Post by daisyhill on Oct 9, 2017 20:50:39 GMT -5
I've been reading various current threads commenting on fat cows, and thinking about my own cows.
How does one keep entirely grass-fed cows from growing shockingly fat? I really want to know. We have two Jerseys whose condition pleases me--they are not too thin or too fat, and have both been easy to maintain on minimal grain. On the other hand, our American Milking Devons and the Devon/Angus crosses all have the bags of fat by the tailhead. Dolly, the eldest, becomes slightly trimmer when nursing a large boisterous calf, but is basically fat. Daisy, her half Angus daughter, never changes. Her basic shape is fat. She has always bred fine, calved fine, and is a great mother who raises a huge, fat calf. Dolly's full AMD daughter, Daphne, was the chubbiest heifer I have ever seen. She bred on the first try, and is currently raising Garnet, the second fattest heifer I have ever seen. Both Daphne and Garnet had fat bags by their tails by the time they were five months old. We share milk with Daphne when we need a little extra, and she shares easily with us, though I've never taken more than about three quarts at a time. All of these cows eat nothing but pasture (rotated, but some of it is pretty scrubby), and hay which we make ourselves (grass/alfalfa mix, light on the alfalfa). I ration the hay in the winter, giving them what I feel they should have according to the weather. The AI tech commented on how overly fat the Devons are...
If they are doing fine, is it really a problem for them to be fat? And if it is a problem, how in the world could I prevent it?
(I don't even want to talk about my seriously Tub-o-Lard-Jersey. That one is my fault, I overfed her after a three month struggle to get her back to eating after a round with ketosis. I think she needs to be entered in the Guinness Book of World Records).
How does one keep entirely grass-fed cows from growing shockingly fat? I really want to know. We have two Jerseys whose condition pleases me--they are not too thin or too fat, and have both been easy to maintain on minimal grain. On the other hand, our American Milking Devons and the Devon/Angus crosses all have the bags of fat by the tailhead. Dolly, the eldest, becomes slightly trimmer when nursing a large boisterous calf, but is basically fat. Daisy, her half Angus daughter, never changes. Her basic shape is fat. She has always bred fine, calved fine, and is a great mother who raises a huge, fat calf. Dolly's full AMD daughter, Daphne, was the chubbiest heifer I have ever seen. She bred on the first try, and is currently raising Garnet, the second fattest heifer I have ever seen. Both Daphne and Garnet had fat bags by their tails by the time they were five months old. We share milk with Daphne when we need a little extra, and she shares easily with us, though I've never taken more than about three quarts at a time. All of these cows eat nothing but pasture (rotated, but some of it is pretty scrubby), and hay which we make ourselves (grass/alfalfa mix, light on the alfalfa). I ration the hay in the winter, giving them what I feel they should have according to the weather. The AI tech commented on how overly fat the Devons are...
If they are doing fine, is it really a problem for them to be fat? And if it is a problem, how in the world could I prevent it?
(I don't even want to talk about my seriously Tub-o-Lard-Jersey. That one is my fault, I overfed her after a three month struggle to get her back to eating after a round with ketosis. I think she needs to be entered in the Guinness Book of World Records).