This one hurts

[TCRanch]

Most of you are probably familiar with my quintessential red headed stepchild, compliments of the neighbor's bull. After we got over the shock of finding a newborn red calf, Mr. TC named her Pink Tongue. And subsequently that was the last time he was allowed to name any of them. But she was the sweetest thing ever and we ended up keeping her. Prolific cow with a perfect udder, feet, disposition, raised huge calves and you could spot her a mile away.

Fast forward and I really thought I could baby her through another year. But bless her heart, she was almost 14 and had arthritis, maybe 3 teeth. It just wasn't logical or feasible to give her Banamine Transdermal all the time. Plus, I didn't want the possibility of having to supplement a calf - or an orphan. Her calf this year was a heifer that was only in the 516 lb. avg. That tells me I made the right decision. And no way could I pull the trigger. My vet put her at a solid 1600+ lbs. 3 years ago when she bloated on a hedge apple (and ended up with a trocar) but I could tell she was losing condition. But yikes! It's hard to be objective with your own cattle when you see them every day, sometimes multiple times. Can't see the forest through the trees. She was down to only 1310 lbs. (obviously some of it was shrink) and was a canner/cutter at only .89 per. And I absolutely was not at the sale when she went through. Ugly crying is awkward. Plus, her 7th calf was the one that got struck by lightning a few months ago, so double whammy with that lineage. (I did keep the orphan as a replacement heifer, so there's that).

Fly high, Pink Tongue!

 

[farmerjan]

It was that way for us when we had to ship Bubba... the reg Red Poll bull that was over 13. He settled every single cow we ever put him with and I NEVER saw him breed a cow... we would put any that came up open years ago when we were trying to keep everyone to increase the herd and so they got a 2nd chance... and they got Bubba.... and he always delivered....
He broke a bone in his hock, vet said he'd never be any good... he needed complete rest and away from cows if we were serious about trying to salvage him... He was 7-8 yrs old... He lived with the sheep for 6-8 months... got to where he was walking good. We decided to give him 4 problem breeders, and he got them all settled. So for the next 6 years he was our cleanup bull and was a real pet. He would load in the trailer out in the wide open pasture just by offering him some feed ... "Come on Bubba, time to go see some girls"....
When he started having some trouble getting up and down, and it was getting late in the year and we knew the cold would be too hard on him.... we shipped him... and cried when he got on the trailer. He went directly to a buyer that was going to put him on the trailer to go out that night direct to a slaughter plant. I almost went the route to bury him but money was tight and it was hard to bury a bull worth over 1.00/lb back then.

Bless your heart... you did the right thing even though it hurt. She had as good a life as most cows wish they had...

 

[puzzled in oregon]

The last ride they take hurts.

 

[TexasJerseyMilker]

I have a 'pet' Jersey born in 2011 that I brought from Texas. She has raised 8 half Angus calves plus milk for the house. Dapne is a classic beauty of the Jersey breed. Dished face, big eyed little cow, sweet disposition with ton of cream. Not like the Jerseys bred commercially now with part Holstien in the woodpile. Her last calf was 2022. She had been 2 years open.

She was also so fat it was hard for her to get up and walk. Body condition dairy score was about 5. I had her AI bred for a heifer Jersey calf and put her on a hay only diet and she lost a at least couple of hundred pounds. She is free to walk around in a pasture for physical fitness. Dairy BSC of 3.25 now and calf due in mid february. This is a high risk pregnacy. She might get fatty liver ketosis and I would feed and treat her in the 3 weeks before and three weeks after the birth to prevent this.

If Dapne or the calf dies that would hurt but I will take the chance to get afoundation heifer out of her. I asked God when she's came into into heat Lord, Thy will be done. I hope to get FarmerJans opinion on this.

 

[farmerjan]

All I can say is expect "milk fever" when she calves due to her age and condition and NOT having had a calf recently. Since you are a nurse... IV calcium/phos is what the vet will do if she comes down with milk fever... It can happen pre calving and again post calving. Jerseys seem to be especially prone to it.. Not much you can do to prevent it, but some diet restrictions can help. I would read as much as you can about it and do what you can. I am not as concerned about ketosis as the initial milk fever that can kill her... the "recovery" from it if she gets weak or goes down, is dramatic when treated....
Maybe @Lucky_P or @wbvs58 might have better info on that... I will ask at one dairy what they do since they have jerseys. I had it once with a cow and had the vet out as she was down... in 20 minutes she was up walking around after the IV...
Ketosis is not as "dire" right off the bat.

 

[TexasJerseyMilker]

Thank you for asking the dairy. She is an old and precious cow. What diet restrictions can help? I have CMPK paste tubes and Bovicalc boluses. She went down with milk fever with her 5th calf, was down for 3 days. We turned her q6 hours round the clock and propped her up with hay bales. By some miracle two tubes of CMPK saved her although once down it is not well absorbed. After the second one here is what I saw looking out the window after praying to God.

Is calci/phos presription? I know you have to give that calci/phos slow IV push or it can stop their heart but never have given an IV to cows. There is no vet here that will see cattle.

 

[Brute 23]

@TCRanch I have paid people to haul cows before because I couldnt do it. I just pretend they are taking them to their place.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I have a W model black cow. She will be 16 when she calves in Jan. She is having a tough time getting around. I assume arthritis in spine and or hips. Her last 5 calves have been red heifers and I have granddaughters also. I decided to calve her out, keeping her in a group where she doesn't have to travel for hay and water. After she calves, if I have a cow with a dead calf, I will strip her calf off her and splice on to new mom. She is 3rd cow due, with 23 due in 3 weeks. Then....we will ship her. Always a sad day, but that's life on the farm. Her name is Whisper.

 

[TCRanch]

@TCRanch I have paid people to haul cows before because I couldnt do it. I just pretend they are taking them to their place.

Brilliant! I have one that will be 15 in March and 2 more that are almost 14. They're still in great health and some of the first to calve, but it's only a matter of time . . . .

 

[TCRanch]

Thanks for the support - I knew you'd understand. I was so giddy because my calves killed it at the sale!!! As in, for the first time, Creekstone got out-bid. This buyer has been doing business there for 50 years and when he wants a group of calves, he doesn't care how much it costs. Epic bidding war! And most of my calves will be going to Nebraska this year. But the next day . . . wham!!! Scanned the pasture first thing in the morning, as I always do, and no red cow. Fed that afternoon and no red cow. I haven't bought a cow since 2009 but I'm seriously considering buying either a red cow or bottle calf. It just isn't the same around here.

 

[Travlr]

@TCRanch I have paid people to haul cows before because I couldnt do it. I just pretend they are taking them to their place.

I like cows but I've never shed a tear over them. But dogs are another story. They are my kryptonite.

 

[wbvs58]

Thank you for asking the dairy. She is an old and precious cow. What diet restrictions can help? I have CMPK paste tubes and Bovicalc boluses. She went down with milk fever with her 5th calf, was down for 3 days. We turned her q6 hours round the clock and propped her up with hay bales. By some miracle two tubes of CMPK saved her although once down it is not well absorbed. After the second one here is what I saw looking out the window after praying to God.
View attachment 51967
Is calci/phos presription? I know you have to give that calci/phos slow IV push or it can stop their heart but never have given an IV to cows. There is no vet here that will see cattle.

If she was laying flat out I would definitely give the first lot IV and maybe a 2nd SC. I have not had a lot to do with milk fever but the few I have treated I had no problems with the IV. From memory we were told to keep your leg against the chest and if you felt the heart start thumping then knock off what you are doing. I would be aiming to leave as much milk in the udder as possible for the first week or so. I am sure LuckyP would have a lot more experience here than me. It would be suicide not to have a couple of bags of calgigol on hand, here it is an open seller.

Ken

 

[TCRanch]

I like cows but I've never shed a tear over them. But dogs are another story. They are my kryptonite.

I'm pretty much out of commission after we have to put down a dog, so I get that. But I also flat out bawled when I loaded Dick, my fave bull, for the last time. He stuck his giant nose through the slats in the trailer for one last scratch, Mr. TC looked in the rear-view mirror, saw my state of mind, and took off. He seriously just left me there, ugly crying in the barnyard!! But he did bring home a nice, fat check (2300 lbs.) and a bottle of wine, so there's that.

 

[Travlr]

I'm pretty much out of commission after we have to put down a dog, so I get that. But I also flat out bawled when I loaded Dick, my fave bull, for the last time. He stuck his giant nose through the slats in the trailer for one last scratch, Mr. TC looked in the rear-view mirror, saw my state of mind, and took off. He seriously just left me there, ugly crying in the barnyard!! But he did bring home a nice, fat check (2300 lbs.) and a bottle of wine, so there's that.

The right wine coupled with a nice check can be sublime...

 

[Named'em Tamed'em]

My first cow Lucy was Holstein/Hereford and bottle raised by 4 young boys. My kids would sit on her as she chewed her cud. She developed cancer eye at 15 yo. Sold her to the neighbor for burger, it was amazing burger. She always cycled on a Friday and my buddy moved his bulls on Fridays. Several times I'd tell him Lucy was in heat, he'd bring whatever bull he was moving over and let him out. Lucy was always trying to mount the bull as he was coming out, the bull would breed her, and Joe would load him back up. Never had to do it twice, settled every time.

 

[TexasJerseyMilker]

wbvs58Quote "If she was laying flat out I would definitely give the first lot IV and maybe a 2nd SC. I have not had a lot to do with milk fever but the few I have treated I had no problems with the IV. From memory we were told to keep your leg against the chest and if you felt the heart start thumping then knock off what you are doing. I would be aiming to leave as much milk in the udder as possible for the first week or so. I am sure LuckyP would have a lot more experience here than me. It would be suicide not to have a couple of bags of calgigol on hand, here it is an open seller."
Ken

I would not milk this cow at all after this birth. In 2015 after being evacuated with open teats to an filthy auction yard (because I wasn't there during a forest fire) she got 5 kinds of mastitis dx'ed by culture in all four quarters and she lost twoquarters. I saved her life with the drug all were sensitive to but one of them was staph aureus and it never goes away it is chronic. It is a contageous mastitis pathogen. It flairs with every lactation and can spread to calves. Here calf two yars ago was raised on a dry cow. I would dry the cow and raise this heifer calf on a bottle using store bougt colostrum.

 

[farmerjan]

Did you not freeze any colostrum from your jersey that is milking now? Good dried colostrum has a set base of immunoglobulins (sp?) BUT... there is something to be said about the real stuff to help get the gut tract working and the meconium passed and all that... I would want to give some of the real colostrum replacer as well as some "real stuff" from one of my cows that I have frozen... I freeze in qt bottles so they thaw better and NEVER thaw in a microwave. Hot water bath.....

 

[TexasJerseyMilker]

We could not any get colostrum from the first calf heifer I'm milking because she was a kicking little witch. She kicked the skin off my arm. It took over 24 hours to get the milking machine on by then and the calve's absorption window of opportunity would have been passed. Fortunately I had good powdered colostrum on hand in just in case and gave it right away and 10 hours later. This cow is always milked with a cow can't kick device on. She still tries to kick when I strip her teats even after 6 months fresh. Other than that she's a nice cow. I'm planning to use the powdered colostrum for the old cow's calf, God willing, since she can't be milked because of her staph a history. I'll have to raise that one on milk replacer for a month until the young cow comes fresh again at the end of March.

The dietary restrictions you mentioned tht can help prevent milk fever, what are they?

 

[farmerjan]

No high protein hay or grain... nothing too "nutritious".....most use just a plain grass hay so that it does not get their cal/phos out of whack... I won't see that jersey farmer for a couple of weeks so will ask then. You actually do not want them to come in with much milk for the first few days...to keep the balance in their system... that is why most do not milk them out for several days... NOT stimulating them to produce milk so that they are not pulling calcium from their bones etc... also, some are saying a higher amount of potassium is needed... the "K" as it is known by. It is as much the balance of the nutrients, and the sudden demand on a cow that throws them into milk fever...

 

[farmerjan]

I have always used the cal/phos/potassium boluses if they are up..... sometimes before they calve if they were prone to milk fever... had one cow that came down with it pre calving.... 12-24 hours... she milked like gangbusters... and she got a bolus...before, then a tube of the mix, right after calving...