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Post by here to stay on Dec 7, 2017 16:13:56 GMT
willowgirl, are all dairies so complicated or just where you work? I guess I always assumed that, when my little herd of goats had problems, it was just me and everyone else in the world was better at it. Maybe the truth is more that everyone with animals is pedaling has hard as they can too, just to keep afloat.
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Post by willowgirl on Dec 9, 2017 5:45:56 GMT
I think so, lol. Tonight Jewel figured out how to unlatch the gate to the holding pen. Sigh ...
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Post by willowgirl on Dec 16, 2017 4:03:28 GMT
In the continuing Saga of the Surviving Twin, Betsy came in 2 nights ago with a bruised RR quarter, passing blood clots. The clots aren't bad enough to clog up the teat canal, thankfully, and she's milking out cleanly. There is no visible damage to her bag; I'm thinking she probably was in heat and bruised herself while crashing around. She's a short cow with a big bag -- it's also possible she just stepped on it. Sigh. So we've been milking her into the bucket and dumping it again. Oh, she also lost her ear tag.
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Post by paquebot on Dec 16, 2017 4:44:28 GMT
willowgirl , are all dairies so complicated or just where you work? I guess I always assumed that, when my little herd of goats had problems, it was just me and everyone else in the world was better at it. Maybe the truth is more that everyone with animals is pedaling has hard as they can too, just to keep afloat. Now you may get a better understanding of why the small family farms are gone. Standard barns around here had room for 38 head. They had the same problems as modern 3,800 herds, just less of them but only one person to handle them. City people have the idea that you just supply feed and water and pull teats twice a day. And woe if they think that you may be even giving them an aspirin. If a cow or calf die for any reason, must be from neglect or cruelty. Our milk went for cheese for many years so it was Grade B. Upgraded for butter production but still B. Eventually it got to a point where one either went Grade A or quit farming. That's what paid my living for 13 years with Dairy Equipment/Boumatic making coolers and pipeline systems. Came to a screeching halt in 1982 when there were no more farms to upgrade. Did beat the Surge and DeLaval milkers and cans. One more point. In a big operation that willow is with, one animal may go down and it's just a little hiccup. If on her feet, off to bologna. If down, off to renderers. Just one less to feed and what little milk is lost isn't much more than "a drop in the bucket". But if you've only got 20 lactating, that 5% loss of production may be the difference between hanging on for another year or hanging it up. Thus it was always a major effort to save an animal's life as it might mean saving the farm. Martin
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Post by willowgirl on Dec 16, 2017 18:13:23 GMT
It's not really a big operation, Martin. We're milking 86 right now, usually average right around 100. My boss is a good guy and hates to cull almost as much as I do. Just last week, he bred a cow that was 280 DIM, lol. (Incidentally, that was Petal -- one of Lizzie's daughters.) I don't think there is anyone left in this business who doesn't love cows. There are just too many easier ways to make more money! You have to love it.
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Post by paquebot on Dec 16, 2017 23:26:05 GMT
You have an operation which is probably similar to the one now on my last farm. We had 38 stanchions and was probably milking around 25 at any one time. Last I heard, the farm had 102. There's two mobile homes for Hispanic workers rather than locals. Farm was originally 82 acres. Now own or rent everything around it. Should have been mine! Still peanuts compared many herds in this state.
Martin
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Post by willowgirl on Dec 18, 2017 1:22:02 GMT
Yes, you are really in dairy country! There are very few dairy farms left here, and less with every passing year. I know I'm very lucky to have a job.
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Post by paquebot on Dec 18, 2017 3:28:24 GMT
Dairy country indeed! Some farms don't have coolers anymore. Just have a couple tankers parked where a milk house would normally be!
Martin
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Post by willowgirl on Jan 13, 2018 15:11:36 GMT
Betsy's smashed teat healed up fine (though we did end up having to treat her for mastitis in it) and she registered 100 lbs. on test this month, our third-highest-producing cow! Little Lizzy made a very respectable 70 lbs. as well.
In other news, it looks like we might be onboarding another rescue this spring. Stay tuned for another exciting episode!!
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Post by aoconnor on Jan 22, 2018 2:09:48 GMT
I can't wait to hear about the new girl! Hope it all works out for everyone!
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Post by willowgirl on Jun 2, 2018 3:55:54 GMT
Another "double trouble" story from the annals of dairy farming: Couple months back, the heifer daughter of Malinda, currently the oldest cow in our herd, calved for the first time. Not without help -- she was carrying twins; they were malpositioned and my boss had to pull them. One was born dead, while the other lived only a short time. This happened over the weekend while I was away, but I recall someone telling me that the poor heifer laid flat-out on her side in the hospital pen for about a day and a half after the traumatic birth! Eventually my boss started picking her up with hip lifters and the Skidsteer (a down cow is a dead cow). She got to where, if we sat her up, she could stand on her own, but if she went flat-out her side, we had to pick her up again. Sigh. After four or five days, she seemed to be doing a little better, so we tried getting her into the parlor to milk. (A milk cow who doesn't milk becomes hamburger.) She didn't make much milk, but we were surprised she made any at all! And she walked with a hitch in her get-along -- seems she had a pinched nerve in her hip. But, she was walking, and milking. But wait! About 10 days later, she took a turn for the worse. Her milk dropped off and she started to look hollow-eyed again. She'd had a retained placenta (a common problem after twin births) so my boss treated her for that, but her milk didn't pick up, and frankly we all kind of thought she was done for. We stopped milking her and just kept her in a box stall, feeding and cleaning up after her of course. I figured my boss was probably going to put her on the truck if she somehow managed to survive. Four or five days after we stopped milking her, I came back to work on a Monday to find her back in the milking string! Apparently she was looking a bit brighter, so my bosses figured why not? The first milking, she overflowed the bucket (she had about 5 days of milk in her). The second time around, her milk barely covered the bottom of the pail. Oy. But we kept milking her, and gradually she started to take off! She got strong enough to be turned out into the general inmate population (lol). Last week, on her first test, about eight weeks after calving, she made 50 lbs. of milk! She still looks a little rough, but she's gaining weight, and the crimp in her hip seems to have resolved -- she's walking normally now. The next challenge will be to see whether she breeds back! I hope she does, poor little thing, after all she's been through. Tough gal. We're all pulling for her.
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Post by willowgirl on Jun 20, 2018 12:05:38 GMT
The OTHER kind of double trouble ...! Had four cows out on the dry lot due this week; all bagging up to various extents. Monday morning, my boss finds a calf. None of the cows show telltale evidence of having calved, but Peanut is mothering the calf, so the boss figures it's hers and brings her over to the milking barn. Peanut's a chubby cow; that evening I joked to my lady boss that she was big enough to still have a calf inside her. Lady boss laughed and said, "Nope, she's just fat." I'll bet you can guess what's coming, can't you? Yup, sure enough, after milking Peanut went into labor and popped out a fine big bull calf! Given its size and ease of birth, we decided it was unlikely to be a twin. So who did the first calf belong to? I hate it when this happens ....
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Post by countrymom22 on Jun 20, 2018 22:55:13 GMT
Wow! I love this saga! What a dilemma. I guess you'll have to wait till next week to find out who doesn't calve this week. Or maybe the utter will unmask momma.
Let us know how it turns out!
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Post by willowgirl on Jun 21, 2018 12:11:25 GMT
Well, the boss decided Wanda was the probable mother, and it seems he was right! Rihanna calved yesterday which leaves my pet Janeen as the only close-up cow on the dry lot. Then we get a 10-day break until the next batch comes due ... All three moms and babies doing fine so far!
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Post by willowgirl on Aug 2, 2018 12:14:11 GMT
Well, old Betsy has been struggling a bit this lactation. Stepped on a tit, got mastitis, we treated that and it cleared up OK. Then her back feet started getting sore; she got a round of Naxcel, then another one when she started limping again a month later. Some members of the team were in favor of putting her on the truck but I argued we should try to get this last calf out of her. It probably helped that one of her daughters and a granddaughter are both among our top 10 cows this month. The daughter, Miranda, is arguably the nicest cow in our herd, and GD Minerva is still making 91 lbs. of milk in her heifer lactation at 290 days in milk while pregnant with her next calf.
Betsy is supposed to be due 10/27, which means she still has a month to go before dry-off. Just for the heck of it, I had her preg-tested when the tester was here on Monday ... she was only bred once, at 60 days in milk. If for some reason she came back open, I could have her on the next boat outta there, so to speak. Otherwise I think I'll see if I can get the boss to let me dry her off a little early.
It would help if the weather would stay on the cool side. Why do old cows have to wait to be in the last group that comes through the parlor? Especially if they're lame. Sigh. Cows!
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Post by willowgirl on Aug 4, 2018 9:57:57 GMT
Well, Betsy is pregnant. I don't think I've ever wished for a cow to be open before, lol. Talked to the boss last night, he was OK with keeping her around and maybe drying her off early.
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Post by countrymom22 on Aug 8, 2018 21:24:14 GMT
Well, old Betsy has been struggling a bit this lactation. Stepped on a tit, got mastitis, we treated that and it cleared up OK. Then her back feet started getting sore; she got a round of Naxcel, then another one when she started limping again a month later. Some members of the team were in favor of putting her on the truck but I argued we should try to get this last calf out of her. It probably helped that one of her daughters and a granddaughter are both among our top 10 cows this month. The daughter, Miranda, is arguably the nicest cow in our herd, and GD Minerva is still making 91 lbs. of milk in her heifer lactation at 290 days in milk while pregnant with her next calf. Betsy is supposed to be due 10/27, which means she still has a month to go before dry-off. Just for the heck of it, I had her preg-tested when the tester was here on Monday ... she was only bred once, at 60 days in milk. If for some reason she came back open, I could have her on the next boat outta there, so to speak. Otherwise I think I'll see if I can get the boss to let me dry her off a little early. It would help if the weather would stay on the cool side. Why do old cows have to wait to be in the last group that comes through the parlor? Especially if they're lame. Sigh. Cows! It's so nice to see how much your boss cares about his cows.
I take it that when Betsy's days in the milking parlor are over she will be retiring to your little piece of bovine heaven?
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Post by willowgirl on Aug 9, 2018 11:48:59 GMT
Yeah, that's the plan! I want to get that calf out of her and milk her down a little first. She's doing better now; we had a few heifers calve into the milking string, enough to overcrowd the pen, so we've been leaving a few cows out of the holding pen, gating them in in the back of the barn and milking them last. I always try to sort any cows with issues into this group, so they don't have to stand in the hot crowded pen for very long. The girls are pretty smart; after a time or two, they learn to hold back and wait to come in last, because then they'll get to go into the overflow group. Betsy caught on quick and has benefitted from not having to be on her feet as much. My boss is really good to the cows; it's one reason I like working there. He hates to cull anyone almost as much as I do! Oh, funny story -- right after I bragged about Miranda here, I went in to work to find out my boss had bred her to an ANGUS! WT...? Sometimes we use Angus semen on hard-to-settle cows, but she was only 150 days in milk, which -- while it's getting out there a bit -- isn't really 'last chance' territory for this herd. I asked my boss what was up with that, and he got a little red-faced and admitted he'd mixed up Miranda (#1128) with cow #1228, who really *is* a last-chance candidate! Said he didn't realize his mistake until he'd already loaded the breeding gun. Well, hopefully if she settles to that breeding, it will be a bull calf! Because it would be a real shame to get a mixed-breed heifer out of such a nice cow. I'm pleased to report that we are actually caught up on our breeding at the moment! We've been setting up a new batch of cows every other Wednesday for the past month and a half, trying to stay on top of things in this hot weather. When I checked the 'to-breed' list last night, though, there was only ONE cow on it who was more than 50 DIM who hadn't been bred yet. WOW! I don't think we've ever been caught up before, lol.
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Post by willowgirl on Aug 30, 2018 5:13:34 GMT
Well, ol' Betsy did pretty well after the weather cooled off but then we got hit with another nasty heat wave! She was looking pretty stressed tonight so I made sure she got into the overflow group, then asked my boss if I could go ahead and dry her off a week early. He agreed. By the time she freshens in, it'll be October so she should have an easier time of it. I just hope she doesn't have twins again!
Oh, speaking of calves, Little Lizzie delivered her second this week. Mama and baby both doing fine! I'm still not sure if it's a heifer or a bull, but caught a glimpse of it in the dry cow barn and it looked like a little white heifer. Hope so!
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Post by willowgirl on Aug 31, 2018 15:55:36 GMT
Ol' Bess was looking a lot more comfortable on the dry lot last night. We got some rain which cooled things off a bit, thank goodness! She has a niece, Petal, out there too, although not for long I don't think as she's starting to bag up. Anyone care to wager how many calves she'll have?
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Post by willowgirl on Sept 6, 2018 6:03:31 GMT
Well, Lizzie had a heifer all right, and Petal had an enormous bull calf! That's two single births in a row; maybe the "double trouble" curse has been broken?!
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Post by willowgirl on Sept 13, 2018 12:41:00 GMT
Well, I spoke too soon! The curse struck again, but not in the twin line. One of our oldest cows, Eileen, had been lame since she was trimmed -- she was bleeding when she came out of the chute. She also wasn't making much milk, so the boss decided to dry her up a month early along with some regularly-scheduled cows. She went out to the dry lot on Saturday, and on Sunday aborted a pair of six-month-old twins. Now she's back in the milking string with a retained placenta, still lame, not making any milk ... sigh. I am helping her along as best I can. I wish I could do something for her, but with her host of health problems, I'm not sure it wouldn't be better if she were put out of her misery. Poor girl. Also I don't want to take a cow that's going to die on me (or rack up a huge vet bill, or rack up a bill and then die), and she's a prime candidate for a DA. What to do? She is not a friendly cow and has never been one of my pets. Still, we got 7 good calves and a lot of milk out of her before this string of misfortunes. I run her into the parlor in the first group, so she doesn't have to stand waiting to be milked, and dump feed in front of her in the freestall at night so she can eat more without having to stand up. I think she is probably doomed but then I remember how Shady was so lame she could sometimes barely hobble to the parlor, and Numb said the other day he saw her jump over the creek like a deer. What to do. Dang, sometimes it's harder to have options than to have no options. KWIM?
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Post by countrymom22 on Sept 18, 2018 0:36:56 GMT
Sorry to hear that Eileen is having such a hard time. your right, sometimes having too many options is worse than having none. If I were you, I would be feeling guilty because even though she isn't one of my favorites, I would still feel sorry for her and want to save her. Feel like I owe her something because she has produced some good calves and done her share in the milking string, too. But of course, we can't save them all and it stinks to be in the position of having the room to take her home but not wanting to take her home, you know?
Sometimes life just sucks! But we can't save them all, unfortunately.
Maybe the lameness will go away when here hooves grow back a little if the problem was being trimmed too short. At least then she would be more comfortable and mobile.
I'll keep hoping for the best.
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Post by aoconnor on Sept 18, 2018 12:10:01 GMT
Poor Eileen, I do hope she recovers. It’s so kind of you to take such care of those girls as you do, I am sure they appreciate it even if they can’t or don’t show it much. Wishing Eileen the best....
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Post by willowgirl on Sept 18, 2018 12:24:42 GMT
Annnnd now Little Lizzie has toxic mastitis. <insert words I can't say here>
Seems I am walking through the valley of the shadow this month ...
Well, she's in a hospital pen, and the Banamine the boss gave her last night seemed to perk her up a bit. It's just in one teat (so far) but she's pretty sick.
Rozzie had it in 3 and nearly died, but today you'd never guess there had been a thing wrong with her! She's fat as a tick and sleek as a weasel. Over the weekend, we were out at the farm ... it was hot so I had a tank top on, and she licked her way up my arm to my shoulder and across my back. Bitey used to do the same thing, and when you're a little itchy with sunburn, I swear a cow tongue is the best backscratcher ever. LOL
I was looking around the barn the other day and realized it's roomy with 4 cows and could fit 6 comfortably, but any more than that, and it's gonna get crowded. Right now I have 14 cows on the rescue list (Lizzie is one of them). So I just can't take every cow who washes out, much as I'd like to.
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Post by countrymom22 on Sept 19, 2018 21:00:33 GMT
Oh, poor Lizzie! I'll pray that she recovers quickly and completely.
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Post by willowgirl on Sept 21, 2018 14:37:14 GMT
Well we seem to be in a bit of a holding pattern at the moment. Eileen wouldn't get up for milking Tuesday morning, which surprised me as I thought she seemed a bit better on Monday. The boss put her outside, which is generally what we do with downed cows (grass = better traction, more likely to be able to stand). Her milking days are over it seems (not that she was giving much anyway). She has shade and we are hauling food and water to her; boss is still doctoring her and picking her up to reposition. He said she stood for a good long while on her own when he picked her up last night. Oddly she seemed a little better yesterday than the day before. I would be *very* surprised if she recovers and think the boss will probably end up having to shoot her, but she will certainly get every chance. Her cell count was high on her last test so I wonder if she doesn't have something else going on there besides lameness. Poor old girl ...
Lizzy's mastitis hasn't spread but it isn't clearing up, either. Still watery in the bad teat and hardly making any milk. She's not eating like she should be, either. She takes great umbrage to being stuck in a hospital pen and it's hard to say if she wouldn't be better off in the general inmate population (lol). I'm very worried about her D.A'ing because of the low feed intake ... sure wish she would perk up a bit. It's been my experience that the watery mastitis doesn't really respond to antibiotics and it's more of a question of whether the cow's immune system can get on top of it. She is a strong young cow and didn't have a difficult calving, as far as I know, so hopefully she'll pull out of it. If she doesn't milk, well, Plan B is in place ... lol.
In happier news, another of my pets, Babygirl, calved yesterday and cleaned right away! Hopefully she won't create any more drama as I sure don't need it right now.
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Post by aoconnor on Sept 21, 2018 15:54:12 GMT
Still holding out hope for all of your girls to get well and be productive again. I know how hard it is to WANT them to get up and be better, but every day watching them go down farther. It is a sad thing to see.
Thanks for the updates, I look forward to reading your posts when I can!
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Post by willowgirl on Sept 21, 2018 16:52:57 GMT
Aww, thank you for the kind words!
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Post by willowgirl on Oct 14, 2018 12:01:33 GMT
Well, I wish I had better news to report. Eileen didn't recover and had to be euthanized. Lizzie is still with us, hanging on, skin and bones, a wraith. She never recovered from the mastitis and started milking, so we dried her back off. I decided it wasn't fair to tell my boss, "Please don't put her on the truck, and if she lives, I'll buy her," so I went ahead and paid for her, but she's still in the milking barn. We're trying to build her up a little so she can withstand the trailer ride to the farm. My boss is a good man and didn't charge me very much for her because as he said, skinny as she is, she wouldn't have brought much at the sale. My poor Lizzie. Still, Roz was just as sick and you'd never know there had been anything wrong with her now; she is fat and sleek as a blackberry. So maybe we will have a good outcome over time. It was a gamble I was willing to take. Even if she doesn't make it, she will die among friends, not in a slaughterhouse. That's worth something I guess.
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