Post by Laura G in Idaho on Jul 18, 2006 23:36:56 GMT -5
She has been sunk in for the last two days. Her udder is getting full... has been quite full for the last day and a half, and just keeps getting fuller (but not swollen edema). Tonight when I brought her in to give her grain, I washed her udder and dried it and applied some bag balm (her teats and udder are somewhat dry and chapped), and this caused her to leak out of one quarter. My son reported that he saw about 4-6 inches of mucus this evening. Says when she pooped, it went away. When I had her in the barn, I kinda spread her vulva to see if there was any mucus, and there was some. The last three days she's been staying in the corner of the pasture by herself... making me think that she's checking out a calving spot. So, I might wake up to a calf in the morning. Wish me luck!
Oh, and I have some questions... I've heard that some people milk the cow before she calves if there is milk. I've never done that, but was curious why someone would do that.
Also, if she calves tonight or before Saturday, I'm going to have a real problem milking on Saturday. I really want to take the calf away and bottle-raise it, and usually milking would not be a problem for me. But, Saturday is a special situation. I'm participating in a church choir celebrating Pioneer Day (Mormons honor the pioneers who traveled to Utah on the Mormon trail), and the dress rehearsal is 1 PM, followed by the 1st performance at 4 PM, followed by a second performance at 7 PM. I've already arranged to have my husband bring the baby to me, as I will not be able to leave to nurse. But, that still leaves me a cow that needs milking, and I wouldn't trust my 8 and 10 yr old boys to do an adequate job when she is so recently freshened, and my husband is not at all trained on how to milk. So, I am wondering if I start my milking routine with a 3x per day routine... say 6 AM, 12 NOON, 10-11 PM... if that would be too odd. I could then go down to 2x per day milking within a couple weeks, once I'm sure she won't be overstuffed with milk. Of course, with this schedule, I'd need a midday nap to survive, but that can be managed if I arrange it that way.
~Laura
Oh, and I have some questions... I've heard that some people milk the cow before she calves if there is milk. I've never done that, but was curious why someone would do that.
Also, if she calves tonight or before Saturday, I'm going to have a real problem milking on Saturday. I really want to take the calf away and bottle-raise it, and usually milking would not be a problem for me. But, Saturday is a special situation. I'm participating in a church choir celebrating Pioneer Day (Mormons honor the pioneers who traveled to Utah on the Mormon trail), and the dress rehearsal is 1 PM, followed by the 1st performance at 4 PM, followed by a second performance at 7 PM. I've already arranged to have my husband bring the baby to me, as I will not be able to leave to nurse. But, that still leaves me a cow that needs milking, and I wouldn't trust my 8 and 10 yr old boys to do an adequate job when she is so recently freshened, and my husband is not at all trained on how to milk. So, I am wondering if I start my milking routine with a 3x per day routine... say 6 AM, 12 NOON, 10-11 PM... if that would be too odd. I could then go down to 2x per day milking within a couple weeks, once I'm sure she won't be overstuffed with milk. Of course, with this schedule, I'd need a midday nap to survive, but that can be managed if I arrange it that way.
~Laura