Cow problem

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krusader

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Last fall I bought a nice looking cow and calf pair. The cow is a black baldie with a fat bull calf. I brought them home and after about a month the cow got poor and weak. Ok I thought maybe the calf was just pulling her down since it was getting winter time and some of the bigger cows were pushing her off the hayrings. I seperated that cow and sold the calf. Fed the cow a litttle feed for about a month and had her on a small pasture by herself and she looked fine after that so I let her go back with the other cows. Well I was debating on selling her this weekend since she was bagging now and couldn't decide to chance it again. Well she had a calf today and the calf looks fine and sucked once already but she doesn't have much milk and already looks kinda poorly. This was a fine looking cow but she seems to have trouble staying in shape. All the other cows are fine. I wormed her last year and this spring so that shouldnt be an issue. Any thoughts? Think I'll sell her as a pair but would really like to keep her.
 
How do you know she doesn't have much milk? The symptoms sound more like a heavy milker who pulls herself down producing milk for the calf.
 
I'm guessing she don't have much milk just by looking at her bag. Plus she just looks poorly not to bad right now but you can just tell. As for as being pulled down, she just had the calf today and I figure it had just sucked once when I went out there so that shouldn't be pulling her down. One other thing I forgot to mention is she's kinda a loner in the pasture. Big, Nice looking cow when she dont have a calf but pushed around by the other cows.
 
How heavy did her last year's bull calf wean? The size of the udder doesn't always determine how much milk is available, or how rich it is. Most cows do look a bit gaunted up after they calve, perhaps from the stress of giving birth, etc. She may be on the bottom of the pecking order partly because she hasn't been on the place as long.

Not trying to argue with you about a cow I've never seen, just saying that she might deserve a chance.
 
Your right Greenwillow and if I didnt have this problem with her last year too then I might cut her a little more slack. But two calves in a row? I think it might be best to cull her.
 
I would sell her because it sound`s like she could maybe a Johnes cow. That`s how we got it started in our herd was
from buying cows.
 
How big was the calf when it was born. Seems strange she would look good before calving and then all of a sudden she looked bad after calving. Maybe she just filled out really heavy due to the calf and after she gave birth your just not seeing this fullness anymore. Post us a pic of her if you can so we can see what we're looking at and it may help.
 
krusader":a7o7vxbp said:
Last fall I bought a nice looking cow and calf pair. The cow is a black baldie with a fat bull calf. I brought them home and after about a month the cow got poor and weak. Ok I thought maybe the calf was just pulling her down since it was getting winter time and some of the bigger cows were pushing her off the hayrings. I seperated that cow and sold the calf. Fed the cow a litttle feed for about a month and had her on a small pasture by herself and she looked fine after that so I let her go back with the other cows. Well I was debating on selling her this weekend since she was bagging now and couldn't decide to chance it again. Well she had a calf today and the calf looks fine and sucked once already but she doesn't have much milk and already looks kinda poorly. This was a fine looking cow but she seems to have trouble staying in shape. All the other cows are fine. I wormed her last year and this spring so that shouldnt be an issue. Any thoughts? Think I'll sell her as a pair but would really like to keep her.

Post a pic of her and her calf. Could be a lot of things pulling her down. Too hard to guess. Can't tell how much or quality of milk by looking at the bag. How'd last years calf do?

I've had cows that pull down. I don't judge them too harshly on their looks, I do judge them kind harshly on what their calf looks like. If she raises a good calf then she is okay in my book.

If you have any doubt, cow prices are high right now. Sell them.
 
krusader":1h8t6yjj said:
I'm guessing she don't have much milk just by looking at her bag. Plus she just looks poorly not to bad right now but you can just tell. As for as being pulled down, she just had the calf today and I figure it had just sucked once when I went out there so that shouldn't be pulling her down. One other thing I forgot to mention is she's kinda a loner in the pasture. Big, Nice looking cow when she dont have a calf but pushed around by the other cows.

I had one that sounds just like her. I hated to do it because she had such a good disposition but I had to cut her loose after two tries. Her problem was both herself and the calf didn't do well. She didn't come back well after last years calf so it made this year worse.
 
you cant judge a cows milk flow by the size of her bagg ive seen some cows with flatbaggs raise 700lb calves an her getting thin just means she is milking herself to death scott
 
Again, how big was her last year's calf? You said it was a fat bull calf. Usually a calf that is not getting milk will be scrawny. A big, good looking calf is more important than a good looking cow, and some of the best looking cows sometimes don't raise a good calf.
 
greenwillowherefords":w2bovsaj said:
Again, how big was her last year's calf? You said it was a fat bull calf. Usually a calf that is not getting milk will be scrawny. A big, good looking calf is more important than a good looking cow, and some of the best looking cows sometimes don't raise a good calf.
One of the first cows I bought was a big, good fleshing, good looking cow. She should have been, she didn't milk worth a darn and calved in 14 month intervals.
 
jerry27150":2husvks7 said:
sounds like she is older than dirt, does she have any teeth. get rid of her before she dies. been there done that

Would that be upper teeth or lower teeth. Sorry I just couldn't resist :lol:
 
A previous suggestion of a Johnes cow sounds like a possibility. Typically with a Johnes cow they will do well until faced with a stress.. ie: having a calf, weaning a calf, etc. Then they rapidly lose weight and go downhill. You can get them thriving again with feed and special treatment, but another stress, and they go down again. Worse than that, if she is a Johnes' carrier, she's spreading the disease all over your pasture with the possibility of infecting others in the herd.
 
If it was Johnes, she would be scouring really bad, plus losing weight.
Possibly, she looked decent prior to calving only because she was pregnant. Sometimes, with winter hair & pregnancy, it is difficult for some owners to see the difference. She may never have recovered from being thin last year.
Some cows are so timid, they never do well in a group - hard keepers.
I think I would observe her for about a month than decide. But, if you see she is definately going down hill - get rid of cow & calf. I would rail cow, & ship calf.
 
Speaking of teeth........I just recently checked most of my cows, and they are all missing the upper set of teeth............could this be bad genetics? Should I call the Vet to see if he can make some artificial uppers for all these cattle?

Are they gonna be able to eat ok with out the uppers? Gees they look OK right now, but what about the winter time when they need to be tougher to eat the hay we feed?

How come I can't find any of the lost teeth that they were bound to have dropped in the pastures some where?

Is that why the cows just stand or lay there chewing all the time, trying to get the grass to get small enought to swallow? Should I mow the grass then feed it to them? Maybe grind it up in our food processor?

Do they have Cattle dentists out there?

What should I do? :p :lol:
 
maybe you need to sell those cows & get some new ones, they want 1400 for partial plates for me so i can't imagine what it would cost you for your herd, maybe you can puree thier food :shock: :shock:
 

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