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Post by willowgirl on Nov 26, 2017 20:22:35 GMT
This morning we brought home Rozlyn, a four-year-old Holstein from the herd I milk at work. Roz had twins a couple of months ago but pulled through and was doing fine until she came down with a case of watery mastitis. It spread to all four quarters ... she was pretty sick, but pulled through again. While the mastitis cleared, her milk production didn't come back up to snuff, so she was destined to be put on the truck. Being one of my pets, though, she got a ride on the OTHER truck ... out to the Home for Wayward Holsteins! It took three men and a fat girl (umm, that would be me) to get her into the trailer, but she made an otherwise uneventful trip out to the farm. We're keeping her in Bitey's old shed for awhile, so she can acclimate to the other girls without having to fight for a spot in the pecking order. Having been so sick, she's pretty bony right now, but if there's anything Numb and I are good at, it's fattening up cows! Her soon-to-be new best friends, Snowy and Lil:
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Post by here to stay on Nov 26, 2017 21:58:38 GMT
Congratulations Rozlyn on landing - ahem- butter side up.
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Post by mzgarden on Nov 26, 2017 23:30:08 GMT
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Post by willowgirl on Nov 27, 2017 0:05:56 GMT
Not only did she land butter-side-up, she may have brought a little hitchhiker along with her! She had been bred once just before she got sick. My boss had given her dexamethasone, which I assumed had aborted the calf had she conceived, but subsequent reading suggests that the drug mostly affects late-term pregnancies. So, *gulp,* there may be a calf in there! I'm hoping not, as I'd rather save our limited space to rescue existing cows, but we'll cross that bridge if and when we come to it, I guess.
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Post by shellymay on Nov 27, 2017 18:02:38 GMT
In your care I know she has a good chance of a full recovery, congrads to you and Numb......
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Post by countrymom22 on Nov 27, 2017 23:10:05 GMT
Welcome home Roz! What a lucky cow to land at your place. May she live the rest of her days in peace and sunshine!!!!
You and Numb are angels on earth Willowgirl!!!!
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Post by willowgirl on Nov 28, 2017 4:10:07 GMT
Thanks! Roz seems to be settling in nicely.
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Post by willowgirl on Nov 29, 2017 3:57:56 GMT
Roz is being a bit of a pill in that she doesn't seem to be inclined to eat hay! I mean, what kind of cow won't eat hay? It is nice hay, too! (At least she doesn't seem inclined to eat up all of her straw bedding, unlike Snowy.) (Snowy is kind of a moron.) I've been giving her a big tub (~30 lbs.) of TMR from the dairy every day and she seems to want more. She's already thin, and seems to be losing weight, not gaining. I'd really like her to eat hay -- we're trying to "step down" her nutrition to dry her off; I figured we could always fatten her up later. Put 2 small squares of nice second-cutting in her bunk when we brought her home Sunday, but she's hardly touched it. I topped it off with some second-cutting from a big square today ... maybe she'll like that better. I really don't want her losing any more weight, and I fear a displaced abomasum if she's not eating enough. Her back quarters (the ones most affected by the mastitis) are shrinking up already, but the front quarters are engorged, although not excessively so -- about what I'd expect to see in a cow two days after being dried off. She was treated with Spectramast DC at dry-off so I don't want to go milking her out to check for mastitis; besides stripping out the antibiotic, that would only prolong the drying-off process. Otherwise she seems fine, just HUNGRY! She's cleaning up her TMR like a boss and pushed the tub across the shed probably looking for more. If she hasn't tackled the hay by tomorrow, I think I'll stop at Agway for some pelleted cattle feed, which is probably lower-octane than giving her more TMR or sweet feed. Blargh! Sometimes it's hard to know the right thing to do. My experience at the dairy doesn't really help me here, as these are situations we normally don't encounter.
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Post by here to stay on Nov 29, 2017 4:09:09 GMT
I have zero cow experience but I have done this with horses, dogs and goats. It seems if the animal is the least competitive,they will eat what the others are eating to get their share even if they turned up their nose at it when alone.
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Post by willowgirl on Nov 29, 2017 13:41:30 GMT
Cows can be bullies, though, and the weakest member of the herd tends to get the short end of the stick. Numb thinks we should try chopping up some hay with the mower and mixing it in with her TMR. Sigh.
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Post by here to stay on Nov 29, 2017 16:18:32 GMT
willowgirl, I forgot to mention I put one in with the non eater, not the herd. Goats are bullies too, always banging away at anyone who doesn't see them coming.
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Post by willowgirl on Nov 30, 2017 4:58:15 GMT
Roz seems to have decided she likes the hay off the big square bale. Whew!
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Post by willowgirl on Dec 4, 2017 13:08:20 GMT
I turned Roz out with the other girls yesterday. I had planned to fatten her up a bit first, but she just wasn't happy being penned up away from the herd. Snowy and Lil were polite to her, and there was minimal pushing and shoving at the feed bunk, so I hope the transition will be a smooth one.
It's funny because when we brought Snowy home, it was love at first sight between her and Lil! They were, like, instant besties for life. Most days they sleep curled up side-by-side, using each other for chin rests. I hope Roz won't be a lonely third wheel in this equation. I may have to figure out a way to supplementally feed her to make sure she's getting enough to eat. Sigh.
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Post by aoconnor on Dec 5, 2017 0:57:14 GMT
What a very lucky girl Roz is:-) So glad she has you to love her and care for her for her lifetime. I bet she will settle in and calm down/eat better in the weeks to come. I know that my cows just hate being away from the others, even if they don't particularly like the "others" they are away from! Just missing the herd will bring them up short and pull them off their feed.
Good luck, keep us posted!
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Post by willowgirl on Dec 7, 2017 13:33:15 GMT
Roz seems to have settled in; they're all eating peacefully side-by-side at the bunk now. It's funny because Roz never comes up for air! We'll have her fattened up in no time. She doesn't have much of a winter coat, so I'm glad the weather has been very mild so far. When it gets really cold, I'll open the gate and let them all down into the barn (really just an old garage) to sleep rather than having to use the 3-sided shed.
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Post by aoconnor on Dec 7, 2017 13:49:49 GMT
Yippee!! I love this update, and can picture sweet Roz face first in the hay bin! You and Numb are truly awesome to take the old girls in, and I bet that if they could talk, they would say the same:-)
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Post by willowgirl on Dec 9, 2017 5:56:04 GMT
Aww, thank you! I got Roz's "final tally" from the DHI today. In her first lactation, she made 28,706 lbs. of milk -- really impressive for a heifer in this herd; on par with her mother, who was our top cow for a long time. It's especially noteworthy as she was pregnant with twins for much of the time! In her second, interrupted, lactation, she made 9,738 lbs. of milk from July 19 (when she calved) to Nov. 25, when we bought her. I'm sure having twins set her back a bit -- it also didn't help that she calved in the hottest part of what was a very hot summer. Her butterfat and protein were 3.7/3.0 for her first lactation and 4.1/3.1 for the second. (Boss breeds for components.) She was bred at 88 DIM and *IF* she is pregnant, her next calf will be due July 22. *gulp*
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Post by countrymom22 on Dec 10, 2017 0:12:15 GMT
Glad Roz has settled in. Look on the bright side, if she is bred, she'll have her own "bestie" to hang out with. Otherwise, you'll just have to adopt another cow for her so she has a special friend! Then again, if she is bred and calves at your place, the other girls might get really jealous! Interesting dilemma!
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Post by willowgirl on Dec 10, 2017 4:57:18 GMT
When Christine had Lil, Bitey and Twister were the world's best "aunties." I used to joke that Lil was soggy all the time from having three cows constantly licking her! Numb visited the farm when she was a baby, and took a pic of the other cows standing over her protectively while glaring at him. I love this pic -- Bitey's face is still black-and-white in it. As she got older, she turned grey and turned into a brindle cow, lol. Rozzy seems to be adjusting to her new lifestyle at the farm. Today I ran all the girls out of the shed so I could clean it; she ran out under the big spruce tree in the pic and gave a couple of experimental crow-hops. Later she and Snowy went up the hill together, nibbled on grass, drank out of the spring and scratched their necks on trees.
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Post by oma2three on Dec 10, 2017 6:03:35 GMT
It's so nice to read that Rozzy is doing well and eating ,and happy with her new friends.You are a good mom
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Post by willowgirl on Dec 18, 2017 1:23:19 GMT
Thanks! Rozzy was in heat this morning, so NO CALF, I guess! I have to confess I'm a little disappointed ... but also relieved that I don't have to worry about Numb making me sleep in the barn!
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Post by willowgirl on Jan 21, 2018 3:20:44 GMT
New pic of Roz, taken last weekend out at the farm. The girls had just finished eating and wanted to go back in their shed to lay down, but Numb and I were still bedding it so we chased them out of the way ... they went up the hill and stood around very sleepy-eyed waiting for us to be done so they could nap!
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Post by here to stay on Jan 21, 2018 5:39:48 GMT
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Post by willowgirl on Jan 22, 2018 0:30:57 GMT
LOL, I was joking to Numb last week that I was gonna harness them up and teach them to pull the hay sleigh. "Bells on bobbed tails ring ..." (Snowy and Roz's tails were docked at the dairy.) That's probably not going to work, eh? Here's a pic of Snowy I took at the same time; she was practically falling asleep on her feet. So cute!
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Post by aoconnor on Jan 22, 2018 2:08:39 GMT
I do love those girls, willowgirl. What pretty, pretty girls they are, and not just a bit spoiled and loved on!! As it should be:-)
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Post by willowgirl on Mar 29, 2018 12:21:20 GMT
A chip off the old block! Rozlyn's heifer daughter, Rosie, made 65 lbs. of milk on her first DHI test last night. Go Rosie!
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