15 year old cow

[rouxshortorn]

having problem keeping weight on the old girl,she seem's to be healthy other wise. Not sure if it's just old age or if she has hardware? I was told a cow with hardware drulls? I bought her the day my son was born to give him a good start andnow he has a few to call his own. Just trying to figure out what's wrong with her? He told me old Maxine is going to have a head stone so shipping this one is out of the question.

 

[Keren]

Have you checked her teeth? If she hasnt got many left (as with some of our old girls) that may be why she isnt maintaining her condition. You may have to supplement her with some soft, sweet feed.

Good luck with 'Old Maxine'

 

[dun]

I'll go along with the teeth situation. Have someone that knows what they're doing mouth her. Sometimes an older cow even with good teeth just can;t metabolize/utilize they're groceries as well as they could when younger.
With hardware they usually are humped up some and cough when they move very much, eyes are listless and ears typically droop.
Added 11:40 pm
Has she been wormed recently?

 

[rockridgecattle]

I'm sorry right up front. I'm gonna be harsh on this one. Time for the heavenly cow heaven for pets and family "keepsakes"
We are facing this kind of dilema with an open cow. She will be 7 this spring. do we keep her, and hope she re breeds the following spring or do we ship.
If we ship, she is in good shape the market dictates we will get about 300 may be less depending on the dollar. To feed her the winter cost is 340.00.
she rasies a not bad calf but got great.
As the "Co- CEO of our farm my husband ( Co-CEO) and I had a hard decision to make.
We have heifers preg checked and bred on time. Decision...Bye Bye.
So it is in your herd. If you are a co-CEO put the pen to the paper and make the call. Do you treat and hope this cow of 15 makes it to raise a decent calf? Do you put the feed into her only to find out it is a bottomless dollar pit and you are loosing money?
She is 15. She has probably raise some pretty good calves. Look at one of her offspring to carry on the traditon.
In truth as a business decision she owes the farm nothing. She has paid for herself in full.

Finally lets look at the humane side of things. She has come off pasture, whether or not there was a drought thin. The drought might have exasperated things but this is the shape she is in. In all reality as thin as she is, will she be able to with no help carry a calf to term? Will she be able to feed that calf? How about the pain from arthritis? Animal rights already has their "knowledgeable" spies out there. How much more bad news or hints of mistreats do we need before we get the message the dimwits are not going away?

We have kept some of the old girls out of sentiment. They came off pasture thin. We did the extra feed and everything else and the end result was the same. The arthritis got to here. She cripled up in the last term. One we spent every day 2x a day lifting her with the tractor untill she calved. then she got the lead fix. The other required water brought to her daily in subzero temps, hay just for her. It was extra work and her calf ended up poor. Where did we see the profit? Not on these two.

 

[msscamp]

having problem keeping weight on the old girl,she seem's to be healthy other wise. Not sure if it's just old age or if she has hardware? I was told a cow with hardware drulls? I bought her the day my son was born to give him a good start andnow he has a few to call his own. Just trying to figure out what's wrong with her? He told me old Maxine is going to have a head stone so shipping this one is out of the question.

I agree with Keren and dun on checking her teeth. You might also think about putting a magnet down her, just in case - they are cheap and it is a pretty easy procedure. I fully understand that some cows are special and will not/can not be shipped - been there, done that. If you have the means to feed her special feed, get some weight back on her, let her continue to roam around, and want to do this - more power to you, and I'm all for it. I would suggest you to keep an eye on this animal, though, and monitor her closely.

 

[GMN]

I'm sorry right up front. I'm gonna be harsh on this one. Time for the heavenly cow heaven for pets and family "keepsakes"
We are facing this kind of dilema with an open cow. She will be 7 this spring. do we keep her, and hope she re breeds the following spring or do we ship.
If we ship, she is in good shape the market dictates we will get about 300 may be less depending on the dollar. To feed her the winter cost is 340.00.
she rasies a not bad calf but got great.
As the "Co- CEO of our farm my husband ( Co-CEO) and I had a hard decision to make.
We have heifers preg checked and bred on time. Decision...Bye Bye.
So it is in your herd. If you are a co-CEO put the pen to the paper and make the call. Do you treat and hope this cow of 15 makes it to raise a decent calf? Do you put the feed into her only to find out it is a bottomless dollar pit and you are loosing money?
She is 15. She has probably raise some pretty good calves. Look at one of her offspring to carry on the traditon.
In truth as a business decision she owes the farm nothing. She has paid for herself in full.

Finally lets look at the humane side of things. She has come off pasture, whether or not there was a drought thin. The drought might have exasperated things but this is the shape she is in. In all reality as thin as she is, will she be able to with no help carry a calf to term? Will she be able to feed that calf? How about the pain from arthritis? Animal rights already has their "knowledgeable" spies out there. How much more bad news or hints of mistreats do we need before we get the message the dimwits are not going away?

We have kept some of the old girls out of sentiment. They came off pasture thin. We did the extra feed and everything else and the end result was the same. The arthritis got to here. She cripled up in the last term. One we spent every day 2x a day lifting her with the tractor untill she calved. then she got the lead fix. The other required water brought to her daily in subzero temps, hay just for her. It was extra work and her calf ended up poor. Where did we see the profit? Not on these two.

I think you are missing the point. Its not thier intention to ship the cow, they want to keep her for sentimental reasons, just wanting to know what could be wrong with her.

I have a cow that is 17, just like them, she won't ever go to the sale barn, strictly sentimental reasoning, and maybe in your eyes not a way to run a farm, but that is your perogative.

GMN

 

[dun]

I have a cow that is 17, just like them, she won't ever go to the sale barn, strictly sentimental reasoning, and maybe in your eyes not a way to run a farm, but that is your perogative.

GMN

Ol Granny is in the same boat. She'll die on this farm probably leading the rest of the cows somewhere.

 

[hillsdown]

having problem keeping weight on the old girl,she seem's to be healthy other wise. Not sure if it's just old age or if she has hardware? I was told a cow with hardware drulls? I bought her the day my son was born to give him a good start andnow he has a few to call his own. Just trying to figure out what's wrong with her? He told me old Maxine is going to have a head stone so shipping this one is out of the question.

Also besides what Karen and Dun have said is Maxine fresh or dry,or dry and bred?That will also reflect on how you treat her nutritional needs.
I have two like Maxine ,Angel(14) and Roslin.Ros is 17 now but just had a calf and she always needs a little extra supplement the last few years because of her age.She still has most of her teeth must be all those apples she eats.

 

[rockridgecattle]

GMN, truely i did not miss the point. We have kept cows for sentimental reasons. They would not get shipped and die on the farm.
But times are tough. We had to draw the line. If we have to put in extra to keep a cow going, at this time not a smart business decision. Over time these costs climb and we wonder why we just can't make a buck.
At this point we can not afford extra to get a cow through. We have to be lean and tight. I'm talking about our farm and no one elses.
Rouxshorthorn asked for advise about what to do. I understand shipping is out but...where does sentement and humane cross the line?
and how do we teach the next generation when it is time to make the hard calls? And how do we teach them when it is time to keep one of the offspring to continue the tradition of this cow Maxine and others like her?


We had a cow like maxine. Her name was Red. Kept her for sentement reasons. This past year infact. It cost us 300-400 in extra food and drugs and tractor cost to keep her going over and above regular feed costs. This was in the final term when she could not get up. By the time she went down she was a month from calving. Tractor every day 2x to lift up and hold her up for up to an hour at a time. Pain meds, extra feed. We got the calf and had to raise it. And in today's market got 500 for the calf. It costs 340 just to feed a regular cow for the winter.
So it cost us 800-900 to get this cow to term, feed for the whole winter and the extras, calf for 500....a loss of 300-400 dollars. This does not include the costs incurred by the calf.

None of this was expected when we decided to keep her in the fall at weaning. We thought she would make it another year. Just a little help and we will be okay....
My point is we don't know what the future holds and a decision that we made in the fall cost us alot 4 months later. And how was that decsion to keep her a humane one?
My apologies for offending.

 

[rouxshortorn]

don't know anything about checking teeth but Idid worm her a couple months ago and really showing any big improvments. She seem's to spend alot of time alone and don't seem to mind it, some of the younger cows push her around so I leave her in lower pasture. I will try a magnet for hardware but I also know most drifter's don't come back,but she's been like this all summer. Thakx for all the advise.Like I said if it was'nt for my son I would have shipped her.

 

[rockridgecattle]

GMN wrote:
I have a cow that is 17, just like them, she won't ever go to the sale barn, strictly sentimental reasoning, and maybe in your eyes not a way to run a farm, but that is your perogative.

GMN

GMN, just so you know we ran our farm keeping the sentemental cows. Untill this year when the market tanked. My 'pet'...Buttons, first cow i ever delivered, bottle feed, hand milked for ourselves, turned nurse cow, who loves scratching, ate bread from my hand, came when called, is on the ship block...and it is hard to do.

 

[msscamp]

don't know anything about checking teeth...

It sounds to me like you better learn, or else load her up and take her to the vet so he can check them. Teeth tend to play an essential part in an animal's ability to maintain body condition, and knowing how to check them is a must for anyone who owns cattle. I don't mean to sound harsh, but it goes along with the territory that you have voluntarily staked out for yourself - so you need to walk up to the plate, accept it, and learn how to do it.

 

[Brandonm2]

IF you intend to keep this cow to the bitter end, maybe you should treat her like a geriatric zoo animal rather than a working mama cow. Put her in a ~2 acre pen behind the house, keep a roll bale out there all the time, and feed her 3 to 5 lbs of mixed ration daily like a horse. She will last longer penned on good grass and you can keep her in better condition than she would be out there browsing with the working cows. We cull old cows so we don't end up with downer cow situations.

 

[CUZ]

I think I may have a solution for all of us.

You know how on TV they tell the kids they're going to send Mr Buttons to a nice upstate farm family to live with when they're really having the animal put down. So here's how this works.

I send Strawberry (18 years old and lost last two calves) to live out her last years on your farm and you send me ??? (your "special" cow). Then after 6 or 10 months we send each other a nice letter saying what a pretty day it was and how _______ (insert name of cow) just went to sleep one night and never woke up. That way neither of us has to watch our "special one" suffer and we certainly don't have to make that hard decision to send them off with a .38 salute.

Even with delivery costs, we'd both save money. I see it as a win-win as long as we could live with lying to ourselves, but then again that might be easier than the anguish we go through over one in its last day or two.

When I was a teenager my Papa had a mule that he felt strongly about. The mule had cancer in it's jaw and spent the last day walking up and down the creek. That day on our way back from the store Dad finally talked Papa into putting the mule down instead of letting it suffer. When we got back to the house the mule was dead so Dad and I drug him off to a ditch. Papa felt bad that he couldn't do any better for the mule than he did.

It's part of it, but it's the suck-y part.

 

[Susie David]

O'l Boss Cow lost a tooth this past summer but still kept the groceries in her calf (110# BW) but did loose two condition scores before weaning. She is rebred and always gains back and gives us a big healthy calf...hate to cull her but hay is pricey this year and it looks like we will be cutting it close...thought so last year but bought cows and a new bull anyway...can't seem to pass up a good deal that gets expensive when I have to buy hay in March.
Anyway...if you have the feed and just can not part with the animal go ahead and keep her...we are going to wean out Boss's next calf and see how she looks next fall.
Just my two bits worth...asked for or not....dave Mc

 

[CowCop]

IF you intend to keep this cow to the bitter end, maybe you should treat her like a geriatric zoo animal rather than a working mama cow. Put her in a ~2 acre pen behind the house, keep a roll bale out there all the time, and feed her 3 to 5 lbs of mixed ration daily like a horse. She will last longer penned on good grass and you can keep her in better condition than she would be out there browsing with the working cows.

Excellant advice brandonm2.

Also have vet check teeth.

I have a 17 year old, easy keeping cow that has given me 18 healthy fabulous calves, had a great show career and was in a popular local TV program 3 years ago. This year her winter hair coat is even thinner than last, so she will be wearing a horse blanket this winter. She now gets special grain, hay, honey, supplements etc, and she is worth every extra cent. Many of our buyers love the fact we have longevity in our herd genetics and that we practice what we preach about humanely managed. She is our matriarch until she leaves this earth.

Cows that can't live up to our standards leave the herd. Our next oldest cow is 12. If the vet says she is open tomorrow she will be shipped out Monday.