Post by simplynaturalfarm on Dec 16, 2010 12:17:14 GMT -5
Yesterday when I was getting Lena in to milk, I looked at her again and realized, yes it is not my imagination, she is losing condition. I have never had to supplement my Dexters, but I won't let anybody lose condition rather than supplement them. Beet pulp is out for me, alfalfa pellets . . maybe but she doesn't need more protein, and I was actually thinking of a bit of local organic grain to put some weight back on her. So even though I am somewhat attached to her and her irritating personality (she is a loud "I"m here" kind of cow although never pushy), I decided to analyze things and determine if I need to consider culling her. (always hard, but part of life). I looked at chunky Freddy and know he's getting lots of milk, looked at my pail with 1 gallon of milk, thought that she has been "fresh" for about 5 weeks now, so not even peaked, and maybe she is too high of a producer for a grassfed operation.
I wouldn't be happy with less than a gallon sharing with the calf, and milking for 1/2 gallon isn't worth it (my husband drinks 1/2 gallon in a sitting). I looked at the hay source which is phenomenal, but Lena can't have it free choice unless I lock her up in the barn which I hate to do because then I have barn cleaning and I can't haul straw or do much with my tennis elbow which is supposed to be on rest. And I don't like cleaning barns. LOL So she isn't getting the prime hay she needs to produce milk because every other fat cow and horse would gorge themselves on it and they don't need more than the mature meadow hay I have in the feeders.
So what am I doing differently this year? I calved a cow out November 4th! DUH I have NEVER had a fall calf in my life, and usually dry the cow up and wean the calf at the end of December. So when we hit the cold weather she is on her down curve and coming off of pasture and good hay. She does not have to sustain a fast growing calf, a peak, her condition and give me a gallon while staying warm outside in -14F weather . . .
Usually I have hay that is 1/2 alfalfa, so they are on good hay 24hours a day, and then in the stanchion they have dairy quality prime candy hay. I have not been able to find alfalfa mix, but this year at least found hay that keeps weight on the pregnant cows and horse unlike last year when everybody lost weight on the free choice hay. But it is overmature meadow hay, so definitely not good for a producing cow.
Lena lives outside in this well below zero temperature the way all my cows do. She has a piglet calf who is getting 2.5 gallons of milk a day. She is still a growing heifer, and she has demands that I have never asked of my milkers without supplementation in this weather - I fed 6+ lbs of alfalfa pellets and beet pulp quite liberally in SK in the winter the years I milked my Jerseys til February. When I got smart I stopped doing that and saved massive amounts of money plus kept better condition on the Jerseys and did not have frost bitten teats.
SO, a question for you guys. Are you able to keep "grassfed" animals in these kinds of conditions? Ignoring the question of whether or not a fewlbs of grain are harmful etc, do you grassfed people actually have cows that milk through the winter without supplements and don't lose condition? I don't know why I was having a duh moment (okay, I do know why LOL), but how many times have I told people that grassfed without supplements requires you to be seasonal. OR have a phenomenal animal who simply stops producing milk when it makes demands on her body that would compete with condition. Here I am breaking my own rules because I can't stand to go an entire winter without milk when I've already been a long time without milk.
So it comes down to do I stay a grassfed purist and either stop milking or purchasing supplements shipped from eons away and GMO products that are NOT grains, or do I get raw milk for the house and supplement her.
I think I know what I'm going to do - never have another fall/winter calf!!
Heather
I wouldn't be happy with less than a gallon sharing with the calf, and milking for 1/2 gallon isn't worth it (my husband drinks 1/2 gallon in a sitting). I looked at the hay source which is phenomenal, but Lena can't have it free choice unless I lock her up in the barn which I hate to do because then I have barn cleaning and I can't haul straw or do much with my tennis elbow which is supposed to be on rest. And I don't like cleaning barns. LOL So she isn't getting the prime hay she needs to produce milk because every other fat cow and horse would gorge themselves on it and they don't need more than the mature meadow hay I have in the feeders.
So what am I doing differently this year? I calved a cow out November 4th! DUH I have NEVER had a fall calf in my life, and usually dry the cow up and wean the calf at the end of December. So when we hit the cold weather she is on her down curve and coming off of pasture and good hay. She does not have to sustain a fast growing calf, a peak, her condition and give me a gallon while staying warm outside in -14F weather . . .
Usually I have hay that is 1/2 alfalfa, so they are on good hay 24hours a day, and then in the stanchion they have dairy quality prime candy hay. I have not been able to find alfalfa mix, but this year at least found hay that keeps weight on the pregnant cows and horse unlike last year when everybody lost weight on the free choice hay. But it is overmature meadow hay, so definitely not good for a producing cow.
Lena lives outside in this well below zero temperature the way all my cows do. She has a piglet calf who is getting 2.5 gallons of milk a day. She is still a growing heifer, and she has demands that I have never asked of my milkers without supplementation in this weather - I fed 6+ lbs of alfalfa pellets and beet pulp quite liberally in SK in the winter the years I milked my Jerseys til February. When I got smart I stopped doing that and saved massive amounts of money plus kept better condition on the Jerseys and did not have frost bitten teats.
SO, a question for you guys. Are you able to keep "grassfed" animals in these kinds of conditions? Ignoring the question of whether or not a fewlbs of grain are harmful etc, do you grassfed people actually have cows that milk through the winter without supplements and don't lose condition? I don't know why I was having a duh moment (okay, I do know why LOL), but how many times have I told people that grassfed without supplements requires you to be seasonal. OR have a phenomenal animal who simply stops producing milk when it makes demands on her body that would compete with condition. Here I am breaking my own rules because I can't stand to go an entire winter without milk when I've already been a long time without milk.
So it comes down to do I stay a grassfed purist and either stop milking or purchasing supplements shipped from eons away and GMO products that are NOT grains, or do I get raw milk for the house and supplement her.
I think I know what I'm going to do - never have another fall/winter calf!!
Heather