Post by nss on Feb 21, 2017 1:44:20 GMT -5
Well for anybody up late here in the U.S. or for our Australian friends, I'm sitting up waiting for my heifer to calve. She is a special project for me. She's not my first cow but she does have a story. I bought her mother from a local 4-H family and she was the tamest, easiest cow I had owned to that point. Her name was Molly and she was pure Jersey. She was bred to a Jersey bull and calved April 2014 giving birth to the subject of this post, Dolly.
Molly went down two days after calving but I wasn't worried, thanks to KFC and all you out there- I was prepared. After consulting with my vet we treated for milk fever. That brought slight improvement but she still needed more help. We treated for ketosis and I tried everything I could think of to get her eating. It looked like a strange holiday feast laid out in front of her trying to tempt her with anything I could think of. Two days later she died. A post-Mortem showed a case of enterotoxemia, common enough in young calves but we just weren't looking for it in a three year old cow.
So now I had lost my cow having never milked her or enjoyed the benefits of the bond we had created the months prior. I still had this little Jersey heifer calf but I was so discouraged I decided to sell her as a bottle calf. My wife didn't allow that to happen and took on the responsibility of bottle feeding her and raising her. She would get the stroller out and put our 6 month old son in the stroller and the bottles (we had a couple of bottle calves) she would put in the bottom of the stroller. Every morning and evening Her, our son, and our then 3 year old daughter would feed and take care of this calf. I am grateful.
Every step of the process from pasturing to breeding to training I have been anxious about what might go wrong. So far she has been a dream and we have had nothing but good luck!
So now here I sit, she was just getting anxious at 11:15 and at 12:15 she had two front feet out. I'all keep you updated as I check her tonight.
Molly went down two days after calving but I wasn't worried, thanks to KFC and all you out there- I was prepared. After consulting with my vet we treated for milk fever. That brought slight improvement but she still needed more help. We treated for ketosis and I tried everything I could think of to get her eating. It looked like a strange holiday feast laid out in front of her trying to tempt her with anything I could think of. Two days later she died. A post-Mortem showed a case of enterotoxemia, common enough in young calves but we just weren't looking for it in a three year old cow.
So now I had lost my cow having never milked her or enjoyed the benefits of the bond we had created the months prior. I still had this little Jersey heifer calf but I was so discouraged I decided to sell her as a bottle calf. My wife didn't allow that to happen and took on the responsibility of bottle feeding her and raising her. She would get the stroller out and put our 6 month old son in the stroller and the bottles (we had a couple of bottle calves) she would put in the bottom of the stroller. Every morning and evening Her, our son, and our then 3 year old daughter would feed and take care of this calf. I am grateful.
Every step of the process from pasturing to breeding to training I have been anxious about what might go wrong. So far she has been a dream and we have had nothing but good luck!
So now here I sit, she was just getting anxious at 11:15 and at 12:15 she had two front feet out. I'all keep you updated as I check her tonight.