Past due
Jan 24, 2023 22:39:48 GMT -5
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simplynaturalfarm, jerseyrose, and 3 more like this
Post by jenwren on Jan 24, 2023 22:39:48 GMT -5
Yay! Our cow, Daisy, had her little heifer calf today at around 3pm EST. She gave birth in the clean stall, which was nice since she also had free roam of the whole pasture during this time too. Pretty cold out today (around 32 degrees), but I got out there probably less than an hour after the calf was dropped, so I got her dried off, warmed up, and in a blanket. I milked the mom and bottle fed the milk I collected directly to the calf; it was about 2 quarts that I fed the calf of her mother's colostrum. She perked up after drinking the milk and she stood up and walked around for about 2hrs until she laid down in a big pile of straw for the night. I dipped her navel in iodine as well during that time while she was up. She hasn't got up for about 3hrs now since it got dark outside, but she seems relatively alert still. I don't think she's cold: no shivering, has a calf blanket, and under a chicken heat lamp when I checked her last. Slightly off topic, but the calf's father was polled but mother is naturally horned. I didn't feed horn buds, so can I safely assume the calf is polled too? Just wondering in case I need to pull out the de-horner.
As for the mom, she's been mooing incessantly since she calved (she's always been a really vocal cow), and the moo's seem to be like cooing at the calf, so doesn't seem like she's distressed, I think. I gave her a big bucket of sugar water after she gave birth and she seemed to enjoy it. I also fed her a little more grain than usual (about 3 quarts when I usually do about 2.5 quarts at dinner) and a lot of second cutting hay. She's never turned down food before, and she didn't turn it down today, which is a good sign. She also wanted to drink her milk, which was annoying. I let her drink about a quart and a half of her own milk since I figured maybe she wanted some extra calcium. I figured she'd know best what nutrients she needed. She passed the after birth about 4hrs after giving birth and ate it too. Still some thicker bloody discharge hanging from her, but it's the same thick rope of blood that's been there for several hours after she gave birth, so it doesn't seem troubling.
Now, I was only able to get out about 1 gallon of milk from the mom since she gave birth. 3/4 of her quarters seemed really hard and full, and her teat orifices seem to be like pinholes: very small and only a tiny stream of milk comes out each squeeze. One of the quarters was easy to milk out. I was sitting there hand milking for about an hour total for these results since it was really tough. I've milked her before I dried her off for this calf and it was way easier back then (granted, she was 14 months past her calving and was only giving about two quarts a day at twice a day milking.) I'm going to try again milking her tomorrow morning and just keep at it. I plan to keep milking twice a day for a while.
Am I doing everything right? Is there anything I'm missing? Thanks for the help!
As for the mom, she's been mooing incessantly since she calved (she's always been a really vocal cow), and the moo's seem to be like cooing at the calf, so doesn't seem like she's distressed, I think. I gave her a big bucket of sugar water after she gave birth and she seemed to enjoy it. I also fed her a little more grain than usual (about 3 quarts when I usually do about 2.5 quarts at dinner) and a lot of second cutting hay. She's never turned down food before, and she didn't turn it down today, which is a good sign. She also wanted to drink her milk, which was annoying. I let her drink about a quart and a half of her own milk since I figured maybe she wanted some extra calcium. I figured she'd know best what nutrients she needed. She passed the after birth about 4hrs after giving birth and ate it too. Still some thicker bloody discharge hanging from her, but it's the same thick rope of blood that's been there for several hours after she gave birth, so it doesn't seem troubling.
Now, I was only able to get out about 1 gallon of milk from the mom since she gave birth. 3/4 of her quarters seemed really hard and full, and her teat orifices seem to be like pinholes: very small and only a tiny stream of milk comes out each squeeze. One of the quarters was easy to milk out. I was sitting there hand milking for about an hour total for these results since it was really tough. I've milked her before I dried her off for this calf and it was way easier back then (granted, she was 14 months past her calving and was only giving about two quarts a day at twice a day milking.) I'm going to try again milking her tomorrow morning and just keep at it. I plan to keep milking twice a day for a while.
Am I doing everything right? Is there anything I'm missing? Thanks for the help!