fear the calf will not get enough. And Molly is not in any condition to be milking. Is there anything wrong with waiting for 2-3 weeks before beginning to milk her?
I am so sad. To see Molly this way is heart breaking. She was so beautiful when we took her out there. Now she is so boney. I am amazed that she did not loose the calf. I tried to post pictures but I am computer illiterate. I will try again tomorrow when DH has a chance to help me. I'm hoping you ladies can once again share your wisdom with me and help Molly get back to her beautiful self.
Well, we went to get her this am so we would have enough time to work with her before she calved. We couldn't find her right away, then we found her far off from the other cows about a good 2-3 miles from them. As we drive up closer we see Molly just looks terrible, she is all drawn up very skinny, can visibly see all ribs and her hips are very clear. We drive right up to her and lying down under her is her calf, very early almost a month. Little heifer calf, small but ok, she had just calved either early that morning or the night before.
Anyway, we brought them home very angry at our friend for not taking better care of her. If we had known that she would have been turned out or had he told us he was going to we would have brought her home.
My concerns are these;
1. Molly has virtually NO udder, she did not bag up, and the calf is sucking constantly. Do we need to supplement the calf until we get Molly fed back up?
2. I am giving Molly lots of good grain and plenty of greens, good grass, molasses, and minerals. Any ideas of more that I can do for her?
3. We have not milked her for fear the calf will not get enough. And Molly is not in any condition to be milking. Is there anything wrong with waiting for 2-3 weeks before beginning to milk her?
I am so sad. To see Molly this way is heart breaking. She was so beautiful when we took her out there. Now she is so boney. I am amazed that she did not loose the calf. I tried to post pictures but I am computer illiterate. I will try again tomorrow when DH has a chance to help me. I'm hoping you ladies can once again share your wisdom with me and help Molly get back to her beautiful self.