Remarkable change in disposition

[TexasJerseyMilker]

I wrote this on a dairy forum but I thought I would post it here.

The Jersey I'm milking, (this is her second lactation), was rather unpleasant and non cooperative in the parlor. She kicked every time and did not like her teats to be handled to dip, strip or put on the Surge milker although the vacuum setting was 12 and pulsations 60. She sometimes kicked in my direction and trying to hurt me. I've always had to use a Cow Can't Kick device to milk her. Once milking was underway she did not kick but was tense and not relaxed. I have always treated her kindly and thought well, that's just the way she is. I even thought of selling her for slaughter after she dries up. The first month her milk out put was twice it had been in her first lactation. As a first calf heifer making 5 gallons a day but now she was making 8.5, 9,even 10. I had been slowly going up in 16% protein dairy grain, was up to 18 lbs. a day. You are supposed to gradually increase feed 3lbs grain for every gallon of milk a day and I was nowhere near that ridiculous amount. She also had grass pasture and alfalfa hay. Then she got sick. She went off feed and had severe squirting diarrhea, she refused to eat feed or alfalfa. She walked slowly with small sad eyes she felt so bad. There are no large animal vets here. I went to a commercial dairy that I knew of and they helped me, giving me supplies, even driving over to check on her. Although she had dropped to 2.5 or 3 gallons milk a day they said to keep milking her twice a day, not once a day "so her milk would come back although it will be half of what it was". I would bring the poor thing walking slowly into the stanchion and sing to her and brush her. She was too sick to kick. Keto tube did not help, neither did CMPK (for the magnesium in case it was grass tetany and calcium if it was milk fever). I pinged her for a left or right DA, it was not that. I brushed her and talked to her and kept her back end and tail clean. Every morning she got a large dose of probiotics and a shot of vitamin B 12 but I never saw her ruminate during this time. She did eat a cup of baking soda but no more. What she did want to eat was grass. So I turned her out with a heifer friend on fresh pasture. Within 2 days she started ruminating again and in less than a week she was well, now making 5.5 gallons a day. I am bottle feeding 2 calves. The theory is she had rumen acidosis from grain overload. Or the severe diarrhea could have been from too much protein, the 16% protein dairy grain, good leafy alfalfa and the grass that was coming on strong. Now she gets no alfalfa, 8lbs a day of 12% All Stock and beet pulp. The amazing thing is the change in her disposition. She leaves the heifers and stands by the gate to be milked, then follows me in, goes into the stanchion and patiently waits. I prep and strip her teats and she does not raise a foot. Once milking is underway I sing to her and brush her. She starts to ruminate and is contented. What a blessing. My rancher husband thinks her behavior when a 1st calf heifer it was because she was a teenager. Well, she sure suddenly grew up after she was sick. Maybe because I started petting, brushing her and singing to her in the stanchion instead of just milking. Now she has soft blissful eyes and leans into the stiff bristled brush. She does not kick and once milking is underway she relaxes and starts ruminating. Maybe she is looking forward to being milked. Before, I fed her in the stanchion. Some people say feeding grain in the stanchion makes cows evil. The commercial dairy that helped me, I told them about my old pet Jersey. They had a pet also, still in the milking string. She's a 16 year old Holstein. She comes in into the parlor, it's a 10 and 10 herringbone, and goes to a slot to be milked. They love her. She does not want to be petted, she is all business. She only gives a couple of gallons. My cow that used to be an uncooperative kicker, when she was in the last month of gestation I would bring her into the barn everyday, tie her to the wall, put the Surge milker on her (not on the teats of course) and run the pump for the noise while brushing her. She was calm and nice. But when she freshened she was like a wild cow that had never had a hand laid on her.

 

[farmerjan]

Her "stomach/gut " problems will make a cow very unhappy and uncomfortable. I agree she had an acidosis/protein problem. On these big dairies with the high production they have, it is like being on a knife edge to balance the feed rations to keep them milking at optimal performance and not get them over the edge on the protein levels. I would not have been feeding alfalfa on top of the grass you have due to all the rain. You were feeding the grain and alfalfa without balancing the need for the coarser bulk she needed of "not so high nutritional quality" hay. We are seeing that same "over abundance" of grass everywhere... and are making sure that the cows have high mag mineral so not to deal with grass tetany...
Also, if she was not getting any "grass hay" as a filler, her rumen was not working properly and it caught up with her... Not enough "bulk" to "soak up" all that rich feed. Once their rumen "bugs" /bacteria get out of whack, it can take weeks for it to get back together.
Feeding less grain will also help her milk production to decrease, you do not need that much milk if you are feeding 2 calves and using some milk for the house...

I am very glad she has come back around for you.

Can't say why it changed her attitude, but was probably a combination of things. It sure is nicer to not have to deal with her being kicky/mean.

Feeding in the stanchion or parlor is seldom a problem... my cows get fed in the bunk when they come in to their calves when first fresh.... and they get grain and some alfalfa... but they also have grass hay available at all times for the bulk they need in their rumen so it will work properly. I feed a 14% grain when milking....