Post by Lannie on May 5, 2010 8:20:48 GMT -5
I noticed after I milked her this morning that she was looking kinda "fat," and I thumped her and it sounded like a drum. Uh-oh. I can still see her hip bone on the left side, but in front of it is poofed up quite a bit. So my first thought was to get some baking soda into her (Rich isn't up yet and he won't be worth a hoot until after noon, anyway, so he can't help me). I remembered reading here that if a cow NEEDS baking soda, she'll eat it, so I put some in a feed pan and set it in front of her. She tried a little and then started making the most godawful faces! Sticking her tongue out, drooling, the whole shebang. She does NOT want any of that.
I'm not even going to TRY the garden hose thing because I don't have sufficient restraint, but I was thinking maybe if I mixed some in molasses. I have some left from when Aiesha was still here, but it's 6 months old now. Do you think it would still be any good? And hopefully, she'd eat it... as far as I know, the only time she's shown any interest in molasses was right after calving, and then she gulped it.
I'm not sure what to do other than try to get some baking soda in her. I know why this is happening and it's all my friggin' fault! We didn't get enough hay, and I'm only giving her a flake at milking times. The rest of the time I'm making her go out and eat pasture. It's been getting cold at night, at or near freezing, and she probably got some frosty stuff early this morning. She was out grazing when I called her in for milking.
Any ideas for me? Also, remember, the nearest quality feed store is in Rapid City, which is 105 miles from us, so it's expensive and time consuming just "run and pick up" something. Although I will in a heartbeat if I have to.
Help?
Thanks!
~Lannie (who's gone into panic mode and didn't even THINK to look in the TOK yet - I'll go do that now, just in case.)
I'm not even going to TRY the garden hose thing because I don't have sufficient restraint, but I was thinking maybe if I mixed some in molasses. I have some left from when Aiesha was still here, but it's 6 months old now. Do you think it would still be any good? And hopefully, she'd eat it... as far as I know, the only time she's shown any interest in molasses was right after calving, and then she gulped it.
I'm not sure what to do other than try to get some baking soda in her. I know why this is happening and it's all my friggin' fault! We didn't get enough hay, and I'm only giving her a flake at milking times. The rest of the time I'm making her go out and eat pasture. It's been getting cold at night, at or near freezing, and she probably got some frosty stuff early this morning. She was out grazing when I called her in for milking.
Any ideas for me? Also, remember, the nearest quality feed store is in Rapid City, which is 105 miles from us, so it's expensive and time consuming just "run and pick up" something. Although I will in a heartbeat if I have to.
Help?
Thanks!
~Lannie (who's gone into panic mode and didn't even THINK to look in the TOK yet - I'll go do that now, just in case.)