Post by kristi on Apr 19, 2011 21:40:40 GMT -5
Poor Rachel looks as if she's really, really ready to have this calf. She's not getting any grain right now and is only on pasture. We fed cubes (1 bag for 8 or 9 cows?) to get them all up and still so we could look everyone over well. She's so strutted; her front teats are starting to point OUT! And she refused to eat....more like she just didn't want to mix with them which is not the norm. She's not acting sick or off her feed, just not in the "mood" to be sociable. She's usually the one to boss everyone around. The ligaments at her tail head are still a bit tight and she isn't springing all that hard either. I know they're all different and her ligaments may not loosen up that much until right before she calves. She also was looking a bit more slab sided to me but Mama pointed out no, she's still got the bump. Probably my eyesight is affected by my wishful thinking. LOL. I am wondering how very tight her udder will get. I was loving her up night before last and rubbing her udder and it's hard as a rock all over. She gave 4 gal/day on 2x/day milking her first lactation. I'm curious to see what she gives this time. I'm not going to push her and she'll be sharemilking. But it does make one wonder. Oh....and yes, the teats are filled out with no wrinkles. I couldn't tell if they were shiny, but since they're starting to point out to the sides a bit I can only imagine that they are. She was "supposed" to be due around the end of March. Hoping tonight, with this full moon. LOL. I will be off for the next several days so the timing would be great!