Nurse Cow

[randiliana]

Here is our new nurse cow. She is a 5 year old Holstien. Was milking 30kg/day on the line. She is a darling around people, but not so sure she likes the calves. We bought her to foster some calves off a few old cows we had. The cull cow price is good right now, and they just weren't milking well enough to raise the calves they had. One was starving hers to death, and the others were just going to be runts in the fall. She seems to be doing the job.

 

[milkmaid]

Looks like you've done good, Randi. 30kg is... what? 60ish lbs? If she can hold close to that when she's off the dairy ration she should do you well and raise some fat n' sassy calves for you. ;-) Why were they selling her? I don't care for her hind end, but the rest of her looks good and she has a nice udder. Should hold up for quite a few years. Congrats.

 

[randiliana]

Looks like you've done good, Randi. 30kg is... what? 60ish lbs? If she can hold close to that when she's off the dairy ration she should do you well and raise some fat n' sassy calves for you. ;-) Why were they selling her? I don't care for her hind end, but the rest of her looks good and she has a nice udder. Should hold up for quite a few years. Congrats.

Thanks, MM. 30kg is about 66 lbs. So she has lots of milk for them. She has 4 on her. We were graining her, but now she is out on grass. The reason they sold her was that the guy at the dairy thought her udder was the type to give out on the dairy schedule. I don't know, I think it looks good, but he has more experience than me. Plus, she wasn't bred back.

 

[randiliana]

Looks like you've done good, Randi. 30kg is... what? 60ish lbs? If she can hold close to that when she's off the dairy ration she should do you well and raise some fat n' sassy calves for you. ;-) Why were they selling her? I don't care for her hind end, but the rest of her looks good and she has a nice udder. Should hold up for quite a few years. Congrats.

Thanks, MM. 30kg is about 66 lbs. So she has lots of milk for them. She has 4 on her. We were graining her, but now she is out on grass. The reason they sold her was that the guy at the dairy thought her udder was the type to give out on the dairy schedule. I don't know, I think it looks good, but he has more experience than me. Plus, she wasn't bred back.

 

[milkmaid]

So she was doing about 6 gallons on the dairy ration... should do 4 no problem on grass. Calves will do well.

I can't see all of her udder, but what I can see looks fine. Sometimes if the udder floor is flat and there isn't a well defined cleft, when the cow is bagging up pre-calving, the suspensory ligament will give out --resulting in an udder with teats sticking out to the sides. Pain in the neck to put a milker on that udder. However, her udder is nice and high, and if this cow is 5 y/o already, she should be fine. Doesn't always happen to a cow with that udder structure, just sometimes.

 

[bigbull338]

i sure as heck wouldnt cull a cow giving 66lbs a day.since she is milking that heavy id put 6 calves on her.an let each group suck 15mins 2x a day.an feed her 20lb of grain a day.

 

[milkmaid]

BB-- I have never fed a nurse cow 20lbs/day. Talk about breaking one's pocketbook!

And what if this cow was being fed 30lbs/day on the dairy ration? She won't be milking 66lbs/day if you drop her down to 20lbs of grain. Or what if the cow was fed 8lbs/day on the dairy ration? If you up her grain to 20lbs you'd better have at least 8 calves on her!

 

[randiliana]

i sure as heck wouldnt cull a cow giving 66lbs a day.since she is milking that heavy id put 6 calves on her.an let each group suck 15mins 2x a day.an feed her 20lb of grain a day.

Well, they had their reasons, or, I wouldn't have her. I have no intention of feeding her like that, and having to mess with 6 calves twice a day. If she can raise 4 calves, and do it on pasture that is much easier, and I don't have to be there 24/7. I've got better things to do......

 

[bigbull338]

MM we see things differantly.if a nurse cow has 4 calves on her.she needs feed or she will be skin an bones unless she is running on lush pasture.personally id feed her 10lbs of feed a day.but hey when i got bulls or heifers in the corral.i feed them 10 to 15lbs ea.

 

[Chris H]

I can't see her picture from this PC, but I had a thought about her udder. I've seen cows with a bad udder at calving but within a few weeks after calving it looks pretty good. She might be one of those, but being a nurse cow it's less of an issue for you.

 

[milkmaid]

BB -- I rarely ever feed any young stock 10-15lbs/hd/day, and I have Holsteins. Can't imagine feeding a beef animal that much, but hey, if it works for you...

I do run my nurse cows on "lush pasture" -- they run on the alfalfa hay field in the summer and in the winter get straight alfalfa hay, usually 2nd or 3rd cutting. Really don't need grain in the summer and I didn't feed grain last winter, which didn't hurt them a bit. They certainly aren't skin and bones.

 

[TexasBred]

Randi....nice looking cow.. Udder not bad and very "feminine" looking. Are her front toes long??? Sure looks like it in the picture. Otherwise not bad at all. Why he culled her really doesn't matter as long as she'll raise you some calves. If you're only going to put 2 calves on her she shouldn't need anything but lots of good grazing. Holsteins are bred to produce milk so she'll produce much much more than a typical beef cow although the butterfat will be lower.

 

[randiliana]

Randi....nice looking cow.. Udder not bad and very "feminine" looking. Are her front toes long??? Sure looks like it in the picture. Otherwise not bad at all. Why he culled her really doesn't matter as long as she'll raise you some calves. If you're only going to put 2 calves on her she shouldn't need anything but lots of good grazing. Holsteins are bred to produce milk so she'll produce much much more than a typical beef cow although the butterfat will be lower.

Thank you. Yes, her front toes are long. So are her back. I picked her up the day before the hoof trimmer was going to be at the dairy. She has 4 calves on her, and we will likely give her some grain later on in the season, but right now they have some pretty lush grazing. The calves look good, and seem to be happy, and she is holding condition, so everything should be fine for now. I personally don't care why they culled her, she is healthy, and milking well, so beyond that it isn't a concern to me.