Post by canesisters on Dec 8, 2016 13:49:11 GMT -5
Sorry about the long story to get to a short question...
If you are familiar with my 3 boarders and the situation - just skip to the question at the bottom
I have 3 'boarders' at my place.
Maddie - angus/holstein - almost 2yrs old - had a calf 6mos ago who is still nursing
Gretta - Maddie's sister - angus/holstein - about 1yr 3mos old
Mya - Maddie's calf - mostly angus - about 6mos old
All of my pastures have been overgrazed - there is no real, usable grazing left to speak of.
Their owner has provided a round bale as needed throughout the summer. Because Eva (my girl) has kept in great shape on just pasture and hay, I keep a small supply of square bales in the barn. When the other girls are in getting their grain, Eva gets hay.
The problem now is... Sometimes he's a day or two late.
As an example. He was out this past Sunday afternoon delivering feed for his girls. We looked at the hay and he said 'that should last till Wed, I'll bring one by then.'
Tuesday they are bawling because the hay ring is empty. That evening, I toss a square bale of Eva's hay in to the small feeder thinking they just have to make it to Wed afternoon and then they will have all they can eat....
Wed afternoon I'm doing barn chores - they are raising a racket and I text him "hay today?" I get "Too wet, will try to come tomorrow". This morning I text and say that I'm moving the hay ring to a different area so the wet ground isn't an issue. If he doesn't show today, I'm out 4 bales (so far) of the hay that I buy for MY cow.
I know .... the best answer is to tell him to forget the hay and bring the trailer. But it's one of those complicated friend/coworker things and I'm not willing (yet) to risk future working relationships over mooing cows - UNLESS they are in danger of a serious health issue... I know this is NOT great animal husbandry and I am NOT happy about the details of this situation.. And I've decided that once these girls are all back home again - this will never happen again. (the reason they are here to begin with is to get them away from his bull until they are old enough to breed.. Maddie, obviously left several months too late...)
But my question is - What exactly is the risk to their health in this situation? To go, week to week, getting all they can eat - then, for a day or so, drop to just enough to keep them busy for an hour morning and afternoon - then back to standing at the hay ring all day.
Are they in any danger?? Or just unhappy??
They ARE still getting beetpulp shreds and pellets every morning as usual - it's their hay that is fluctuating.