I couldn't stay away- I'm back!
Oct 22, 2019 14:42:47 GMT -5
simplynaturalfarm, treatlisa, and 5 more like this
Post by barefootfarmer on Oct 22, 2019 14:42:47 GMT -5
Hey Everyone!
I took a break from my cows for the past year or so. I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep milking them but I knew I didn't want to sell them off. Our farm had changed direction from selling produce, meat and milk to selling flowers and just raising the food for ourselves. During that time I had opened a floral shop a few minutes away from our farm and things got really hectic.
For sanity, I dried everyone off early and put them out in the pasture.
But, I just couldn't get the cows out of my head. I've missed the routine and the milk so much. And I really miss just "hanging" with my girls. My husband doesn't love them like I do and I know inside he was pretty happy that I wasn't milking any longer. But he loves me more than he doesn't love them so over the summer he surprised me and found a wonderful lady who could AI them all. We ended up AI'ing two Holsteins, my Jersey, Jersey cross and my Heinz 57 beef cow.
We used patches, synced them, and ended up with 4 of the 5 confirmed pregnant. One of my Holsteins has had 2 tries and no luck. We've sent in blood to be sure. The last round we sent in blood on all 4 of the dairy cows to make sure that they still were pregnant. Sadly, my Jersey Peaches is no longer pregnant.
So now, I'm at a cross roads. We really don't want a bull on the farm again- fencing isn't as good as it used to be and we aren't as limber as we used to be. Nelly is the Holstein I was going to keep for milking and she has had 2 tries with no success. She has had 3 calves previously by live cover. Peaches is my Jersey that I also wanted to milk. She's a little older- 7 years. She took on her first Ai but when we tested her 60+ days later she was no longer pregnant. Peaches always produced a calf with live cover. The two other dairy cows that are pregnant are the ones I didn't plan on milking- I was going to sell one and keep the other as a nurse cow- she's an excellent nurse cow. Isn't that the way it goes?
I'm going to try again with the AI and after that...I'm not sure. I don't have anyone with a bull that I could send my girls to for service and I'm not prepared to bring in a bull even for a few months.
And the other thing I'm coming to realize is that I feel like I've forgotten SO MUCH information that I used to know so well- all those little details that used to be right there like a well loved book- I have to search on old threads to find the answers. It's like I'm starting all over again from scratch.
I guess I'm just looking for encouragement that I haven't made a mistake first by drying them off and second by trying to jump back in after such a long time away. The timing is good for me to milk again and except for maybe the first month of not milking- I've missed them every day.
I took a break from my cows for the past year or so. I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep milking them but I knew I didn't want to sell them off. Our farm had changed direction from selling produce, meat and milk to selling flowers and just raising the food for ourselves. During that time I had opened a floral shop a few minutes away from our farm and things got really hectic.
For sanity, I dried everyone off early and put them out in the pasture.
But, I just couldn't get the cows out of my head. I've missed the routine and the milk so much. And I really miss just "hanging" with my girls. My husband doesn't love them like I do and I know inside he was pretty happy that I wasn't milking any longer. But he loves me more than he doesn't love them so over the summer he surprised me and found a wonderful lady who could AI them all. We ended up AI'ing two Holsteins, my Jersey, Jersey cross and my Heinz 57 beef cow.
We used patches, synced them, and ended up with 4 of the 5 confirmed pregnant. One of my Holsteins has had 2 tries and no luck. We've sent in blood to be sure. The last round we sent in blood on all 4 of the dairy cows to make sure that they still were pregnant. Sadly, my Jersey Peaches is no longer pregnant.
So now, I'm at a cross roads. We really don't want a bull on the farm again- fencing isn't as good as it used to be and we aren't as limber as we used to be. Nelly is the Holstein I was going to keep for milking and she has had 2 tries with no success. She has had 3 calves previously by live cover. Peaches is my Jersey that I also wanted to milk. She's a little older- 7 years. She took on her first Ai but when we tested her 60+ days later she was no longer pregnant. Peaches always produced a calf with live cover. The two other dairy cows that are pregnant are the ones I didn't plan on milking- I was going to sell one and keep the other as a nurse cow- she's an excellent nurse cow. Isn't that the way it goes?
I'm going to try again with the AI and after that...I'm not sure. I don't have anyone with a bull that I could send my girls to for service and I'm not prepared to bring in a bull even for a few months.
And the other thing I'm coming to realize is that I feel like I've forgotten SO MUCH information that I used to know so well- all those little details that used to be right there like a well loved book- I have to search on old threads to find the answers. It's like I'm starting all over again from scratch.
I guess I'm just looking for encouragement that I haven't made a mistake first by drying them off and second by trying to jump back in after such a long time away. The timing is good for me to milk again and except for maybe the first month of not milking- I've missed them every day.