|
|
Post by darbyfamily on Apr 8, 2008 10:34:46 GMT -5
Spring came walking over to the shelter yesterday with her tail up but was not pooping.... then this morning she was not nearly as full when I milked her. I have no idea what to look for when she's in heat.... I can say, she was also MUCH more vocal this morning on my way out to milk her... you'd have thought she was full near to bursting, but when I got there, I hardly got anything.  |
|
|
|
Post by lazyj5 on Apr 8, 2008 11:09:35 GMT -5
Sounds like it. Is her vulva swollen at all or any clear discharge?
|
|
|
|
Post by darbyfamily on Apr 8, 2008 14:13:37 GMT -5
no discharge that I can see... Im not sure what Im looking at really  |
|
|
|
Post by darbyfamily on Apr 9, 2008 9:15:27 GMT -5
Okay, I got more milk this morning, so I'll mark yesterday as possible heat, and then watch her every day until I see those signs again. i bought some calf manna, gave her one scoop of that mixed with sweet feed last night when I milked her and again this morning. Yesterday I separated the calf for three hours during the day and milked mama and then turned the calf loose til dark... then milked her this morning again. Planning to put her up around 12:30-1 today again, milk her around 4, then turn her loose til dark again. Maybe to get enough to use, Im going to need to just milk her twice a day, but I dont have a way to keep the calf from her constantly, so we'll have to continue to share. Fine with me because until I get the hang of milking her out completely, I like that Autumn will come and finish the job for me  |
|
lsg
member
Posts: 247 
|
Post by lsg on Apr 9, 2008 10:44:10 GMT -5
Make sure to mark your calendar starting at the eighteenth day. Sometimes heat cycles run in18 to 21 day cycles.
|
|
|
|
Post by lazyj5 on Apr 9, 2008 12:31:51 GMT -5
Can you separate the calf overnight and milk in the morning, or separate all day and milk in the evening? A 12 hour separation will not hurt either one and you will get more milk than with just a few hours apart. Just a thought.
|
|
|
|
Post by darbyfamily on Apr 27, 2008 13:37:02 GMT -5
Interesting... 19 days from my original post, and we got significantly less milk today and there wasnt much left to milk out of her when I stopped.... Thinking we may have another heat... guess we'll watch again in another 18-21 days and see if it happens again. Then in June we'll breed her |
|
|
|
Post by darbyfamily on Apr 28, 2008 9:50:30 GMT -5
And today, a quart and a half like usual... I guess we've got a pattern here  |
|
|
|
Post by seventrees on Apr 29, 2008 0:54:25 GMT -5
I'm learning to milk my first cow, and she's a first calf heifer. She's just had her 2nd heat after calving and this time around I noticed a big drop in milk production. SHe also wasn't interested in letting the calf nurse much either, and didn't scarf down her alfalfa like usual.
I looked back on my log book, and she was right on schedule. I also could tell because her baby bull got very excited too. Time to get him steered!
Otherwise, we just look for her tail up, or she acts rowdy, or she moos at the meat cows in the neighbor's back pasture. Her vulva gets a little poochy too.
|
|
|
|
Post by darbyfamily on May 5, 2008 10:39:29 GMT -5
so now, 15 days later, lots of stringy mucus I am so confused! |
|
