Post by ashleyh on Jul 12, 2015 10:12:22 GMT -5
Belle, a 4 year old jersey is really having a tough year. She was so sick this spring and nearly died of either hardware or pneumonia (was treated for both and got better so we are not sure which was the problem) She required lots of care the the vet was here twice a day for 3 days. After that she got ringworm and warts all over from her immune system taking such a hit.
In June she had her feet trimmed (by a different vet) it was awful. He cut her front foot WAY to deep she bled like crazy and was lame for about 3 weeks. But at the same time she was confirmed bred so we were pretty happy about that. He was in a hurry (hence the cut foot) and said she is bred but it is small for the dates and didn't go into it any further, i just thought he thought it was small because he is used to beef calves and not jersey.
Wednesday she had some afterbirth tissue stuff hanging out of her and I was heartbroken. I looked for the slipped calf but couldn't find anything however she is in 40 acres of grass up to her belly so i just figured it was out there somewhere. Tissue stuff still hadn't passed on Thursday so i gave her some LA 200 and luteolysis. Friday it was still there, vet said bring her in tomorrow. Saturday he (the vet I love) pulled a dead mummified calf out of her. It was only about the size of a big cat, she should have been due in Sept. He figures it died back when she was so sick this spring. (if the foot cutting vet would have taken the time he probably would have known it was dead) Dang it, Dang it, Dang it!
She is in milk, feeding two steer calves an Angus and a Holstein. I am sure she makes at least 4-5 gallons a day. She does not love foster calves and will only feed them if I am out there holding her I don't have to do much just basically stand there but she will not let them eat on her own. I was so looking forward to her having her own calf soon! The boys are about 3.5 months old. She is with a bull (Angus) now and hope she will breed back quickly. If she does I would be looking at a May calf right?
So...... I am thinking leave these two calves on her another month and a half or so then pull them and get two new ones (they will have to be Holstein or maybe Angus crosses because I doubt I will be able to find any full beef calves this time of year. Leave them on for 5 months then pull them and let her have march and April off. That is if everything goes according to plan (yeah right) What do you think? What would you do?
Oh and she had a reaction to the LA and has a firm lump the size of half a basketball, vet said we better watch it, it will probably take a month to go down and if it gets hot or worse he might have to drain it.... awesome.
In June she had her feet trimmed (by a different vet) it was awful. He cut her front foot WAY to deep she bled like crazy and was lame for about 3 weeks. But at the same time she was confirmed bred so we were pretty happy about that. He was in a hurry (hence the cut foot) and said she is bred but it is small for the dates and didn't go into it any further, i just thought he thought it was small because he is used to beef calves and not jersey.
Wednesday she had some afterbirth tissue stuff hanging out of her and I was heartbroken. I looked for the slipped calf but couldn't find anything however she is in 40 acres of grass up to her belly so i just figured it was out there somewhere. Tissue stuff still hadn't passed on Thursday so i gave her some LA 200 and luteolysis. Friday it was still there, vet said bring her in tomorrow. Saturday he (the vet I love) pulled a dead mummified calf out of her. It was only about the size of a big cat, she should have been due in Sept. He figures it died back when she was so sick this spring. (if the foot cutting vet would have taken the time he probably would have known it was dead) Dang it, Dang it, Dang it!
She is in milk, feeding two steer calves an Angus and a Holstein. I am sure she makes at least 4-5 gallons a day. She does not love foster calves and will only feed them if I am out there holding her I don't have to do much just basically stand there but she will not let them eat on her own. I was so looking forward to her having her own calf soon! The boys are about 3.5 months old. She is with a bull (Angus) now and hope she will breed back quickly. If she does I would be looking at a May calf right?
So...... I am thinking leave these two calves on her another month and a half or so then pull them and get two new ones (they will have to be Holstein or maybe Angus crosses because I doubt I will be able to find any full beef calves this time of year. Leave them on for 5 months then pull them and let her have march and April off. That is if everything goes according to plan (yeah right) What do you think? What would you do?
Oh and she had a reaction to the LA and has a firm lump the size of half a basketball, vet said we better watch it, it will probably take a month to go down and if it gets hot or worse he might have to drain it.... awesome.