Post by twistedwillow on Jul 13, 2011 20:28:07 GMT -5
When I was in Jr. high and high school I raised jerseys. I had been wanting to get cows again, and especially now that my daughter is 9 and old enough for 4H. Last week I bought a very pregnant jersey cow. She calved about 4 hours after I got her home. (sooner than I had anticipated) Her udder was huge- the biggest I have ever seen on a jersey, and there was quite a bit of edema. She had a nice, healthy, rather huge, registered bull calf. Abigail's milk looks almost normal, and it smells normal, but it tastes salty. There are tiny chunks of clear/yellowish stuff. It looks more like little bits of fat than typical mastitis chunks. Her udder, though huge, isn't red or hot, and she doesn't have a fever. She is energetic and has a good appetite. Her production has gone down with each milking, but her udder still looks like it is at least half full. (one quarter looks really full, and not much comes out) I don't know how much her calf is getting. He seems satisfied, but has to work pretty hard at it.
Because it is been so long since I have had cows, I am worried that I have forgotten too much. I don't know whether this is really mastitis, or if it's just because of all the edema in her udder. I have been treating it like it is mastitis. I have been milking her 4 times a day, using hot compresses, and massaging her udder. Her calf is still on her, and I plan to leave him on her. I gave her Today, and some aspirin to help with the tenderness and inflammation (I'm not sure how effective aspirin is, but figured it was safer than using something like Butte- which is terrible stuff)
It has only been 5 days since she calved. Am I over reacting? I have RA and fibromyalgia, so all this physical strain has been really hard on me, I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. Is there anything else I can do (keeping in mind that we would like to actually be able to drink the milk at some point, and that her calf will still be nursing) She really is a wonderful girl and a great momma. She keeps trying not to kick me, even though I know it must be painful. (She got me in the jaw and in the forhead with her hock today. LOL) She's probably the most gentle, sweetest Jersey I've ever had. I really want to love this cow- but it's getting harder to (through no fault of her own)
Also- I have very little access to medications and such for her without ordering it online. Our local feed store caters more to the "gentleman farmer" than to real ones.
Because it is been so long since I have had cows, I am worried that I have forgotten too much. I don't know whether this is really mastitis, or if it's just because of all the edema in her udder. I have been treating it like it is mastitis. I have been milking her 4 times a day, using hot compresses, and massaging her udder. Her calf is still on her, and I plan to leave him on her. I gave her Today, and some aspirin to help with the tenderness and inflammation (I'm not sure how effective aspirin is, but figured it was safer than using something like Butte- which is terrible stuff)
It has only been 5 days since she calved. Am I over reacting? I have RA and fibromyalgia, so all this physical strain has been really hard on me, I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. Is there anything else I can do (keeping in mind that we would like to actually be able to drink the milk at some point, and that her calf will still be nursing) She really is a wonderful girl and a great momma. She keeps trying not to kick me, even though I know it must be painful. (She got me in the jaw and in the forhead with her hock today. LOL) She's probably the most gentle, sweetest Jersey I've ever had. I really want to love this cow- but it's getting harder to (through no fault of her own)
Also- I have very little access to medications and such for her without ordering it online. Our local feed store caters more to the "gentleman farmer" than to real ones.