Post by cindy04 on Apr 26, 2007 8:17:21 GMT -5
I would say that most everything is better than it could be. We are relying on allot of patience, stamina and finesse at this point. We are fortunate to begin with, that our cows are VERY gentle and easy to handle and live with. She has not taken the calf as "her own" but does let him nurse with our assistance. We were given a choice of two bull calves at the dairy. One was a bottle calf, but the one we bought was a few days older and started on the bottle and then back on mother because her milk wasn't coming in. To sum it up this calf will suck on anything from a fence post to a cow. We'll Clover has been kicking at us ALLOT and the calf some. Her being a new mom and all, we tried giving her every chance to settle down and let us milk. Well, it didn't work. We got an old pair of chain kickers on her, she gave 2 or 3 small kicks and settled right down. The rest of the milking went very smooth.
When our calf was born he was very weak and never actually took a normal breath. A few gasp and that was it. I rubbed, had him upside down, and did about everything I could think off including an attempt at CPR.
We have found out that Manhatten has produced allot of calves with problems and some that do not thrive at birth. There has been an on going study of his prodigy. This may not have been the case with our calf, but we are going to fill out the form they supply on the research website and send it in.
Gracie is due next weekend, and we sure hope that this will be more successful.
For some interesting reading for you cow folks out there, please go to the SHATTO DAIRY website. This is the dairy that we got out Holstein calf from. This families story is a rags to riches story. This is one of the few commercial dairies that is doing it right. We go there for our sons 4H/clover kid field trips and also their Easter egg hunts. We also drink their milk when our gracie is dry. They were also very gentle on our wallet when we picked up our calf last night. Good People!
Sorry if I rambled or puntuation is off, but I stink and I'm exhausted. Off to bed for a nap.
Cindy
When our calf was born he was very weak and never actually took a normal breath. A few gasp and that was it. I rubbed, had him upside down, and did about everything I could think off including an attempt at CPR.
We have found out that Manhatten has produced allot of calves with problems and some that do not thrive at birth. There has been an on going study of his prodigy. This may not have been the case with our calf, but we are going to fill out the form they supply on the research website and send it in.
Gracie is due next weekend, and we sure hope that this will be more successful.
For some interesting reading for you cow folks out there, please go to the SHATTO DAIRY website. This is the dairy that we got out Holstein calf from. This families story is a rags to riches story. This is one of the few commercial dairies that is doing it right. We go there for our sons 4H/clover kid field trips and also their Easter egg hunts. We also drink their milk when our gracie is dry. They were also very gentle on our wallet when we picked up our calf last night. Good People!
Sorry if I rambled or puntuation is off, but I stink and I'm exhausted. Off to bed for a nap.
Cindy