Update on Lily's weight gain (pics) and a couple questions
Nov 3, 2013 12:48:56 GMT -5
dutchbelt and susaq like this
Post by funnymamma on Nov 3, 2013 12:48:56 GMT -5
So it's been about 3 months and I thought I'd post updated pics of Lily. I think she looks much better and the weight tape indicates she's at about 700 lbs now which is up 100 lbs. She has been getting about 6 lbs of 16% dairy pellets, 1.5 lbs barley and 1.5 lbs of BOSS twice a day after each milking and she has free choice second cut hay, kelp, salt, baking soda and minerals available 24/7. It seemed to make a much bigger difference when I read in another thread about not letting her wander around and chase the little bits of green grass in a crappy pasture and I started tethering her so she stood and ate her any all day long.
So here are the before pics from July. The weight tape said she was about 600 lbs at the time.
IMG_0901 by drlizette, on Flickr
IMG_0900 by drlizette, on Flickr
These are from this week.
photo by drlizette, on Flickr
photo by drlizette, on Flickr
photo by drlizette, on Flickr
So what do you think? I think she's in pretty good shape right now. So at this point should I cut back on the grain so she doesn't get too fat? Will that drop her milk production or will I find a sweet spot where she'll still produce the same amount but not lose or gain weight. She's producing about 25-27 lbs a day.
The other thing is that she's not bred back yet and I'm starting to stress about it. Her calf is 6 months old now. I have not been very successful at picking up heat signs at all. Every time I think she's in heat, I mark it on the calendar and then watch 3 weeks later and nothing. She is separated from her calf since I don't want him nursing as he was tearing up her teats and he was taking too much milk so he's been bucket fed, but that does't help me with heat signs either. I bought her bred so I never saw her prior and she was bred by a bull, not ai so the former owner isn't helpful as far as what to watch for. I have never seen a bleed off and she sometimes will stand out in her pasture and moo but it usually will only last a couple hours at most. Once and only once a week or two ago, I went out to get her for milking and when I was greeting her she was holding her head really high and looking at me strangely which I realized after the fact that she was getting ready to try to mount me. I managed to catch it quick enough when it happened and stopped it but that's the only clue I have seen. Any helpful hints for me since I apparently am pretty clueless about this?
So here are the before pics from July. The weight tape said she was about 600 lbs at the time.
IMG_0901 by drlizette, on Flickr
IMG_0900 by drlizette, on Flickr
These are from this week.
photo by drlizette, on Flickr
photo by drlizette, on Flickr
photo by drlizette, on Flickr
So what do you think? I think she's in pretty good shape right now. So at this point should I cut back on the grain so she doesn't get too fat? Will that drop her milk production or will I find a sweet spot where she'll still produce the same amount but not lose or gain weight. She's producing about 25-27 lbs a day.
The other thing is that she's not bred back yet and I'm starting to stress about it. Her calf is 6 months old now. I have not been very successful at picking up heat signs at all. Every time I think she's in heat, I mark it on the calendar and then watch 3 weeks later and nothing. She is separated from her calf since I don't want him nursing as he was tearing up her teats and he was taking too much milk so he's been bucket fed, but that does't help me with heat signs either. I bought her bred so I never saw her prior and she was bred by a bull, not ai so the former owner isn't helpful as far as what to watch for. I have never seen a bleed off and she sometimes will stand out in her pasture and moo but it usually will only last a couple hours at most. Once and only once a week or two ago, I went out to get her for milking and when I was greeting her she was holding her head really high and looking at me strangely which I realized after the fact that she was getting ready to try to mount me. I managed to catch it quick enough when it happened and stopped it but that's the only clue I have seen. Any helpful hints for me since I apparently am pretty clueless about this?