Post by lew92 on Aug 20, 2018 10:31:01 GMT -5
Buttercup is not regularly showing signs of coming into heat. And when she does, it is very subtle: I catch her trying to mount Suzie once or twice, then a couple of days later she has a bleed off.
By the calendar, she should have come into heat about mid last week. No signs whatsoever and no bleed-off. I realize some of it may be due to the hot summer weather, but I'm also thinking that she's just worn out her ovaries.
She has one more chance to be bred and if I'm not able to catch her in heat, I will just try to keep her in milk as long as I can. She has 2 fosters on her right now and they are taking all of her milk. They have their future home already waiting for them but I plan on keeping them until at least mid September. Then I'll milk her OAD.
Depending on what happens with Suzie, BC may end up raising her calf. Or I'll end up buying more fosters. I love Buttercup's milk and milking OAD is not that much pressure, though I'd prefer to have a single foster on her and be able to steal a half a gallon a week after the calf is big enough to take it all.
Once her production drops to the level that she isn't able to raise a single foster calf anymore, she'll be dried off to gain condition, then go in our freezer. That's the "contract" I have with her - for her to continue feeding us even after she's no longer in the pasture. Ugh. My heart hurts just thinking about it, but she'll be 12 years old at the end of this month. Potentially, she could go on another couple of years - I really have no idea how persistent of a milker she might be without a pregnancy to slow down her production. But she's had long lactations for most of her career - as long as 15 months, so I am optimistic that it could be quite a long time until I have to make the final decision for her.
She has been an amazing cow to work with and is responsible for so much enrichment in my life. Without her, I probably never would have found the cow forum. I would not have learned how to make cheese and probably have never taught community education classes.
I'll hang on as long as I reasonably can.
By the calendar, she should have come into heat about mid last week. No signs whatsoever and no bleed-off. I realize some of it may be due to the hot summer weather, but I'm also thinking that she's just worn out her ovaries.
She has one more chance to be bred and if I'm not able to catch her in heat, I will just try to keep her in milk as long as I can. She has 2 fosters on her right now and they are taking all of her milk. They have their future home already waiting for them but I plan on keeping them until at least mid September. Then I'll milk her OAD.
Depending on what happens with Suzie, BC may end up raising her calf. Or I'll end up buying more fosters. I love Buttercup's milk and milking OAD is not that much pressure, though I'd prefer to have a single foster on her and be able to steal a half a gallon a week after the calf is big enough to take it all.
Once her production drops to the level that she isn't able to raise a single foster calf anymore, she'll be dried off to gain condition, then go in our freezer. That's the "contract" I have with her - for her to continue feeding us even after she's no longer in the pasture. Ugh. My heart hurts just thinking about it, but she'll be 12 years old at the end of this month. Potentially, she could go on another couple of years - I really have no idea how persistent of a milker she might be without a pregnancy to slow down her production. But she's had long lactations for most of her career - as long as 15 months, so I am optimistic that it could be quite a long time until I have to make the final decision for her.
She has been an amazing cow to work with and is responsible for so much enrichment in my life. Without her, I probably never would have found the cow forum. I would not have learned how to make cheese and probably have never taught community education classes.
I'll hang on as long as I reasonably can.