Lots of dairy cow questions *Update*

[Cowgirl71]

Quote:
Our cows don't like the salt blocks either. They way prefer the loose salt and mineral. Maybe Black Angus are more picky, LOL.

Sorry for the hijack Hound!

By the way, what are you going to name her?

 

[Katy]

Quote:
Our cows don't like the salt blocks either. They way prefer the loose salt and mineral. Maybe Black Angus are more picky, LOL.

Sorry for the hijack Hound!

By the way, what are you going to name her?

Then someone forgot to tell ours....they're a high percentage of Angus with Simmental mixed in.

 

[Cowgirl71]

Quote:
I was just kidding, LOL.

If that's all we give them, then they'll lick on the blocks a little bit. But when we put a block and some loose salt/mineral mix right next to it we have to keep restocking the loose mix, while the block will last a year or more... We keep blocks out for them anyway so that they're never totally out of salt and mineral.

 

[Hound]

Finally home... with a small herd. The lady selling her was including a bull calf (not hers) which I didn't know about, and had brought along a second that was looking droopy that was ours too if we wanted him. So now i'm the proud owner of two Jerseys and a who knows what calf. He's either a Jersey or a Jersey cross, but he's grullo. Pics may come tomorrow bovines permitting, for tonight they're settling in to the barn and munching hay. I'll see what I can do about treating the calf in the morning, we have some scours boluses, a ton of Bounce Back, and some kind of Manna Pro scours treatment. We thought it best to just leave him be tonight, he's had a long day. She's being a good momma to them, she had to know where they were the whole time we were unloading.

 

[Hound]

Here are some pics. I can't wait to get some weight on her:

This guy isn't feeling too good still, but he does nurse on his own

 

[prairiehen74369]

Remember she isn't a beef cow and she will always appear boney the big gut is for all the forage she will eat to turn into milk . Grain is good just not too much you don't want to founder her. She's beautiful!!

 

[Katy]

I love her eyes. As prairiehen said she's a Jersey and won't ever fill out like a beef breed does.....I don't think I've ever seen a fat Jersey!!

 

[Cowgirl71]

Thanks for the pics!!!

She's not that skinny, BTW. She's only about 50 pounds under normal for a dairy cow.

Like Prariehen and Katy said, she'll never fill out like a beef cow. Our milk cows (especially the two who are pregnant) would probably be considered obese for milk cow standards, but you can still easily see their hips and a couple ribs.

I hate to say it, but it doesn't look like she'll have enough milk for two calves plus you and yours...

She's very young and her production will go up every time she freshens (calves). Just be prepared to have to buy some milk re-placer for the calves if you'll be milking her too...

She does look like a real sweet heart! Whatcha gonna name her?

She looks like she has a well shaped udder and teats, and that's neat that she's halter broke too! Both the calves are really cute! I think Jersey calves are some of the cutest around.

 

[Katy]

I don't think bag size is always an indicator of milk production. The jersey/guernsey milk cow we had didn't have a very big bag, but gave a good amount of milk. Some of our best cows (beef cows) in our herd now don't have a very large bag but have plenty of milk for their calves. I'd rather have a cow with a smaller bag than one whose teats drag in the mud. Often those cows with the biggest udders have the most issues and shortest milking life. In the fourth picture down you can see the back of her bag and it looks like she has a nice size udder.

 

[larrylofts]

Looking At The Pics Of Your New Milk Cow She Does Need Some Weight . I Would Think A Feed Store Would Be Able To Help With What To Feed . As A Two Year Old You Know She Is Looseing Her Baby Teeth . Which Makes It Harder For Her To Graze . She Has Sale Tags On Her Did You Get Her At The Sale Barn? When Did She Freshen Are One Of Those Calves Hers ? Worming Her And Getting A Good Feed Will Go Along Way In Her Recovery . One More Thing Dragging A Lead Rope With It Hooked In The Chain Part Will Always Cause Sore Under The Chin If You Can Not Catch Her Put It In The Ring In The Middle Under The Chin . Stepping On A Dragging Rope Will Always Cause Problems.