Post by Deleted on May 18, 2011 11:27:36 GMT -5
Hello everyone. My name is Jessica and my husband and I have two future farmers, 4 and 2 and one on the way. We've had farm pets for the past six years. Two years ago we got our first "useful" animals - 8 chickens and it's been a fun ride since. We now have over 90 laying hens that we raise as pastured poultry, a jersey cow, two jersey steers, two mini-nubians, two mini-donkeys, two icelandic sheep and three Morgan horses (as well as cats and dogs). We're getting ready to trade in our wether goats for Nubian does that we can milk and raise the boys for meat and the mini-donkeys maybe for a llama or geese? We're hoping to close on a small 4 acre home in S. Oregon in the next few days where we will be adding Red Wattle hogs as well.
I do have a few questions about our Jersey cow. She was my valentine's present two years ago ;0) Free cow on Craigslist! We were told she was from an organic dairy. The previous owners bought her bred as well as two jersey bull calves. She became the nurse cow for all three calves (even with one quarter not working). The people were feeding her, but after a year of three calves, she had been sucked down to skin and bones. We weren't sure if she would come back around...we were completely new to cows, but figured our 11 acres of green pastures could only do her good. Turned out she came around nicely. We gave her grain as well as the pasture and after she dried up (and her mastistis was treated...maybe another lost quarter?) we put our two jersey bull calves in the same pasture with her. She LOVES babies and bathed them constantly.
So, my questions... The previous owners thought she was about 8-9 when we got her. She seems healthy (charges across the field if she thinks you're hurting "her" babies...or my children for that matter...she adopts everything! lol). When we first read the craigslist post, we thought we'd start milking her right away. After we saw her, we knew we couldn't do that to her and the plan changed to breeding her after she had some time to recoup. We ended up moving and didn't get her bred. We were hoping to breed her to something small like a Dexter to give her a better chance at an easy pregnancy. Well... an angus bull got into the pasture where we've been keeping her and according to the owners, he was mounting her all morning. At first she was very interested in him and towards the end she fell down and didn't get back up. Kinda frustrated they watched the whole thing and didn't let us know right away. Apparently, she stayed down for the evening and was walking gimpy the next few days. I went out to check on her after I was told about it and she was definitely not excited to move. I also noticed cracks or tears in her hooves (they need to be trimmed, I'm sure) on three feet parallel to the ground. I've never seen a cow trimmed, but my guess from what I know about horses, is that they're long enough that the crack could be trimmed off without hurting her hoof, but I'm not sure. As the days have passed, she's returned to normal movement, despite the hoof cracks. I've seen our -now steers- try to mount her and she doesn't seem phased by it at all.
I'd love to hear your advice now that you know the story ;0) Is she too old to have a successful pregnancy? Does she sound like she has problems with her feet or hips or could it simply be the bull was too big for her and she got tired and sore? How can we figure out whether she's pregnant, other than a vet (it'd be a small fortune to get a vet to where she is now). And, anything else you may be able to offer would be great!
We were hoping to get a dairy heifer out of her. We wanted to give the milk our family didn't use to our pigs! Not sure that we want an Angus/Jersey cross though... She would be better for bull calves, but has anyone had success in milking an Angus/Jersey cross? Our other concern is we're moving to small acreage with quite a few animals. We were hoping to be feeding a smaller cow. Is there a market for a bred Jersey of her age? What would be a reasonable asking price?
Thanks so much for all your help! I'm looking forward to checking out other posts as well. Great resource!
I do have a few questions about our Jersey cow. She was my valentine's present two years ago ;0) Free cow on Craigslist! We were told she was from an organic dairy. The previous owners bought her bred as well as two jersey bull calves. She became the nurse cow for all three calves (even with one quarter not working). The people were feeding her, but after a year of three calves, she had been sucked down to skin and bones. We weren't sure if she would come back around...we were completely new to cows, but figured our 11 acres of green pastures could only do her good. Turned out she came around nicely. We gave her grain as well as the pasture and after she dried up (and her mastistis was treated...maybe another lost quarter?) we put our two jersey bull calves in the same pasture with her. She LOVES babies and bathed them constantly.
So, my questions... The previous owners thought she was about 8-9 when we got her. She seems healthy (charges across the field if she thinks you're hurting "her" babies...or my children for that matter...she adopts everything! lol). When we first read the craigslist post, we thought we'd start milking her right away. After we saw her, we knew we couldn't do that to her and the plan changed to breeding her after she had some time to recoup. We ended up moving and didn't get her bred. We were hoping to breed her to something small like a Dexter to give her a better chance at an easy pregnancy. Well... an angus bull got into the pasture where we've been keeping her and according to the owners, he was mounting her all morning. At first she was very interested in him and towards the end she fell down and didn't get back up. Kinda frustrated they watched the whole thing and didn't let us know right away. Apparently, she stayed down for the evening and was walking gimpy the next few days. I went out to check on her after I was told about it and she was definitely not excited to move. I also noticed cracks or tears in her hooves (they need to be trimmed, I'm sure) on three feet parallel to the ground. I've never seen a cow trimmed, but my guess from what I know about horses, is that they're long enough that the crack could be trimmed off without hurting her hoof, but I'm not sure. As the days have passed, she's returned to normal movement, despite the hoof cracks. I've seen our -now steers- try to mount her and she doesn't seem phased by it at all.
I'd love to hear your advice now that you know the story ;0) Is she too old to have a successful pregnancy? Does she sound like she has problems with her feet or hips or could it simply be the bull was too big for her and she got tired and sore? How can we figure out whether she's pregnant, other than a vet (it'd be a small fortune to get a vet to where she is now). And, anything else you may be able to offer would be great!
We were hoping to get a dairy heifer out of her. We wanted to give the milk our family didn't use to our pigs! Not sure that we want an Angus/Jersey cross though... She would be better for bull calves, but has anyone had success in milking an Angus/Jersey cross? Our other concern is we're moving to small acreage with quite a few animals. We were hoping to be feeding a smaller cow. Is there a market for a bred Jersey of her age? What would be a reasonable asking price?
Thanks so much for all your help! I'm looking forward to checking out other posts as well. Great resource!