Sad day, silver lining....Tundra calved - PIC
Aug 5, 2016 19:51:21 GMT -5
Deborah, susaq, and 4 more like this
Post by hoperefuge on Aug 5, 2016 19:51:21 GMT -5
DH woke me up early this morning before he left for work, to tell me that Janie had calved sometime overnight & the calf was dead.
Janie is a first-calver, who I had bred to one of only three (expensive!!) sexed straws I had from a great little bull. (For those not familiar with the Dexter world, there is only one breeder doing sexed semen...and only from a few bulls here & there, in small quantities, and not usually advertised for sale. I happen to know her & she mentioned these to me & sold me the last three she was willing to part with.) And of course, the calf was a red heifer, as desired.
I knew she was getting close & had put her in the barn overnight, but I didn't get up & check on her during the night. I'll never know if I could have made a difference in the outcome or not, but it's hard not to kick myself for not being there.
Thankfully, there is a silver lining to it. I've been concerned about Janie's temperament from the time I bought her as a weanling. She's always been a kicker, and very shy & skittish about being handled. I had decided that even though she has great milk production bloodlines behind her, I would not even try to train her to milk. I'm just not that in to risking life & limb. That plan changed today.
I was very nervous about it, but what has to be done, has to be done. So about 10:00 I dragged her (literally) into the milk parlor with a halter (she's still not real sure it's safe in there), tied the halter to the stanchion & put the neck chain on her, put a belly rope on just in case, and proceeded. She danced around but I eventually got the milker on & she settled a bit. She actually never tried to kick, just took a little swipe at the milker towards the end. I got 3 pints of colostrum, but quit before I really had her empty, so we could end on a good note before she freaked out or something. All in all it was a success...much better than I anticipated!
This evening we had round two. I still had to pull her into the parlor, and she still danced a bit, but not as much as this morning & I didn't feel the need for a belly rope. She still looked quite scared of it all, but she stood calmly while the milker was on & didn't kick. She gave me just 1 quart this evening, but it had only been about 9 hours since the first milking, and it didn't feel like she let down for me. I feel like it's going quite well, though.
So, Janie gets to be a milk cow after all!
Kim
Janie is a first-calver, who I had bred to one of only three (expensive!!) sexed straws I had from a great little bull. (For those not familiar with the Dexter world, there is only one breeder doing sexed semen...and only from a few bulls here & there, in small quantities, and not usually advertised for sale. I happen to know her & she mentioned these to me & sold me the last three she was willing to part with.) And of course, the calf was a red heifer, as desired.
I knew she was getting close & had put her in the barn overnight, but I didn't get up & check on her during the night. I'll never know if I could have made a difference in the outcome or not, but it's hard not to kick myself for not being there.
Thankfully, there is a silver lining to it. I've been concerned about Janie's temperament from the time I bought her as a weanling. She's always been a kicker, and very shy & skittish about being handled. I had decided that even though she has great milk production bloodlines behind her, I would not even try to train her to milk. I'm just not that in to risking life & limb. That plan changed today.
I was very nervous about it, but what has to be done, has to be done. So about 10:00 I dragged her (literally) into the milk parlor with a halter (she's still not real sure it's safe in there), tied the halter to the stanchion & put the neck chain on her, put a belly rope on just in case, and proceeded. She danced around but I eventually got the milker on & she settled a bit. She actually never tried to kick, just took a little swipe at the milker towards the end. I got 3 pints of colostrum, but quit before I really had her empty, so we could end on a good note before she freaked out or something. All in all it was a success...much better than I anticipated!
This evening we had round two. I still had to pull her into the parlor, and she still danced a bit, but not as much as this morning & I didn't feel the need for a belly rope. She still looked quite scared of it all, but she stood calmly while the milker was on & didn't kick. She gave me just 1 quart this evening, but it had only been about 9 hours since the first milking, and it didn't feel like she let down for me. I feel like it's going quite well, though.
So, Janie gets to be a milk cow after all!
Kim