Questions/options for old thin cow

[JLScattle]

So, I bought another group of middle-aged bred cows that were all pretty thin. One was obviously older, thinner, and heavy bred. I added them to my existing herd and they all fattened right up with the exception of this one old gal. She dropped a calf within the first few weeks before I had a chance to put some weight on her. Now the calf is 2 months old and the cow is getting very thin.

So what are my options? What is it exactly that makes an old cow thin and what can I do for her until I can pull her calf off and get her to slaughter? Do worn out/missing teeth cause them to not get enough energy (just can't eat enough)? Not enough protein? Both?

They are on bermuda/bahia pasture with no supplements, just mineral. More grass than they can keep up with but it is starting to get hot and dry now, so I figure nutrition will continue to drop in the grass. All of my other cows with calves are doing just fine on just the grass.

So should I put out a protein tub for her? Feed some high energy cubes as supplement? High protein cubes? Some grain? Separate her and her calf and supplement them alone?

This is a new one for me, so I though I would reach out to the experts for some (free) advice.

 

[Gators Rule]

Does she still have a full set of teeth? It might be time to ship her as soon as you can get that calf off her. You can keep the calf a little longer if its eating decently. Or, ship both.

 

[Brute 23]

Can you post a pic of the cow and calf? Might help people have an idea of what you are seeing.

Do you think the calf looks good?

 

[JW IN VA]

Does she still have a full set of teeth? It might be time to ship her as soon as you can get that calf off her. You can keep the calf a little longer if its eating decently. Or, ship both.

I'd pull her and her calf out and hand feed ,if necessary.Grain will work better than protein tubs since they are notorius for being low in Phosphorus . As soon as the calf could be weaned (250-300),sell them.I have buried too many like he until I finally learned.

 

[JW IN VA]

i might add check cows teeth annually if they are over ten years old.Don't go by age group since some cows teeth wear faster than others.Any short mouth cows need to be culled or fed separately until they can raise their calf.Sounds harsh but having one go down and die is not the best way.Slaughter is quicker and more humane.Plus,dead ones don't make any money.

 

[callmefence]

I think a picture would be good. A thin cow can look like death standing in the middle of group of young fat ones. She may be not as bad as you think. Imo. Best case split em in a few months. Sell the calf and let her put some weight back on in the fall and sell her before winter. Second would be sell them both right now.
I would not want to be unnecessarily feeding the whole bunch just for her

 

[Rafter S]

If she still has her teeth it could be worms, or a belly full of hardware, or ..., or....

 

[M-5]

I got to take some pics of the 2 boney cows I bought in spring. while They are typical Holstein looking cows and are thin compared to beef breeds they will compete with anything you see on a dairy magazine now cept they don't have a lot of white on them.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Teeth,age means nothing I have a 17 year old girl calved yesterday.
Teeth still good short and solid butter ball fat, she ships this fall went 15 months between calves.
I check teeth every spring
Good teeth + good grass= good BCS if it doesn't you need a better cow.
Cheaper to keep an easy keeper than a hard one.

 

[JLScattle]

Thanks all. I will post a picture or two this evening after I move them.

I'm not sure what her teeth look like. I should have checked when I had her in the squeeze. I have never mouthed a cow before.

I was off on my dates, her calf is 5 weeks old, not 2 months. He is a tiny little thing, but seems to be growing OK. She is not making much milk based on what I see from her sack. I'm not trying to keep her, I'm trying to keep her and her calf alive long enough to sell them both.

My thoughts exactly on separating them from the rest. I'd rather not feed the whole herd. My 2 options here would be my small working pen (40' x 40') or separate them from the rest with a couple of hot wires and leave them on pasture. One better than the other?

I thought about a parasite load. The guy I bought them from said he had vaccinated/wormed all of them, but I hit this one in question last weekend with some pour on after I noticed how thin she was getting.

 

[JLScattle]

So here she is. The pictures are poor due to the lighting. I think she looks much worse in person. I swear the camera adds 200 lbs.

You can see she is making very little milk.










No matter how I load the pictures they come out sideways????

 

[JMJ Farms]

She doesn't look terrible to me. Poor? Yes. Worm her with a good injectable or drench wormer. Not pour on. And pour the feed to her for a month while she's on pasture and I bet she won't look like the same cow. Probably just got a little age on her.

 

[Kingfisher]

I got to take some pics of the 2 boney cows I bought in spring. while They are typical Holstein looking cows and are thin compared to beef breeds they will compete with anything you see on a dairy magazine now cept they don't have a lot of white on them.

Yea lets see them. Them girls looked rough when you brought em home but I trusted your eye and figured you could make em good. Nice to here the progressed

 

[Kingfisher]

She looks pretty slicked out...but pretty sickly too. I might not waste any brain cells on a solution and just move on. Too bad you can't pick previous owners brain. Ship her.

 

[Caustic Burno]

She doesn't look terrible to me. Poor? Yes. Worm her with a good injectable or drench wormer. Not pour on. And pour the feed to her for a month while she's on pasture and I bet she won't look like the same cow. Probably just got a little age on her.

I agree and would mouth her while she is up her teeth will tell a lot.
If she is smooth mouth she will have a tough time maintaining BCS no matter what you do.

 

[cypressfarms]

Sounds like a zip code change is in need

 

[callmefence]

So here she is. The pictures are poor due to the lighting. I think she looks much worse in person. I swear the camera adds 200 lbs.

You can see she is making very little milk.










No matter how I load the pictures they come out sideways????

She doesn't look that bad to me. Your grass looks good. That would be the deciding factor for me. If your grass is going to hold out I'd let her raise the calf. If think your not going to be able to keep her on good grass sell the pair now.

 

[M-5]

I got to take some pics of the 2 boney cows I bought in spring. while They are typical Holstein looking cows and are thin compared to beef breeds they will compete with anything you see on a dairy magazine now cept they don't have a lot of white on them.

Yea lets see them. Them girls looked rough when you brought em home but I trusted your eye and figured you could make em good. Nice to here the progressed

The other one was too busy this afternoon to come over to me but this one thought I might have some more watermelons

 

[Kingfisher]

She slicked out nice! Send her to Inyata to fatten her up now!

 

[M-5]

She slicked out nice! Send her to Inyata to fatten her up now!

Thanks, I like the ol gal so im gonna see if she will raise a few calves. She has a good temperament and easy to handle.