H-1-1 New cow-General questions (Jersey heifer)

[faithhavenfarm]

I joined KFC about a month ago after looking at a prospective family milk cow. She wasn't "the one" and the family cow was put on hold. My daughter just turned 18 and really wanted a cow. So, we found a lovely Jersey heifer-two years old and scheduled to calve in mid-March. The seller was a kind, clean-cut, polite gentleman with a clean barn and nice animals. Just what we were looking for! We have a high level of "cleanliness" on our farm-what happens when we city folk made the move to the rural lifestyle! "Maggie" came with some bells and whistles though. She lived with another cow and a single farmer. She's not what I would call tame and hasn't been handled much. A real project for my daughter! ;D We aren't complete novices...have dairy goats, have had wild sheep that we were able to sheer in a civilized manner, crazy horses and lots of hands-on to commit to Maggie.

I read about the "glove" trick to desensitize her and will plan to utilize that soon. Right now we are working on getting her used to us-our noise and five bodies working around the barn as well as dogs, cats, horses and dairy goats!

I am looking for advice on training Maggie to lead. Right now when I get the lead rope clipped onto her halter-head goes down and cow circles off...there is no way for me to stop her or gain control. I have tried raising her head up and in but she's too strong for me! She will stand for brushing now and we can touch her rear udder but not her fore (why we will begin using the glove technique!) and does not like her head approached at all. We can tie her and she will stand but she doesn't full appreciate our attention yet! We have been grooming her daily and rubbing her from rear to head-approaching and retreating until she accepts us. We are also working on establishing a routine-soon to include eating in the stanchion (when it is made).

I have been reading and have a few questions I have not been able to find answers to.

1. What is the average weight of a two year old Jersey?
2. How much milk does a first freshener (Jersey) give?
3. How much grain (in pounds) should she be getting prior to calving?
4. How much grain (in pounds) should she be getting after she freshens?
5. We are minimalistic and had hoped to be mainly "grass fed" but I recognize the need for grain (concentrates). I would like to avoid soy but again recognize that it would be tough to feed her the standard 16% CP ration without it. Is there anyone out there who can mentor me on the "grass fed" school of thought?

Our goal is to be able to lead Maggie, groom and milk her, trim her feet and even load her easily into a trailer. I hope we can attain that!

Looking forward to hearing your responses!

[anuttama]

Hi, I'm new her, too and I've found this group to be very helpful, knowledgeable and experienced. Regarding teaching a grown, untame cow to lead, you might try the Monty Roberts' method of horse training, namely: join up. You can probably find some videos on youtube. I used it to tame my bull calf who I purposely let be wild for about six weeks because I want him to identify being a bovine and not confuse his identity with humans. Basically you get the cow in a round pen or other small pen (I used a 24' square pen) and walk towards the cow, face on. She will probably scoot away, but you keep facing her and taking steps towards her when she slows down. You won't have to actually chase her, she'll probably scoot with just taking frontal steps in her direction. Because she will have to circle you, she will be walking much further than you. Eventually (about 5 long minutes for my calf) she will show signs that she is tired of scooting away. She may put her head lower and face you as she slows down. When she does that, don't directly face her, but relax your stance and face your shoulder to her. Then slowly, but casually take a step towards her. After a few such steps, she'll probably scoot, but be faster to show submissive signs. Within 15 minutes she should be ready to allow you to touch her withers or brisket. A always gave my calf the option of leaving and never cornered him. That way he was certain that he was allowing me to touch him with his permission. The general rule is: if she is looking at you, your shoulder faces her and you don't pressure her by looking directly at her. If she is walking away, your body directly faces her and you look directly at her. Good luck!

Also finding something she enjoys such as treats or scratches in special places such as the horn roots really helps bonding.

[jdranch]

Halter breaking

[Damon]

First of all--WELCOME TO THE FORUM!

Jersey cows

Jersey's

These links may help give you some basic information about the Jersey cow.

As for your other questions I'll comment what I can, but there are others on here more knowledeable and if you don't get an answer right away maybe you could contact some of the more knowledgeable members privately for answers:


1. What is the average weight of a two year old Jersey?
**My guess is about 800-900#, but that can vary greatly depending on whether your girl is purebred or not and on the small or large side. I have a heifer that won't be 2 (or calve) until June and I think she weighs over 900 already. That being said could be as little as 700# or as much as 1000#.

2. How much milk does a first freshener (Jersey) give?
***Completely dependent on genetics and your feeding program. Is your girl registered? If so you can search the AJCA database for her performance pedigree if she's from cattle that are registered and have records on file. Or maybe find out from the seller where her dam is and find out what she gave on her first lactation if possible...but again depending on the feeding program you have your girl's production could vary. Some heifers give just 3-4 gallons their first lactation others start right up at 5-8 if they are more production bred.


3. How much grain (in pounds) should she be getting prior to calving? *** She should be getting a quality dry cow ration (check with your local feed store and/or Extension service for their recommendations...short of that ask a local dairy farm what and how much they feed) and free choice good quality grass hay. First cut Timothy would be a good choice.

4. How much grain (in pounds) should she be getting after she freshens?
***(See #3 but for milking cows in lieu of dry cows). Alfalfa and grass hay if possible. A good dairy cow mineral supplement should be available at all times.

5. We are minimalistic and had hoped to be mainly "grass fed" but I recognize the need for grain (concentrates). I would like to avoid soy but again recognize that it would be tough to feed her the standard 16% CP ration without it.
***I don't have a comment here other than saying unfortunately most modern dairy cattle are not bred today to manage on exclusive grass fed pasture/hay when milking. You can be pasture/hay based but realize the need for grain in a lactating cow in most dairy breeds.

******
If your heifer is due in the next few weeks and she's not friendly and/or gentle you've got some work ahead of you. There is a ton of good information in the Tree of Knowledge part of the Forum. Joann's book, Keeping a Family cow is an excellent resource.

You might also charge right into the task of finding/building a good stanchion and a Kick Stop. Sounds like you're going to need them if you only have 2-3 weeks before your heifer calves.

I would also definitely advocate the Milkmaid's halter breaking post with photos that I think is in the Tree of Knowledge.

***
A word about choosing a cow. If someone is new to cows the most important things when choosing a cow (regardless of breed or bloodines, etc) are in my opinion: that they are healthy, health-tested, gentle & can be handled easily with a well attached udder & good feet & legs. Preferably a cow that has had a couple of calves and can be successfully hand and/or machine milked. Buying a cow from a clean operation is nice.....but in all honesty the other characteristics are so much more important. A dirty, gentle, healthy cow can get a bath pretty easily once you get her home. A clean cow that is wild and due to calve in a few weeks with her first calf is a much bigger challenge.

IMO (and I hope she doesn't mind me promoting her cow here) Liz has (or had the last time I checked) a lovely Jersey cow for sale in the Auction Barn. Have a look at her photos. She, in my opinion represents an exceptional opportunity for a Family Cow. Previously milked, very gentle, completely healthy and has a really nice udder and good feet & legs. EDITED TO ADD: I can't find her ad anymore but here's her blog and both Hattie & Vera are nice family milk cows:

Lucky Lizard Ranch

Another really nice cow that is on the Auction Barn is Mlangfus' cow Saturn: Mlangfus' cow

Hope that helps, good luck and POST PHOTOS when you can. We love to see pictures!! .


links verified: 2-10-11

[wyomama]

Welcome!

A key difference between horses and cattle is that when a horse lowers his head, he is expressing submission. When a cow lowers her head, she's gearing up to drag you to where she wants to go

One thing I've done with larger cattle to teach them to lead is use a "show" halter - the kind with chain that goes across the chin. I can keep the lead up, and they learn to keep their heads up.

A good non-soy source of protein is alfalfa. If you feed alfalfa hay, you can feed a basic COB for concentrates and still achieve adequate protein in her diet.

[faithhavenfarm]

Thanks for all of the information! I will pass on the links to DD to help her work with Maggie. Yes, we realized we weren't making the best choice in a first cow-but for our needs and goals, she fit. Our desire is to raise calves for meat not neccessarily having a cow to milk although we do plan/hope to milk her eventually (for the cream!). Since daughter is savvy with sheep, we have found using similar techniques on Maggie work-not crowding, body language, etc. Sme goes with keeping the head high and turned in...only Maggie weighs a lot more than the sheep! Her halter does have a chain on it but she still pulls away. We don't want to stress her too much before she calves. And we can approach her while she is out in the paddock and scratch her-which I am counting as progress! Patience, and the realization that she may not ever lead. Sure would be nice though! Thanks again!

edited to say that I have read and can't figure out how to post a picture.

[Claire]

Since she is a dairy cow you will need to milk her after she calves, at least for the first few weeks until her calf is able to handle everything she is producing, so I would start working hard on handling- even if its getting her to walk into a stanchion (grain is excellent bribery for this) and tolerate being locked in. That she already lets you approach and touch her while she's loose is great. My cow was fine with the stanchion and touching long before she agreed to being haltered and led around!

[Damon]

Claire is correct....you will need to milk her or have some additional calves standing by to be grafted on. Jerseys are generally good with taking on other calves besides their own. Generally speaking she will most likely produce way more milk than just the one calf will be able to take. Particularly at first.

If you want to email me your photos ([e-mail]) I'll be glad to post them here for you.

Damon

[faithhavenfarm]

Thanks! I feel like we are heading in the right direction then! Similar to what we have done with our dairy goats and sheep only Maggie won't fit in our milk stand! ;D

The weather is warming up today so we will be out working on leading in the paddock!

Appreciate the advice and warm welcome!

[Shawn]

Welcome.
One thing caught my attention. If she's in good condition, has good hay, I would really question whether she even needs grain. You certainly don't want her getting too fat.

I have a cow that calved one week ago. She had a very small heifer and I have probably an 85# Holstein bull calf that I'm grafting onto her. Emma gives 5-6 gallons per day. These babies can't handle that much milk, yet. So I'm assisting them by milking some out as they're nursing until they can catch up and take the excess.

Remember when you're halter training a cow, one thing they like to do in response to being asked to lead, is fall down and pout. Not a problem, let them lay there and when they get up (may take 5-15 minutes) start again. Pretty soon, they'll realize it doesn't get them anywhere to have a tantrum.
Shawn

[Damon]

The cattle haulers I've used in the past have called it the Jersey fit. LOL. I've had many just flat out fall over as if they were fainting to the point one knocked the breath out of herself and it was loud coming out! . All because of a weaning ring. She got over it.

[pipergrey93]

Welcome!

Yes, I had to milk for 6 weeks until my calf could take all the milk and I didn't have to milk her. Also, I keep reading that a foster calf on a jersey needs to be a couple of months old so they don't keep scouring. Good luck and keep us posted on your daughters progress.....Sandy

[faithhavenfarm]

Well, as with any domestic "prey" animal-"Lefty cow" is not as tame as "Righty cow". ) But we can touch her all over, lift up feet, touch udder. We can touch her head but she is still shy. Haven't gotten to leading yet. It is almost impossible to clip the lead line onto the halter. We have to corner her because she won't let us catch her in the paddock. Hubby almost has the stanchion done though! So, she may not be a "leading" cow...more of an "ushering" type. She's been rubbing her booty a lot and worked the hair off and scratched the skin. We dewormed her, put balm on the patches and added BOSS to her diet. DD grooms daily. She sure is clean and pretty!! I'm still up in the air about cows. LOVE my goats. )

[Damon]

**PHOTO OF MAGGIE POSTED FOR FAITHHAVENFARM**