Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2008 21:15:19 GMT -5
I know there's been a few of these lately, but most are regarding Jerseys and difficult to compare to my little Dexter girl. I've attached a few photos taken last week, as well as one from last summer and one from around the time she was sick this winter for comparison.
A little background:
Marigold is a 4 year old purebred Dexter cow, 12 months into her 2nd lactation (but her first lactation being milked). Her heifer calf was weaned at 8 months old, in March of this year. She was giving about 5-6 quarts a day when I was milking her TAD, and after switching to OAD about 3 weeks ago she's giving about 3 quarts a day. She's currently on pasture 24/7, and gets approximately 2 lbs (soaked) of beet pulp, 2 lbs soaked of alfalfa cubes, and 1.5 lbs of 16% organic dairy pellets twice a day. She's never been easy to keep at what I would consider a good weight for a Dexter, and had a serious weight loss problem over the winter when she had a bout with bloody diarrhea. She has since recovered nicely, but I'd expect and like to see a little more weight on her for being on lush pasture 24/7! Am I crazy? Incase it's hard to tell in the pictures, her hip bones stick out quite significantly, and you can clearly see the last three ribs. There is minimal cover on all ribs/backbone. I've been told that with Dexters, body condition should be more similar to beef than dairy. Thoughts?
Here she is last week:
and
For comparison, this is how she looked in February, shortly after her illness:
And here is how she looked in June 2007, when she was about 8 months preggers:
Thoughts? Suggestions?
A little background:
Marigold is a 4 year old purebred Dexter cow, 12 months into her 2nd lactation (but her first lactation being milked). Her heifer calf was weaned at 8 months old, in March of this year. She was giving about 5-6 quarts a day when I was milking her TAD, and after switching to OAD about 3 weeks ago she's giving about 3 quarts a day. She's currently on pasture 24/7, and gets approximately 2 lbs (soaked) of beet pulp, 2 lbs soaked of alfalfa cubes, and 1.5 lbs of 16% organic dairy pellets twice a day. She's never been easy to keep at what I would consider a good weight for a Dexter, and had a serious weight loss problem over the winter when she had a bout with bloody diarrhea. She has since recovered nicely, but I'd expect and like to see a little more weight on her for being on lush pasture 24/7! Am I crazy? Incase it's hard to tell in the pictures, her hip bones stick out quite significantly, and you can clearly see the last three ribs. There is minimal cover on all ribs/backbone. I've been told that with Dexters, body condition should be more similar to beef than dairy. Thoughts?
Here she is last week:
and
For comparison, this is how she looked in February, shortly after her illness:
And here is how she looked in June 2007, when she was about 8 months preggers:
Thoughts? Suggestions?