Half dead mini zebu cow. Need advice! pic included
May 31, 2014 13:12:54 GMT -5
hadassah and clux like this
Post by milkycocopuff on May 31, 2014 13:12:54 GMT -5
Hi All, well I was given this little cow 3 days ago. The picture was taken when I went to pick her up. Her story (what little I know of it...) was that she was the pet of an old lady who died. The cow was left forgotten in the field and was on the verge of starvation when she was attacked by a pack of coyotes. The wildlife resources agency was called in to rescue her. They took her to a man who lived near the old lady's property. He took her in and threw her in another field with a mean horse. The horse would not let her near the hay, and bullied her away from the sweet feed. One day about 7 weeks ago a few days after he got her, she laid down and wouldn't get up. When he got home from work she had given birth to a tiny little bull calf! He left her and the calf in with the horse in a small field full of pretty much nothing but buttercups, the hay manger, and that's it. She was a good mama, but the lack of feed and the injuries almost killed her. Finally he contacted me and asked if I wanted her. I said yes and went to pick her up. He kept the calf, and this is what I came home with... (See super pitiful picture above! She was actually skinnier looking in real life! ) I've never had a cow before, or any species of animal in this bad of shape... So now I have questions! Not in order of importance, but in the order they come to mind!
1. She had terrible diarrhea when I picked her up. I wormed her before even came off of the trailer. She had no grass available before and our pasture is lush and green. I have been keeping her in a small corral with good grass hay always available and am feeding her sweet feed with a handful of black oil sunflower seeds twice a day. I also gave her electrolytes while the diarrhea was bad, now just fresh water. I've given her lots of probiotics too. The diarrhea is better, but how do I move her onto pasture without causing bloat, or tetany or even just plain diarrhea? I don't think she can afford to loose another ounce of weight!
2. Her hooves are overgrown, I've trimmed goat hooves but never a cow... what do I do?
3. Milking. She was taken from a 6 week old calf so she is pretty much at her "peak production" right now. So I milked her just enough twice a day to let her dry off slowly and not cause engorgement or mastitis. This morning her udder was noticeably less full, so I only milked her for a minute or two in each quarter and I think I'll just check her tonight and if she doesn't seem uncomfortable I'll leave her alone until tomorrow morning and check her udder again then. Does that sound good? She lets me milk her with no fussing, and maybe after she's healthy I might try again next time she calves, but I don't really want her expending any more energy making milk this year!
4. Horns. Her horns curl back against her skull and touch her head under her ears. As soon as I saw that I told my husband that we'd have to get her dehorned otherwise it looked like they would start growing into her skull! Well, that afternoon while I was messing with her, I touched them and they both are completely loose at the base. The do touch her head, but being so wiggly I can't see how they will possibly grow into the skull. Am I right? I hate to traumatize her further with dehorning now, if it isn't 100% necessary!