Post by jlgoinggreen on Feb 26, 2010 16:38:10 GMT -5
Well it's been a week and Blossom and Rose are both doing great now (Whew that was a tough week)! Thank you so much, I couldn't have done it without you. Now that it's over and I have gotten to know her better, I can start deciding what I feel will work for all of us. We initially wanted to let Blossom raise her baby and share milk with her. Then we were told that was a bad idea and we should separate them immediately far from each other. After all they've been through I really would hate to do this. I have been reading a lot on the subject and keep reading mixed versions on this, but none give good explanations as to the pros and cons (with the exception of "Keeping a Family Cow", which is an AWESOME book BTW). The only main concern I read about is not getting enough milk/cream.
We are really new to all of this as Blossom is our first cow. Since Rose was born she has always been with her mom, even while we are milking her. We don't know how much milk/cream we would/should be getting if Rose was not around Blossom. Right now we are milking twice a day and getting about a gallon and a half per day. After reading Keeping a Family Cow I am left wondering if this might be due to Blossom not getting enough water. We were giving her 5 gallons in the morning and 5 gallons at night. Now we know she should have an unending amount at all times. Also the men we bought her from told us she was giving him about 3 to 4 gallons per day (this is with mostly grass/hay and about 10lbs of grain per day).
Anyways, I was wondering how some of you more experienced ladies/men who have decided to keep your calf with their moms do this? If I wanted more milk should we separate at night keeping them with nose touching, then leave them together during the day? I can put her in the stall next to mom where she can't reach Blossom's teats, but can still touch noses. Or would I need to completely separate them and bottle feed Rose? Wouldn't Rose still need at least two gallons per day to grow? Would I really get that much more milk? Is it really worth it to separate them?
We are really new to all of this as Blossom is our first cow. Since Rose was born she has always been with her mom, even while we are milking her. We don't know how much milk/cream we would/should be getting if Rose was not around Blossom. Right now we are milking twice a day and getting about a gallon and a half per day. After reading Keeping a Family Cow I am left wondering if this might be due to Blossom not getting enough water. We were giving her 5 gallons in the morning and 5 gallons at night. Now we know she should have an unending amount at all times. Also the men we bought her from told us she was giving him about 3 to 4 gallons per day (this is with mostly grass/hay and about 10lbs of grain per day).
Anyways, I was wondering how some of you more experienced ladies/men who have decided to keep your calf with their moms do this? If I wanted more milk should we separate at night keeping them with nose touching, then leave them together during the day? I can put her in the stall next to mom where she can't reach Blossom's teats, but can still touch noses. Or would I need to completely separate them and bottle feed Rose? Wouldn't Rose still need at least two gallons per day to grow? Would I really get that much more milk? Is it really worth it to separate them?