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Post by willowgirl on Oct 16, 2018 13:03:10 GMT
Lizzie looked better yesterday! I could definitely see improvement since Friday. She is looking a little less bony.
In other news, boss said Betsy calved yesterday, 11 days early. Single calf, born alive ... he wasn't sure whether it was a bull or heifer. He hadn't brought her over from the dry cow barn so I'm not sure what shape she's in. I'll find out today I guess. The weather has cooled off so no worries about heat stress anyway!
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Post by LauraD on Oct 16, 2018 13:17:08 GMT
Glad to hear that Lizzie is improving!
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Post by countrymom22 on Oct 21, 2018 2:08:46 GMT
Sorry to hear about Eileen, but at least her suffering is over. Glad Lizzie is looking better. Do you have a projected date to bring her home?
I'll keep praying that she makes a complete recovery, even if it takes some time.
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Post by willowgirl on Oct 24, 2018 13:20:46 GMT
Lizzie continues to gain weight. Waiting for a call back from the hauler to see if we can take her this weekend! Betsy wasn't making much milk and for awhile it seemed she might be joining her niece in the trailer. I haven't had a chance to talk to my boss this week so I'm not sure where that stands. Hopefully she can stay in the milking herd for awhile 'cause I'm broke!
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Post by willowgirl on Oct 29, 2018 13:35:56 GMT
Tomorrow (Tuesday) is gonna be Lizzie's homecoming, I guess! (Hauler was out of town over the weekend.) Knock on wood, but she's been doing really good -- she's almost back up to her fighting weight. This was a matter of some concern to me as I don't know any of my neighbors at the new place and was wary about getting a visit from Animal Control checking on the "starving cow." It's a shame that we have to worry about such things, but, well, these are the times we live in. The new farm has a thousand feet of frontage along the road so I have to think about optics. The weather is supposed to be warm and sunny tomorrow and mild for the rest of the week. We just set a new round bale yesterday and there is still plenty of grass, so hopefully she'll have an easy transition. The funny part is she hates me now, I guess because I doctored her when she was sick (big needles, ouch) and have been sorting her out at milking time so she doesn't have stand in the holding pen for hours. You'd think she would appreciate this, but nooo ... she wants to go in the pen with the rest of the herd! She stands up against the gate and glares at me. Poor silly Lizzie! Like I told my boss, "She doesn't realize it, but I'm her best friend ..." Hopefully she will get over her pique when she's fat and sassy, stuffing her face at the with her new buddies. In other news (in keeping with this thread) we had two more sets of twins born at work in the past couple weeks. One was a pair of heifers (yay! rare) while the other came early and was stillborn. The little heifers are about the cutest calves I've ever seen! They are nearly identical and both have white hearts on their foreheads. OMG, adorable.
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Post by feather on Oct 29, 2018 15:50:05 GMT
willowgirl, and you are completely aware that we like pictures of baby animals?
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Post by willowgirl on Oct 30, 2018 3:48:15 GMT
LOL, I wish I had a camera on my phone! It would be easy to take pics then. I'm really leery of taking Numb's nice camera in to work ...
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Post by willowgirl on Dec 15, 2018 5:58:36 GMT
Well, old Betsy isn't making much milk this time around. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with her; she's just worn out, I think. Only 26 lbs. on tonight's test, only two months after calving, and less than last month, when she should be going up instead of down. After milking, I talked to my boss, and asked whether I could go ahead and buy her, and pay to board her in the dry cow barn until spring. Right now it's too muddy to keep her in the barn at the new place -- we wouldn't be able to get up the lane to truck hay in -- and I don't think she could keep up with the rest of the cows, who wander all over the place. But after a few months of rest, when her bag shrinks down and the mud dries up, she should do OK. (Boss seemed amenable to the idea.) Lizzie's getting fat.
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Post by willowgirl on Dec 22, 2018 6:21:22 GMT
Well, it looks like Betsy won't be the next cow to join the herd after all! Oh, she's still in the queue, but in the meantime, Georgia's preg test came back "open" AGAIN! At more than 400 days out, she's not going to get any more 11th chances, lol. But she is a nice, healthy, friendly old girl, also the mother of one of my favorite cows, so I guess she can join our herd. (How could I ever look Babygirl in the eye, knowing I'd allowed her mom to be sent to slaughter?!) I settled up for her and ol' Bess tonight using my Christmas bonus money. Betsy will hang out at the dairy until spring while Georgia will be joining the rest of the herd out at Muddy Acres as soon as we can arrange her transport. The new barn is filling up!
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Post by LauraD on Dec 26, 2018 13:48:13 GMT
You should hang a sign up on your barn: "Home for wayward cows"!
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Post by willowgirl on Dec 26, 2018 14:28:47 GMT
LOL, we do have a sign by the gate!
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Post by countrymom22 on Jan 5, 2019 1:55:06 GMT
It's a good thing for you that cows can't read or you would be overrun! But you do seem to be building quite the retirement herd! Bless you!
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Post by willowgirl on Feb 28, 2019 14:38:04 GMT
It wasn't meant to be, I guess.
Betsy passed away on the dairy last night. We're not entirely sure what went wrong with her -- we had started treating her for rumen acidosis, as we've had a few cows with symptoms in recent days. (Not sure if it's the change in the weather or feed.) Bess was pooping normally but was showing signs of gastric distress. As an old cow, she could have had other things going on as well. The onset was pretty rapid; I was going to try to get a vet out today (always a challenge here) but she passed during the night.
I'm sad that I didn't get to give her the retirement she deserved, but glad that at least I kept her off the truck and from going through the horrors of the sale barn and slaughterhouse. And up until nearly the end, she had been doing pretty good! We were still milking her, even though she was only making about 40 lbs. Her feet were staying sound in this lactation and I was looking forward to bringing her home in just a few weeks.
Can't win 'em all, I guess.
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Post by Mari-in-IN on Feb 28, 2019 15:19:28 GMT
I'm so very sorry to hear of Betsy's passing willowgirl ... Yeah, I wish she could have been out at your place for her retirement - but I take it from your words that you do indeed have a bit of solace that she was at the dairy when she passed instead of the alternative. I guess at least it was quick and she didn't have to suffer for days... Do you know/mind sharing how old she was? Take care... I feel for ya! ~Mari
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Post by willowgirl on Mar 1, 2019 5:37:12 GMT
Thank you for the kind words, Mari. I had to go back through the records to see just how old Betsy was, and when I did, I discovered that she actually died on her 9th birthday (or the night before, depending on the time she had passed). She was in her 7th lactation but had had nine calves (two sets of twins). Oddly enough, I *never* wake up in the night unless the cats knock something over, but last night I woke up at 4 a.m. It was like a light switch had flipped on and I was wide awake! I remember looking at the clock because it was still dark and I never wake up until morning. I wonder now if she popped in to tell me she was leaving? She was a good old girl. I'll miss her, but there are worse ways to go than to die on your home farm, surrounded by your lifelong friends. Not many dairy cows get that privilege. My boss buried her out back today in the bovine boneyard where her twin sister Lizzie also sleeps. Seems fitting somehow.
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Post by Mari-in-IN on Mar 1, 2019 14:56:00 GMT
Your welcome, willowgirl ... I have such a soft spot for all kinds of animals (obviously). I "heard" somewhere a while back that the average lifespan on dairy farms was 4-5 years but I don't know how true that really is. Perhaps that is in regards to the huge "factory farms"? Our farmer friend who milked for 40+ years usually kept his 'til an average of 9-10 years old. Hey, honestly I wouldn't be surprised if she was passing when you were awakened. I think there is a lot "going on" that we are oblivious to sometimes most of the time. Yeah, I totally agree with you in regards to not many cows getting that privilege - that is a rarity for sure. Very bittersweet indeed. Take care, ~Mari ETA - I always enjoy your posts in regards to those lovely large ladies you work with and own... whether happy or sad... guess you may have figured that out already but still wanted to "say" so...
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Post by stickinthemud on Mar 1, 2019 20:14:05 GMT
RIP Betsy. Sounds like 9 years is old for a milk cow these days. I recall 50 yr ago at least one cow at my aunt's farm was in her teens.
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Post by Woodpecker on Mar 1, 2019 21:31:37 GMT
I’ve been following your thread on & off since you started it. I just want to say “so sorry” and also commend you on your love for the girls. The only cow I knew or ever was even close to was our Betsy. This was when I was a little girl. She was special too. Maybe all cows are😍 well,they certainly are to you.
I agree that at 4:00 a.m. Betsy was telling you she was leaving. What a special girl & friend indeed!❤️
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Post by comfortablynumb on Mar 2, 2019 1:44:45 GMT
She was in a box stall with 5 calves on one side and 5 or so on the other side all of them poking their heads into her stall so... she wasn't alone.
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Post by solargeek on Mar 2, 2019 2:42:42 GMT
I’ve been following your thread on & off since you started it. I just want to say “so sorry” and also commend you on your love for the girls. The only cow I knew or ever was even close to was our Betsy. This was when I was a little girl. She was special too. Maybe all cows are😍 well,they certainly are to you. I agree that at 4:00 a.m. Betsy was telling you she was leaving. What a special girl & friend indeed!❤️ I can't say it any better than Woodpecker. So sorry for your loss.
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Post by willowgirl on Mar 2, 2019 15:00:41 GMT
Thanks, everybody, for the kind words! It means a lot. Life goes on. Last night on the farm I had a fresh cow to attend to, one to dry off, a couple we're treating for mastitis, a heifer who needed a Lute shot, two in heat who needed to be caught and bred. A third evidently in heat who was already supposed to be pregnant -- Mark her down to recheck when the tester comes next month! Oh, and get everyone milked, of course. Right now I'm watching Lizzie and Betsy's saga play out in a new generation. Two years ago, a cow (unrelated to the Twin Line) started her third lactation with a pair of twin heifers. As is often the case with twins, it was a difficult birth and like Elizabeth (Lizzie's and Betsy's mother), she failed to make any milk and was put on the truck. (Sadly, I can't save them all.) Her daughters, now grown, just calved into the milking string a week apart. I christened them Lacey Jr. and Lalah. On their first DHI test, they made a combined 105 lbs. of milk! Hopefully their lives will be as long and productive as Lizzie's and Betsy's were.
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Post by willowgirl on Mar 7, 2019 14:24:06 GMT
We got Betsy's final report from the DHI yesterday. Over her seven lactations, she made a total of 145,627 lbs. of milk.
Well done, good and faithful cow ...
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Post by mollymckee on Mar 11, 2019 6:19:18 GMT
Sorry about Betsy, Willow. It sounds like she was one of the good cows and much loved.
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Post by countrymom22 on Mar 11, 2019 21:43:35 GMT
So sorry about Betsy, Willow. I'm sitting here crying right now. I awoke in the middle of the night, same as you, when my dog passed away years ago. I know she came to you to say goodbye. They always do, we just don't always realize it.
I completely understand and also take solace in the fact that she died at the home farm, never to know the sale ring or butchers truck.
Those are both indignities that these wonderful animals should never know!
RIP Betsy!
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Post by willowgirl on Mar 23, 2019 12:42:04 GMT
Awww, I feel bad now that I've kinda been a "Debbie Downer." But that is how farm life goes, I guess; you win some, you lose some. So, OK, here's a story with a happier ending (thus far):
Last summer, a heifer calved into the milking string with stillborn twins. My boss had to pull the calves, and the heifer was pretty wrecked. She couldn't or wouldn't get up for a couple of days, and when she did, she wasn't making much milk. Then she had a retained placenta and got sick again and I thought we were gonna lose her for sure! The only thing that gave me cause for hope was the fact she is the daughter of the oldest cow in the herd, who is still going strong in her 9th lactation. So I figured little Lindy-Lou at least had good genetics going for her ... but that was about it.
It was touch-and-go for the first month but my boss is a patient man, and eventually our patient came around! Her milk ramped up and she began to fill out (carrying twins while still growing herself had left her a bit gaunt). We didn't breed her back until she was about 4 months in milk, but when we did, she settled right away! Go figure. On Thursday, when I dried her off for her next calf, she was about 330 DIM and still making around 50# according to the last test. She has matured into a nice-looking cow and you'd never guess there had been anything wrong with her.
Hopefully she'll have a single calf in this next round!
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Post by willowgirl on Apr 2, 2019 4:26:40 GMT
The Twins 2.0, Lalah and Lacey, made 80 and 86 lbs. respectively on their second test! A nice pair of heifers.
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