Post by donnaclyde47 on May 15, 2020 20:31:41 GMT -5
So in February I decided to stop milking my cows and downsize everything so that I could travel with my children all over the US. We took a big trip in September and planned another one for May. Well then all this stuff hit.... decided I better start milking again to keep the kids healthy. My two mama cows are Guernsey/Murray Grey cows from Vicki Russell. They're not lovey-dovey cows, but they are the lowest maintenance cows I've ever had.
I decided I wanted two other cows and found a great dairy that's only an hour fifteen away. I visited it, chose a pregnant heifer and a first-calf heifer in the milking line for him to test for BLV and Johnes. The first-calf heifer came back positive, so I took the pregnant one. Brought her home Wednesday, and she calved early early morning today. Went out to find the calf dead and she couldn't get up. UGH. Oh, and she's a Jersey/Brown Swiss cross. I was kicking myself for buying a Jersey. They seem to be the least hardy of all the cows I've had.
Long story short, we gave her CMPK (is that what the initials are?) and then my vet friend came and gave her dex in a drip around 2:00 p.m. At 6:00 tonight we coaxed her to get up and after 45 minutes of walking REAL slow, got her into the stanchion and milked out a quart of colostrum. Now she's out grazing and seems a lot better. Watching her closely. I was hoping to have time to get her to love us, but right now she's very leery of us because of everything we did to her today!
Now that I'm working on the farm more, I sleep better, and I feel like I'm getting less lazy, growing more character. It's HARD to deal with sick or difficult cows. It takes grit, patience, endurance, perseverance. I think I lost those things when I quit working outside. Granted, I have nine children, so that brings out lots of junk, but still.... there's something about farming and gardening.
And.... tomorrow I'm going to look at some Brown Swiss cows.
Oh, and I need to pick up a calf soon because I really cannot milk Ruthie every day. I'm praying she takes a calf or I'm going to have to sell her. Sounds cold, but I really just can't with a son heavily involved in sports. My life is too busy.
I decided I wanted two other cows and found a great dairy that's only an hour fifteen away. I visited it, chose a pregnant heifer and a first-calf heifer in the milking line for him to test for BLV and Johnes. The first-calf heifer came back positive, so I took the pregnant one. Brought her home Wednesday, and she calved early early morning today. Went out to find the calf dead and she couldn't get up. UGH. Oh, and she's a Jersey/Brown Swiss cross. I was kicking myself for buying a Jersey. They seem to be the least hardy of all the cows I've had.
Long story short, we gave her CMPK (is that what the initials are?) and then my vet friend came and gave her dex in a drip around 2:00 p.m. At 6:00 tonight we coaxed her to get up and after 45 minutes of walking REAL slow, got her into the stanchion and milked out a quart of colostrum. Now she's out grazing and seems a lot better. Watching her closely. I was hoping to have time to get her to love us, but right now she's very leery of us because of everything we did to her today!
Now that I'm working on the farm more, I sleep better, and I feel like I'm getting less lazy, growing more character. It's HARD to deal with sick or difficult cows. It takes grit, patience, endurance, perseverance. I think I lost those things when I quit working outside. Granted, I have nine children, so that brings out lots of junk, but still.... there's something about farming and gardening.
And.... tomorrow I'm going to look at some Brown Swiss cows.
Oh, and I need to pick up a calf soon because I really cannot milk Ruthie every day. I'm praying she takes a calf or I'm going to have to sell her. Sounds cold, but I really just can't with a son heavily involved in sports. My life is too busy.