Post by zackandjen2004 on Jul 13, 2014 16:40:03 GMT -5
Baby Girl calved at about 10am this morning. We helped the calf stand (curse those slippery stall mats) and latch on. Cow and calf spent the next few hours in the barn, but left for the pasture when the crowd of well-wishers showed up. Baby Girl's bag is very full, but not "looks like a taut water balloon" full. When do I start milking? My instinct is to give them several days to bond completely uninterrupted, then to begin our routine. With Baby Girl's previous calf, we didn't start milking at all till the calf was 3-4 weeks old--the barn wasn't done, and we could not restrain her in the field. My concern is that the calf won't be able to use all the colostrum, and that Baby will get mastitis from it just sitting in her udder. Then again, she bagged up for more than a week in anticipation of this blessed event. It was sitting in there then, with no apparent problems. I like the idea of milking out some colostrum to freeze. How many days does the cow produce it?
I have not been giving her any sweet feed since we dried her off 2 months ago. She's got decent pasture and high quality barley hay. I am terrified at over-feeding her, but I don't want her to get ketosis either. Baby Girl associates feeding time with milking. We did OAD milking with calf #1, but it seems too early in lactation to do that. This is her second calf; when we dried her off from lactation #1 she was giving about one gallon per milking (TAD). I am keeping an eagle eye out for anything out of the ordinary. She is pooping and peeing normally--nothing odd there. But I want to spoil her a little! Can I boil up some whole beets and serve them with a drizzle of molasses? I bet she'd like that.
Anyway, it's been a great day so far. My prayers for a safe birth were answered! I will get some pictures uploaded soon.
I have not been giving her any sweet feed since we dried her off 2 months ago. She's got decent pasture and high quality barley hay. I am terrified at over-feeding her, but I don't want her to get ketosis either. Baby Girl associates feeding time with milking. We did OAD milking with calf #1, but it seems too early in lactation to do that. This is her second calf; when we dried her off from lactation #1 she was giving about one gallon per milking (TAD). I am keeping an eagle eye out for anything out of the ordinary. She is pooping and peeing normally--nothing odd there. But I want to spoil her a little! Can I boil up some whole beets and serve them with a drizzle of molasses? I bet she'd like that.
Anyway, it's been a great day so far. My prayers for a safe birth were answered! I will get some pictures uploaded soon.