My 311 cow... (looking a bit rough as her winter coat sheds off, I know). Calved last Sunday. She's on her 5th lactation (that I know of), and based on her bangs tattoo, 7 or 8 years old. Currently feeding 6 calves and I'm milking her by hand too most days. She doesn't make a very good nurse cow because of how much she produces and her attitude, LOL, but has too much sentimental value for me to ever sell her.
for the dairy folks... pic
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My 311 cow... (looking a bit rough as her winter coat sheds off, I know). Calved last Sunday. She's on her 5th lactation (that I know of), and based on her bangs tattoo, 7 or 8 years old. Currently feeding 6 calves and I'm milking her by hand too most days. She doesn't make a very good nurse cow because of how much she produces and her attitude, LOL, but has too much sentimental value for me to ever sell her.
hillsdown
Well-known member
She still has a nice strong udder, a definite keeper...If she keeps that up you will have her around for a LONG time... :tiphat:
Also she is very long and deep ,good dairy quality. I forgot did she give you a heifer?
Also she is very long and deep ,good dairy quality. I forgot did she give you a heifer?
Nope... bull calf. Out of the last 4 calves, 3 have been bulls and one has been a heifer. Don't know what she had before that. I kinda wish I'd kept her heifer calf... but who was to know she wouldn't give me another heifer? and it was just the wrong time of year, and I was gone at college when that heifer was due to calve.
If I had the money and cows to use as recips, I'd definitely flush 311. As it is, it'll probably never happen.
This was 311's heifer calf as a springer...
If I had the money and cows to use as recips, I'd definitely flush 311. As it is, it'll probably never happen.
This was 311's heifer calf as a springer...
hillsdown
Well-known member
Not as good as her dam ,I don't like the rear legs. What breeding is the cow?
VanC
Well-known member
311 and her daughter look great. I'm curious, why do you think 311 has lasted so much longer than the average Holstein?
bigbull338
Well-known member
i can answer that 1.because being a nurse cow isnt as stressful as being in the barn 2x a day.as well as being on concrete year in an year out.a cull milk cow can still raise 6 to 9 calves a year.when she wouldnt produce enough to stay in a herd.
Hillsdown-- absolutely no idea. 
She comes from my boss's dairy, and he runs herd bulls with the entire milking herd. No way of knowing even who her dam is. The heifer's sire is out of a 40,000lb cow named Ashley; came from the Parker dairy (no idea if you're familiar with them, but my vet tells me if he's at conferences and tells where he's from, the dairy folks often ask if he knows Blair, so I guess the fellow's sorta well known. :lol2.
VanC -- the cow is spoiled rotten. Sure she's a 90lb cow when she's fresh, but were she on a dairy she'd have been culled a dozen times over the last few years. She's had footrot and mastitis. I nearly picked her off the dead animal pile and she has to have her hooves trimmed 1-3x/yr to stay sound. She's not pushed hard for production; in fact, she hasn't had grain in months. I watch over her like a hawk, especially around calving... good management is far better than good treatment. Sure she has genetics that enable her to stay in the herd easily (breeds back promptly, has a good udder structure) but she's a high maintanance animal and only with careful management and plenty of vet bills have I been able to keep her around this long. In her defense, most of it wasn't her fault, she was just unlucky.
I guess the best reason for her staying around this long is that she hasn't died yet and I refuse to cull her. LOL.
On the flip side, first year I had her, she finished out the year making a profit of $3K off calves she raised. When a cow makes that much money, you can afford to spoil her a little.
She comes from my boss's dairy, and he runs herd bulls with the entire milking herd. No way of knowing even who her dam is. The heifer's sire is out of a 40,000lb cow named Ashley; came from the Parker dairy (no idea if you're familiar with them, but my vet tells me if he's at conferences and tells where he's from, the dairy folks often ask if he knows Blair, so I guess the fellow's sorta well known. :lol2.VanC -- the cow is spoiled rotten. Sure she's a 90lb cow when she's fresh, but were she on a dairy she'd have been culled a dozen times over the last few years. She's had footrot and mastitis. I nearly picked her off the dead animal pile and she has to have her hooves trimmed 1-3x/yr to stay sound. She's not pushed hard for production; in fact, she hasn't had grain in months. I watch over her like a hawk, especially around calving... good management is far better than good treatment. Sure she has genetics that enable her to stay in the herd easily (breeds back promptly, has a good udder structure) but she's a high maintanance animal and only with careful management and plenty of vet bills have I been able to keep her around this long. In her defense, most of it wasn't her fault, she was just unlucky.
I guess the best reason for her staying around this long is that she hasn't died yet and I refuse to cull her. LOL.
On the flip side, first year I had her, she finished out the year making a profit of $3K off calves she raised. When a cow makes that much money, you can afford to spoil her a little.
TexasBred
Well-known member
milkmaid":29riznew said:Hillsdown-- absolutely no idea.
VanC -- the cow is spoiled rotten. Sure she's a 90lb cow when she's fresh, but were she on a dairy she'd have been culled a dozen times over the last few years. She's had footrot and mastitis. I nearly picked her off the dead animal pile and she has to have her hooves trimmed 1-3x/yr to stay sound. She's not pushed hard for production; in fact, she hasn't had grain in months. I watch over her like a hawk, especially around calving... good management is far better than good treatment. Sure she has genetics that enable her to stay in the herd easily (breeds back promptly, has a good udder structure) but she's a high maintanance animal and only with careful management and plenty of vet bills have I been able to keep her around this long. In her defense, most of it wasn't her fault, she was just unlucky.
I guess the best reason for her staying around this long is that she hasn't died yet and I refuse to cull her. LOL.
On the flip side, first year I had her, she finished out the year making a profit of $3K off calves she raised. When a cow makes that much money, you can afford to spoil her a little.
I wouldn't even consider culling this cow. Sure she's had a few problems but you inherited many of those when you purchased the cow from the dairyman. Got nothing to do with her treatment since the. She has the potential to be VERY profitable many more years. Best of luck.
brightspark
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mm you should have known better , but we all do it , to much heart but thats you.bs.
TexasBred
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brightspark":n6uqmc7x said:
Not that much time or money involved in trimming a cow's long toes or treating mastitis occasionally. She raised a "whole herd" of calves every year so a little basic upkeep is to be expected. I'd take a pasture full of holsteins just like her anytime.
MoGal
Well-known member
MM - looks like she's done well for you..... hubby has one that is due in a couple of weeks and he's already warned me she doesn't like to take extra calves, however, I've got a brangus/angus x red poll bull ( I laugh and tell myself that is as close as I'll ever get to a Senepol but he was a large calf) calf that needs a momma. He's drinking a gallon twice a day and If I have to stand over his cow, she's gonna feed this baby as well as her own.
As a side ?, we've always used baby powder to powder all the calves and a fella told me the other day to use vanilla extract, go down the back and butt with it......... you ever tried that? I know some have said perhaps No-Mo or something like that but I've never found it in the farm stores around here.
As a side ?, we've always used baby powder to powder all the calves and a fella told me the other day to use vanilla extract, go down the back and butt with it......... you ever tried that? I know some have said perhaps No-Mo or something like that but I've never found it in the farm stores around here.
brightspark
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atm , i had a hole pasture off them and they take time 24-7 , thats why a cow lasts 1-2 sessions in a dairy herd.bs.
MoGal":2po4p6hm said:
I haven't ever tried it. The good nurse cows will take a calf in an instant no matter what it looks or smells like. The others... like 311... know which is theirs and which is not. (To an extreme with 311; I've been putting the calves on two at a time and hers always last as the 'cleanup calf', and she counts. Knows the only one left is hers and she starts talking to him the second I head in the direction of the pen to get him. lol.) For 311 and cows like her, the only thing that will work is time and plenty of it.
