Post by Sharon on Jul 13, 2011 4:37:35 GMT -5
This is my first time seeing a cow through calving and I'm observing some things that I'm not sure about. This is Maggie's 7th calf (her first with us) and she did have milk fever with her 5th calf, before we got her. Here's what I'm seeing...
She calved not quite 24 hours ago. She looked good after and the calf is beautiful, but we did have a little trouble getting him to nurse. She was licking him and watching over him carefully for quite a while. After about 12 hours, she was not so attentive. Twice yesterday, she was in the barn w/out her baby and we had to go find him in the pasture. Is this normal? I thought she would be by his side constantly. Then last evening, we were trying to get him to nurse again, and she stood patiently but did not lick him at all. She appeared to be extremely tired....which I can relate to having given birth 8 times myself!
She was engorged last evening so I did hand milk out about 2 1/2 quarts of colostrum and then helped the baby nurse again after that. I ended up milking her in the loafing area as she would not come into the stanchion for her grain ration, which she normally comes running for. I just checked on her a few minutes ago (at 4am). She still has not touched her grain. I just poured some molasses on it and she ate a little bit. She has alfalfa hay available as well but does not seem to be eating much at all.
I hope I'm just being a worry wart and all of this is normal for the first 24 hours after birth. Given that she has had milk fever before, I really want to "nip it in the bud" if I it starts to show up again. If there is something I could and should be doing, please advise!
Thanks so much for your help! You guys always come through with great advice!
She calved not quite 24 hours ago. She looked good after and the calf is beautiful, but we did have a little trouble getting him to nurse. She was licking him and watching over him carefully for quite a while. After about 12 hours, she was not so attentive. Twice yesterday, she was in the barn w/out her baby and we had to go find him in the pasture. Is this normal? I thought she would be by his side constantly. Then last evening, we were trying to get him to nurse again, and she stood patiently but did not lick him at all. She appeared to be extremely tired....which I can relate to having given birth 8 times myself!
She was engorged last evening so I did hand milk out about 2 1/2 quarts of colostrum and then helped the baby nurse again after that. I ended up milking her in the loafing area as she would not come into the stanchion for her grain ration, which she normally comes running for. I just checked on her a few minutes ago (at 4am). She still has not touched her grain. I just poured some molasses on it and she ate a little bit. She has alfalfa hay available as well but does not seem to be eating much at all.
I hope I'm just being a worry wart and all of this is normal for the first 24 hours after birth. Given that she has had milk fever before, I really want to "nip it in the bud" if I it starts to show up again. If there is something I could and should be doing, please advise!
Thanks so much for your help! You guys always come through with great advice!