Post by daisy2019 on Dec 12, 2020 12:47:45 GMT -5
I've got some random questions relating to my cow and her calf. Hopefully it's not too confusing.
The calf is 15 weeks old today, eventually destined for freezer. Full jersey. He's been getting about 2 gallons of milk a day bucket fed, between morning and evening feeding,as well as some grain and free choice hay. I recently lowered his milk to about 1.5 gallons because production dropped a bit. More on that later. I'm curious how long I should keep him on milk, and if feeding only 1 Gpd would be ok. Could I feed it in only one feeding?
Next question. I banded him at 1 week old,I was 99% sure I got both in there.....but now I'm doubting it. It feels like they must have somehow slipped out, and maybe he's still a bull. There is not a vet available, and I don't know if I could do the job myself. Being a bottle calf,he's very.....pushy and rough. He doesn't back off even when I bonk him. He has horns, they're small still but growing fast. He's all by himself, and will be until either spring when he'll go to my neighbors field with other cows,or when I wean him and maybe he can be in with his mom. I feel like he needs to be bossed by a big cow lol. I guess if I can't figure out how to castrate him, I could just send him to the freezer next November, which would put him at 15 months old. He seems pretty big for his age,he's kind of a chunk for being full dairy.
Now to the cow. She's giving about 3.5-4 gpd,on TAD milking. She was producing more,but dropped a few weeks ago. Hopefully that's because the AI took🤞. I bred her two weeks ago,I'm praying it took. She gets about 6-7 lbs of grain,free choice(ish) hay (not great quality). I was giving her beet pulp(soaked) but I ran out and have been giving her soaked alfalfa cubes. She is now refusing to eat them🤷. I can't soak anything overnight because it freezes,I was wondering if beet shreds need to be soaked. And price wise, which is better,shreds or pellets?
I'm going to run out of dry hay in a month or so,I have wrapped balage after that. I read about listeria being an issue with raw milk,is this a valid concern? It's usually good quality hay,but of course I won't know until I open one.
Ok,I know it's a lot of questions and possibly confusing. But any advice/opinions are greatly appreciated! Thank you all!!
The calf is 15 weeks old today, eventually destined for freezer. Full jersey. He's been getting about 2 gallons of milk a day bucket fed, between morning and evening feeding,as well as some grain and free choice hay. I recently lowered his milk to about 1.5 gallons because production dropped a bit. More on that later. I'm curious how long I should keep him on milk, and if feeding only 1 Gpd would be ok. Could I feed it in only one feeding?
Next question. I banded him at 1 week old,I was 99% sure I got both in there.....but now I'm doubting it. It feels like they must have somehow slipped out, and maybe he's still a bull. There is not a vet available, and I don't know if I could do the job myself. Being a bottle calf,he's very.....pushy and rough. He doesn't back off even when I bonk him. He has horns, they're small still but growing fast. He's all by himself, and will be until either spring when he'll go to my neighbors field with other cows,or when I wean him and maybe he can be in with his mom. I feel like he needs to be bossed by a big cow lol. I guess if I can't figure out how to castrate him, I could just send him to the freezer next November, which would put him at 15 months old. He seems pretty big for his age,he's kind of a chunk for being full dairy.
Now to the cow. She's giving about 3.5-4 gpd,on TAD milking. She was producing more,but dropped a few weeks ago. Hopefully that's because the AI took🤞. I bred her two weeks ago,I'm praying it took. She gets about 6-7 lbs of grain,free choice(ish) hay (not great quality). I was giving her beet pulp(soaked) but I ran out and have been giving her soaked alfalfa cubes. She is now refusing to eat them🤷. I can't soak anything overnight because it freezes,I was wondering if beet shreds need to be soaked. And price wise, which is better,shreds or pellets?
I'm going to run out of dry hay in a month or so,I have wrapped balage after that. I read about listeria being an issue with raw milk,is this a valid concern? It's usually good quality hay,but of course I won't know until I open one.
Ok,I know it's a lot of questions and possibly confusing. But any advice/opinions are greatly appreciated! Thank you all!!