Post by mrssmash on Jan 17, 2016 14:00:54 GMT -5
So, a small back story. We made a "good deal" purchase and it was a bad decision. Pretty Jersey. Nice bag. Likes calves and came with a holstein heifer. Took her for a check-up to our amazing dairy vet. They classified her as a "dud". 5yrs old. 5 months fresh. Open. SCC of 3.5 million. Positive for strep. Cut on a back teat and I could never get it completely milked out. Kicks the snot out of the calf. Stands wonderfully for milking though. And has good hand teats. Only giving about 1/2 gallon a day. We were going to take the hit on the $ and take her to sale. This all was about 3 weeks ago. We chose to keep her and dry her off. Get her healthy and pregnant.
I stopped milking at that point because I went out one morning and she gave 1 CUP! She started growing her winter coat nicely. Poop firmed up. Eating and ruminating well. Running and playing with our other 3. Came into heat last weekend and we took her down the street to a black bull. He took care of business. She still licks the calf that came with her and seems concerned about her but anytime the calf gets close to her udder she kicks her.
The 1 quarter that had the cut still drips some but there's no engorgement. I figured she dried up nicely and that 1 quarter was gonna take a little longer. Today I sat and just watched her for a while. She keeps licking her udder. A LOT. And she seems to like laying in poop because it's all over her udder. I took some time to wash her off and she kept kicking me. I went to wipe teats and noticed they were fatter than normal. Gave a squeeze and YOWZAS! A very heavy stream. Good gravy!
I brought her up to the milk barn and got about 1/2 gallon out of her right side (not the side with the cut teat). It was a lovely shade of tan. Ew. So we are obviously not dry after 3 weeks of not milking and we still have a nasty infection. I milked all I could out of both quarters on that side. She still looked like she was storing milk in that side while I was getting nothing. I have no machine and I definitely don't feel comfortable letting the calf suck.
I dipped with iodine and rubbed her udder down with a coconut oil/peppermint/tea tree oil/garlic paste. She actually seemed to like that as opposed to the crazy kicking she did while I was milking.
I thought about tomorrow because that's what I have. But if she's bred, would that affect this unborn calf? And what if it makes her feel better and she allows this orphan calf to nurse finally... not good if I infuse tomorrow. I know I need to keep her milked out, but I'm having a hard time getting all the milk out. Or so it seems.
Moral of the story... spend the money and buy a stinkin good cow. We knew better.
Thanks for all advice and suggestions!
I stopped milking at that point because I went out one morning and she gave 1 CUP! She started growing her winter coat nicely. Poop firmed up. Eating and ruminating well. Running and playing with our other 3. Came into heat last weekend and we took her down the street to a black bull. He took care of business. She still licks the calf that came with her and seems concerned about her but anytime the calf gets close to her udder she kicks her.
The 1 quarter that had the cut still drips some but there's no engorgement. I figured she dried up nicely and that 1 quarter was gonna take a little longer. Today I sat and just watched her for a while. She keeps licking her udder. A LOT. And she seems to like laying in poop because it's all over her udder. I took some time to wash her off and she kept kicking me. I went to wipe teats and noticed they were fatter than normal. Gave a squeeze and YOWZAS! A very heavy stream. Good gravy!
I brought her up to the milk barn and got about 1/2 gallon out of her right side (not the side with the cut teat). It was a lovely shade of tan. Ew. So we are obviously not dry after 3 weeks of not milking and we still have a nasty infection. I milked all I could out of both quarters on that side. She still looked like she was storing milk in that side while I was getting nothing. I have no machine and I definitely don't feel comfortable letting the calf suck.
I dipped with iodine and rubbed her udder down with a coconut oil/peppermint/tea tree oil/garlic paste. She actually seemed to like that as opposed to the crazy kicking she did while I was milking.
I thought about tomorrow because that's what I have. But if she's bred, would that affect this unborn calf? And what if it makes her feel better and she allows this orphan calf to nurse finally... not good if I infuse tomorrow. I know I need to keep her milked out, but I'm having a hard time getting all the milk out. Or so it seems.
Moral of the story... spend the money and buy a stinkin good cow. We knew better.
Thanks for all advice and suggestions!