Post by jersygirl on Sept 23, 2019 13:25:53 GMT -5
Just wanted to say hi and thank you for all the wonderful info available in this forum. I finally got my first cow this year for my birthday in July. She is a 4 year old Jersey that has been hand milked in the past. I bought her from a very nice family that had her and her calf for less than a year. They kept her calf. When we brought her home she seemed really happy. Whenever she would hear me or see me, she would run to me. This was very scary. (The vet says it is just the "Jerseys personality".) She is very affectionate and loves attention. I learned not to pet her on her head to keep her from pushing into you. I got a nice bruise on my tummy before my husband told me not to do that. He at least has some experience with cows. I think our Jersey-girl prefers girls as she shows a strong preference to me and my 5 year old daughter over my husband and 9 year old son. It makes me nervous having my children around such a large animal, but they want to get to know her and help with the milking when the time comes. Someone spent time training this cow very well. She respects a simple strand of electric fence even when it is not on or has been completely removed. (We had her restricted to a smaller area at first so she wouldn't get bloated from all the clover and when the fence line was moved, she wouldn't cross where the fence used to be.) She also responds to "stop" and "no" immediately.
A week or so after we brought her home I woke up one morning to Jersey-girl bellowing. After checking to make sure nothing was wrong, we figured she was in heat and took her to another farm to run with a bull and his herd. She loved it! She stayed there for almost 2 months to be sure she would have at least 2 cycles as it was suggested that maybe there was a problem with her getting pregnant in the past since the former owner was told she was pregnant when they bought her and she wasn't. Turns out she got pregnant right away and is due April 24th. I knew when we brought her home she was going to be really lonely. She moos a lot. I'd really like to get her a friend, but our pasture wouldn't have enough grass for two cows. Also the 10x10 shed that Jersey-girl made into her barn would be too small for 2. I try to spend more time with her, but she still makes me nervous with her running to me. Last night when I shut the chicken coop for the night which is in her pen, Jersey-girl started running, jumping, and spinning. She looked so happy and excited, but it was very frightening also. I started looking online to see if this was normal behavior for a Jersey milk cow. I have never heard anyone mention this kind of behavior before. That is how I ended up on here. I also found this webpage that says this is normal and tends to happen at dusk. www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/02/24/282169577/the-secret-lives-of-cows-jumping-for-joy She was definitely "channeling her inner Kriss Kross" last night. I love my Jersey-girl and am glad she is so happy. Thank you for reading this, and welcome to my cow party!