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Post by jupiter on Aug 16, 2015 14:54:22 GMT
Willowgirl,
Would you mind sharing your cottage cheese recipe? I haven't had any luck with the recipes I've tried.
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Post by willowgirl on Aug 16, 2015 17:40:17 GMT
Jupiter, check out the thread in the dairy/cheesemaking forum. Numb just made me another batch; I was running low already! This morning, Marianne was standing at the gate at 8 a.m., dripping milk and mooing for her TMR ration! She has become very spoiled; she doesn't want to eat her hay anymore, even second-cutting. Yesterday she even turned up her nose to fresh chop! She wants silage. Well, I can only get so much from the farm where I work, and she has to share it with poor toothless Bitey. She is not at all happy about that ... cows aren't big on sharing. I couldn't help laughing when I saw Numb trying to chase her out of her shed so he could clean it. She was clearly put out, and kept tossing her head back over her shoulder, which is the bovine equivalent of giving the middle finger! It's nice to see her acting like her usual sassy self again.  |
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Post by jupiter on Aug 16, 2015 21:48:43 GMT
Thanks! (:
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Post by willowgirl on Aug 24, 2015 4:55:40 GMT
She is still doing good and back to normal now as far as we can tell. Tonight while I was milking, Numb was sitting on the edge of her feed bunk like he usually does. He started scratching her face and ears, and every time he would stop, she would nudge him with her nose until he started up again. Really cute. Spoiled cow! |
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Post by willowgirl on Aug 28, 2015 15:34:53 GMT
Aaaand now her ketones are sky-high again, for no apparent reason. She's looking and acting OK, her normal boisterous self. Even the vet is puzzled by this turn of events. He'll be here at noon ...
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Post by willowgirl on Aug 28, 2015 17:33:20 GMT
The verdict: she has a kidney infection. The vet also wants her nutrition stepped up to combat the ketosis. We had been afraid to give her concentrates as we'd read they can increase the risk of a DA, which she was at high risk for anyway due to the calving difficulties. So she had been getting second-cutting hay plus some TMR. She will get more TMR plus some grain going forward ... that should make her happy, LOL.
She wasn't nearly as cooperative about getting a dextrose IV today as she was 2 weeks ago.
Oh, she gets dexamethasone for the next 4 days, and an antibiotic for her kidneys.
Good vet ... very thorough. The visit set me back another $200 bucks, though, and I lost a morning's work, too. Arrgh. This too shall pass ...
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2015 8:57:59 GMT
Oh no,hope she recovers quickly.
Did the vet say what caused the kidney infection?
Or is that something that can come with ketosis?
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Post by willowgirl on Aug 29, 2015 11:33:19 GMT
My boss donated an extra tub of TMR daily to get her through the peak of her lactation. These Holsteins are high-octane beasts! The vet didn't say what may have caused the kidney infection. Given the stress to her system over the difficult calving, it probably isn't surprising. Interestingly, he diagnosed it via rectal palpation. Apparently, infected kidneys feel different than healthy ones! I'm glad we caught it ... I'll bet a kidney infection is painful for a cow, too.  The good news is that she never went off her feed or showed any signs of distress ... we probably wouldn't have realized her ketones were even high if Numb hadn't insisted on continuing to check them at every milking, even after she had begun to test clear. The vet said her milk production was probably starting to ramp up, after she recovered from her postpartum difficulties, and that was what threw her back into ketosis. More good news ... she didn't have any signs of a DA, and the vet said her uterus appears to be in good shape, returning to its normal size with no excessive inflammation. Poor girl has been through the mill! And now she gets stuck with needles for the next 3 days. She is NOT gonna be happy about THAT! |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2015 4:47:52 GMT
Awww,bless her.
Sounds like
U guys caught it so early there probably was no pain yet.
She's a lucky girl,getting the best possible care☺
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Post by willowgirl on Sept 1, 2015 11:44:57 GMT
$400 worth of the "best possible care" (vet bills) ... arrrgh!
But she's worth it.
We do lurve our big spoiled baby!
Ketones were at zero yesterday morning and last night, so hopefully we're in the clear again. Whew!
It has been a rough ride with this one.
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Post by willowgirl on Sept 2, 2015 12:13:52 GMT
Today makes it one month since she calved. My, how time flies! She is doing fine. Me, I feel like:  |
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Post by willowgirl on Sept 4, 2015 3:32:30 GMT
Numb was so tired tonight that he put a quarter-teaspoon of rennet in his glass of root beer instead of the cheese pot. lol
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Post by willowgirl on Sept 7, 2015 16:22:37 GMT
Aaaaand now she's ketotic again, the big stinker! After being in the clear for almost a week. Arrgh. We're pouring on the grain here ... her numbers were better this morning than last night. Darn this cow!
Good news is that she doesn't appear to be sick or anything. She's certainly not off her feed. *snork*
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Post by aoconnor on Sept 13, 2015 12:19:02 GMT
How is that big ol girl doing now, willowgirl?
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Post by willowgirl on Sept 16, 2015 2:34:57 GMT
Oh, she is fine ... eating like a pig! Whenever her numbers are a little elevated, we give her an extra scoop of grain, and she's fine by the next milking. She's not losing weight. She's up to 6 gallons of milk per day now. Poor Numb is making cheese day and night ... |
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Post by willowgirl on Sept 26, 2015 19:50:13 GMT
It was a nice day today so I took a new pic of Marianne hanging around the paddock, looking statuesque! lol  Her udder about halfway between milkings:  |
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Post by Awnry Abe on Sept 27, 2015 1:57:24 GMT
You milking barefoot like Ms. Burroughs? I got stepped on, then kicked, this morning wearing crocs. A hoof grinding down on a foot hurts. Guess what I am wearing tomorrow morning? Yep. Crocs.
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Post by willowgirl on Sept 27, 2015 3:47:24 GMT
Ouch!! Nope, no bare feet -- it's rubber barn boots for this girl. Marianne has stepped on my toes a time or two, mostly when she was shifting around because of flies. Numb hung up a box fan that blows on us now while I'm milking, which helps. He also made me a luxury milking stool; an old padded barstool with the legs cut down to the proper height. Us girls are spoiled here! |
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