Post by Deleted on Apr 15, 2014 21:43:07 GMT -5
This thread takes a number of turns before the end...I had a few friends with Jerseys say that if they had this series of problems they would have assumed it was just ketosis and treated for that...and their cow would have died. I am lucky enough to be a first timer and so I had no idea what was wrong, so I was looking at everything...
Sorry if I am not writing smoothly. I am exhausted so sentences are a bit short and staccato.
Maybelline (3 year old Jersey heifer) was due for the 17th with her first calf. Calved unexpectedly yesterday at 2 pm. Fast, stillborn, in under 20 minutes with no sign of labor earlier. Placenta was passed too. She was very out of sorts. Then laid down. We found her on her side and got her up pretty fast. She couldn't have been down longer than 10 minutes. She looked like she was in shock.
She seemed dehydrated to me so we gave her water in a pail, and forced her onto her feet. Pushed her into the barn and locked her inside for about an hour to rest. She looked exhausted, and not herself. Fed her some extra molasses to get some carbohydrates into her. Then cleaned her up some. She was a little better last night and we milked her but not completely. We got just under a gallon. She was up and seemed a bit better this morning. She has some appetite - but has not been eating as much hay as she was the past couple weeks.
Milking was 1 1/2 gallons this morning. Then tonight, she seems tired still, but not exactly weak. She is on her feet. She gave 2 1/2 gallons of milk. Her udder looks good. No real problems that I can see. All four quarters seemed pretty full before milking and softer after.
I think she is dropping weight too fast but it may be just me - first time for me too. Someone suggested milk fever. Not sure what to look for. She isn't necessarily weak, but she seems tired. The weather is atrocious too, pounding rain and now sleet and snow so that isn't helping. She is hanging around in the barn so it is hard to judge if she is feeling okay and moving around enough. Help. Please.
Sorry if I am not writing smoothly. I am exhausted so sentences are a bit short and staccato.
Maybelline (3 year old Jersey heifer) was due for the 17th with her first calf. Calved unexpectedly yesterday at 2 pm. Fast, stillborn, in under 20 minutes with no sign of labor earlier. Placenta was passed too. She was very out of sorts. Then laid down. We found her on her side and got her up pretty fast. She couldn't have been down longer than 10 minutes. She looked like she was in shock.
She seemed dehydrated to me so we gave her water in a pail, and forced her onto her feet. Pushed her into the barn and locked her inside for about an hour to rest. She looked exhausted, and not herself. Fed her some extra molasses to get some carbohydrates into her. Then cleaned her up some. She was a little better last night and we milked her but not completely. We got just under a gallon. She was up and seemed a bit better this morning. She has some appetite - but has not been eating as much hay as she was the past couple weeks.
Milking was 1 1/2 gallons this morning. Then tonight, she seems tired still, but not exactly weak. She is on her feet. She gave 2 1/2 gallons of milk. Her udder looks good. No real problems that I can see. All four quarters seemed pretty full before milking and softer after.
I think she is dropping weight too fast but it may be just me - first time for me too. Someone suggested milk fever. Not sure what to look for. She isn't necessarily weak, but she seems tired. The weather is atrocious too, pounding rain and now sleet and snow so that isn't helping. She is hanging around in the barn so it is hard to judge if she is feeling okay and moving around enough. Help. Please.
This morning she wasn't out in the paddock as normal for her though. Her appetite seems low. She ate her grain, a few mouthfuls of alfalfa but isn't really touching the hay...Her normal attitude seems to be returning, but I am still concerned about a possible light case of milk fever. 
