Post by cowgirlup on Jun 13, 2010 22:09:33 GMT -5
Hi Everyone
I have been lurking for months, you guys have helped me though so many things just by me reading your posts. So thank you! I have two babies under two so never have time to write myself, except tonight, it seems I have been running a little farm here, broilers, layers goats pigs horses and finally... Dexter cattle! I have been picking up Dexters everytime I see one, and now have 5 (the sixth will be returning tomorrow, wrapped in butcher paper ). Two of them I bought sight unseen, as they were from far away and the people were delivering them to me. When they opened the trailer, out came the thinnest cows I have seen in person ( I live in BEEF cow country, never seen a "dairy" cow in person) . Not deathly thin, but jersey thin. She is purebred Dexter. First thing I said to them when I saw her was "Has she been wormed?" they said no. I asked if they were giving her DE then instead, and they said they didn't do anything for worms (they came from a 1 acre "pasture" where they lived with more cows and some sheep.) They said the vet didn't say she was thin. I'd say she has a BC score of 2. She calved in January.
Her bag was enormous because they put her in the trailer in the evening and brought her to us in the morning. We milked her right away and 5 litres. The next two milkings she gave us 4, the next 3, then two for a couple days then 1.5 then 1.25 litres. I guarentee she was eating more food here, she didn't cry for her calf whom she left at the previous owners place. The first two days I hand milked, then switched to machine. Her bag is always completely deflated long before the milk stops. She is putting on a little bit of weight already and I trimmed her looooong toes. By the time I was getting a litre per milking (the second week week) I decided that while I figure out whats going on I'm only going to milk her OAD. Her production is still around two litres. Any ideas what would be causing this? She is a very docile cow and soooo affectionate. Maggie, my BCS of 5, is pushy and sometimes chases her, but not often. Is that enough to stress her out? Anything I can try to bring her production back up (other than TAD milking, which I will be returning to soon.)
The bull that came with her was just as thin, BTW. Thanks in advance for any help
I have been lurking for months, you guys have helped me though so many things just by me reading your posts. So thank you! I have two babies under two so never have time to write myself, except tonight, it seems I have been running a little farm here, broilers, layers goats pigs horses and finally... Dexter cattle! I have been picking up Dexters everytime I see one, and now have 5 (the sixth will be returning tomorrow, wrapped in butcher paper ). Two of them I bought sight unseen, as they were from far away and the people were delivering them to me. When they opened the trailer, out came the thinnest cows I have seen in person ( I live in BEEF cow country, never seen a "dairy" cow in person) . Not deathly thin, but jersey thin. She is purebred Dexter. First thing I said to them when I saw her was "Has she been wormed?" they said no. I asked if they were giving her DE then instead, and they said they didn't do anything for worms (they came from a 1 acre "pasture" where they lived with more cows and some sheep.) They said the vet didn't say she was thin. I'd say she has a BC score of 2. She calved in January.
Her bag was enormous because they put her in the trailer in the evening and brought her to us in the morning. We milked her right away and 5 litres. The next two milkings she gave us 4, the next 3, then two for a couple days then 1.5 then 1.25 litres. I guarentee she was eating more food here, she didn't cry for her calf whom she left at the previous owners place. The first two days I hand milked, then switched to machine. Her bag is always completely deflated long before the milk stops. She is putting on a little bit of weight already and I trimmed her looooong toes. By the time I was getting a litre per milking (the second week week) I decided that while I figure out whats going on I'm only going to milk her OAD. Her production is still around two litres. Any ideas what would be causing this? She is a very docile cow and soooo affectionate. Maggie, my BCS of 5, is pushy and sometimes chases her, but not often. Is that enough to stress her out? Anything I can try to bring her production back up (other than TAD milking, which I will be returning to soon.)
The bull that came with her was just as thin, BTW. Thanks in advance for any help