Post by Mitra on Mar 28, 2014 10:58:07 GMT -5
Nellie calved on March 18, early in the morning and it was minus 4F. She drank two 5-gallon-buckets of warm molasses water as soon as we brought them to her but turned her nose up at the third. During the first 24 hours Nellie had milk fever symptoms. At hour 20, we administered calcium under her skin. It worked but we learned at poor Nellie's expense that we'd used the wrong kind of calcium. But ultimately she did not go down and we dodged that bullet. Meanwhile the little heifer was a quick study on how to nurse. Her only issue was that her hooves would not straighten out at the ankles. They kept folding over. She figured out how to nurse on her knees which worked well because Nellie has such a low udder, especially right after calving.
During the next couple of days Nellie was not quite herself nor did she have the appetite I wanted/expected her to have. While she remained attentive to baby, the dullness in her eyes and her lack of enthusiasm meant she was starting to go down the ketosis path. Add to that, the temps were still below zero each morning, rising to the teens during the day. I gave her all sorts of different grains including COB, sweet feed, and cracked corn (not part of her regular ration but good for energy), alfalfa pellets, fruits (bananas, apples, oranges),and sliced bread to keep her interested. I also had a vitamin paste that is Vitamins A, D, C, E, and B12 that I got from Jeffers. I'd squirt it on her feed when I had her in the stanchion for milking. She likes the stuff and I figured it might have enough B vits to stimulate her appetite. I was also crumbling Calcium, actually CMPK, boluses into her feed too. She did not like those and would eat all around them so I started to crumble them into a can filled halfway with molasses, stir well, and then pour the can over her feed. That all seemed to work.
By day 4, Baby No Name was sproinging about as if her hooves were made of pogo sticks. Her tendons straightened right out and you'd never know she had that folding over issue of the first couple days. It took until day 9 for her to finally be named. She went from Elsa to Idgee (favorite character from Fried Green Tomatoes), to Callie, to Natasha, back to Elsa, then Izzy, to just plain ol' Baby. She has so much character, so much zest for life and chicken chasing, and she's so saucy. Her name had to capture all that.
Presenting......... Zelda!
Well actually, her full name is Zelda-Beast, according to my DH
Click on the images below to see Zelda in action
During the next couple of days Nellie was not quite herself nor did she have the appetite I wanted/expected her to have. While she remained attentive to baby, the dullness in her eyes and her lack of enthusiasm meant she was starting to go down the ketosis path. Add to that, the temps were still below zero each morning, rising to the teens during the day. I gave her all sorts of different grains including COB, sweet feed, and cracked corn (not part of her regular ration but good for energy), alfalfa pellets, fruits (bananas, apples, oranges),and sliced bread to keep her interested. I also had a vitamin paste that is Vitamins A, D, C, E, and B12 that I got from Jeffers. I'd squirt it on her feed when I had her in the stanchion for milking. She likes the stuff and I figured it might have enough B vits to stimulate her appetite. I was also crumbling Calcium, actually CMPK, boluses into her feed too. She did not like those and would eat all around them so I started to crumble them into a can filled halfway with molasses, stir well, and then pour the can over her feed. That all seemed to work.
By day 4, Baby No Name was sproinging about as if her hooves were made of pogo sticks. Her tendons straightened right out and you'd never know she had that folding over issue of the first couple days. It took until day 9 for her to finally be named. She went from Elsa to Idgee (favorite character from Fried Green Tomatoes), to Callie, to Natasha, back to Elsa, then Izzy, to just plain ol' Baby. She has so much character, so much zest for life and chicken chasing, and she's so saucy. Her name had to capture all that.
Presenting......... Zelda!
Well actually, her full name is Zelda-Beast, according to my DH
Click on the images below to see Zelda in action