Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2011 12:22:39 GMT -5
This is my first post, but I have been reading for a while and have to say I've learned a lot from you all, and this seems to be a very caring and friendly place to be, so thanks for being there. I'm somewhat of a beginner with cows, but I am a human doctor and I have 5 kids and I have lots of experience with other types of animals so most of the time I feel like I've got some idea of what's going on with my bovine girls. But this one has me stumped.
I bought a 5-year-old jersey from a guy in April, but he only had her for a few weeks and didn't know her history. What can I say - she was cheap, I needed a milk cow, and I just liked her. I was milking her once a day and had two steers on her the rest of the day until late June, when her milk turned yellow and thick overnight. No odor, no chunks, no redness or swelling or tenderness, and it was all 3 quarters the same (she came with 1 bad quarter). Around the same time my husband noticed how big she was getting, and I sat there for a half hour with my hands on her sides and got kicked several times. So we decided she was pregnant. I quit milking her and weaned the steers, her bag deflated a little over the next week and then filled back out, and still no signs of mastitis. So we waited, and watched her belly get bigger and hang lower and wider and more of her ribs showing, and every now and then I take a squirt of milk to make sure it's still okay - still no odor, no off taste, no redness, swelling, etc. But this has been going on for 9 or so weeks. Everything I've read says that the colostrum starts being produced around 5 weeks prepartum, so that's got me wondering. Now if there's one thing I know, it's that babies come when babies get good and ready to come, but this is killing me. I'm trying to avoid the expense of a vet coming out, and I'm not crazy about our vets here anyway. So I guess I'm wondering if this is alarming to anyone?
If I had a good head gate I'd stick her in it and go in myself to see what I can feel, but I don't and she's about sick of me poking at her all the time. So I'm at that point now where I think I'm hallucinating every time I look at her and I'm driving myself crazy.
I bought a 5-year-old jersey from a guy in April, but he only had her for a few weeks and didn't know her history. What can I say - she was cheap, I needed a milk cow, and I just liked her. I was milking her once a day and had two steers on her the rest of the day until late June, when her milk turned yellow and thick overnight. No odor, no chunks, no redness or swelling or tenderness, and it was all 3 quarters the same (she came with 1 bad quarter). Around the same time my husband noticed how big she was getting, and I sat there for a half hour with my hands on her sides and got kicked several times. So we decided she was pregnant. I quit milking her and weaned the steers, her bag deflated a little over the next week and then filled back out, and still no signs of mastitis. So we waited, and watched her belly get bigger and hang lower and wider and more of her ribs showing, and every now and then I take a squirt of milk to make sure it's still okay - still no odor, no off taste, no redness, swelling, etc. But this has been going on for 9 or so weeks. Everything I've read says that the colostrum starts being produced around 5 weeks prepartum, so that's got me wondering. Now if there's one thing I know, it's that babies come when babies get good and ready to come, but this is killing me. I'm trying to avoid the expense of a vet coming out, and I'm not crazy about our vets here anyway. So I guess I'm wondering if this is alarming to anyone?
If I had a good head gate I'd stick her in it and go in myself to see what I can feel, but I don't and she's about sick of me poking at her all the time. So I'm at that point now where I think I'm hallucinating every time I look at her and I'm driving myself crazy.