Post by tabitha on Jan 5, 2008 15:44:50 GMT -5
I have mentioned a few times here that Niña's calving time is ambiguous. Well, i am not an expert by any means, but today i watched a Very Big Calf kick. yes, watched. from afar. In my mind, that is a calf that isnt due in June.
In addition, her backside is getting larger and noticeably puffy.
shall i list the convincing and the un-convicing? keep in mind we bought her with a calf on out of a beef herd, never been milked. The owners werent sure but they claimed she had been with a bull all september- but she was in a herd with a bull all along perhaps? the calf they claimed had been born in May but was HUGE. seriously HUGE.
things that make me think she is due sooner.
things that make me think i'm nuts and she isnt that pregnant
if the owners told the truth, she is due mid-late june.
if the owners told the truth about the calf's age, but she was with a bull from the birth on, the soonest she could be due is mid-february (holy crap!)
if the owners told nothing true and the calf is older... well she could be getting ready to calve for goodness sake!
so i ask you, after this long winded post, what should we do?! we are still milking, we *need the milk*. we cant afford to make a mistake and do without milk for my daughter who cant drink pasteurized milk. but i did intend to dry her off for 60 days or so, and i need to know when!
another list, this time of questions:
[/li][li]wouldn't her milk be changing to colostrum if she was really ready to calve?
[/li][/ul]
In addition, her backside is getting larger and noticeably puffy.
shall i list the convincing and the un-convicing? keep in mind we bought her with a calf on out of a beef herd, never been milked. The owners werent sure but they claimed she had been with a bull all september- but she was in a herd with a bull all along perhaps? the calf they claimed had been born in May but was HUGE. seriously HUGE.
things that make me think she is due sooner.
- her calf was just too big to be 4-5 months old at the time. it was 1/2 charolais, but also 1/2 jersey, and it was a monster.
- the owners knew very little about her. i really cant believe what they said or use it as a guide. they were the children of an older man who actually bought and knew her, who had a stroke.
- large calf kicking profusely.
- milk supply dwindling. yes, we are still milking, thinking she wasnt due till June. she loses a little each week and no amount of feed can fix it.
- big belly. but then she is a round cow. but when i say big belly i mean the circingle strap had to be let out a notch since we got her.
- noticable faster respiration than Nimue, who breathes nice and slow when she chews her cud. Niña is relaxed, chewing her cud, but her lung capacity seems stressed by big giant calf. i remeber this from Nimue's pregnancies.
things that make me think i'm nuts and she isnt that pregnant
- if we dry her off you KNOW she wont calve till JULY or even August. grumble.
- i might be nuts about the backside swelling. i do look every day, but maybe i am seeing things
- a few times when i have bumped i thought i really felt the large calf, but a few other times i threw up my hands and thought whatever! maybe she isnt even pregnant! you know how frustrating this can be...
if the owners told the truth, she is due mid-late june.
if the owners told the truth about the calf's age, but she was with a bull from the birth on, the soonest she could be due is mid-february (holy crap!)
if the owners told nothing true and the calf is older... well she could be getting ready to calve for goodness sake!
so i ask you, after this long winded post, what should we do?! we are still milking, we *need the milk*. we cant afford to make a mistake and do without milk for my daughter who cant drink pasteurized milk. but i did intend to dry her off for 60 days or so, and i need to know when!
another list, this time of questions:
- how awful is it if she calves right now and wasnt dried off?
- or for that matter, if we dry her off but she doesnt get a full 60 days?
- how can we know more clearly how far along she is?
- what would you do?
[/li][li]wouldn't her milk be changing to colostrum if she was really ready to calve?
[/li][/ul]