Amazing Grace Dairy: April 2014

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Auctioned Off

We got up early, fed the babies, milked the one hundred and some odd cows (which seems like so few cows now) and headed out to watch my father-in-law's cows sell at New Holland Sales Stables. We got up early enough so that we were able to head to the Shady Maple for breakfast! All-you-can-eat bacon for breakfast? Yes, please!

We actually shipped the cows to the auction the morning before the sale. I was pretty impressed with how they had the cows looking. They had the manure spots washed off, their back ends and udders clipped up, and the cows bagged up nicely but not overdone. The cows looked sharp, I thought and my father-in-law was pleased with how they sold. As with every sale, there are some that bring more then you would think and then there are some that bring less then you think they should. The top two cows at the sale were 1103 and 2ey in that order.

I did manage to snap a few pictures at the sale. They weren't the best, but it will help me to remember the experience later. The blur in the first two pictures is # 10 as she was a little anxious in the ring.

My biggest concern was that 304 would calve at the sale (as she was due today), but she didn't and she walked into the ring like she owned the world and calmly looked around at the crowd and casually went and sniffed at a few bystanders before being ushered out. I know that worry does not accomplish anything and I am trying to learn to give my worries to the Lord and remember that He is in control. (And I did pray that 304 would hold on to that baby until she reached her new home). I am continually amazed how the Creator of the universe will listen to my anxious prayers about a cow and answer them, but even if He chose not to answer my prayers in the way that I wished, He is still God, and He is still in control and I can rest in that knowledge. A verse that I have meditated on for a while now is

Philippians 4: 6-7
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplications with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hears and your minds in Christ Jesus.

As I remember to pray to God, and let go of the hold that I think I have on the situation, and trust in Him, I have indeed experienced that peace. I pray the same for each of you.

Monday, April 28, 2014

Our Domesticated Ungulates Truncating the Enclosed Herbaceous Plants

Though the farm we rent includes 200 acres of tillable ground, we find ourselves allowing our cattle to forage in more populated areas--such as our lawn. Do not fret, my husband mows close to the house and uses a break wire to keep them away, less they dislodge some siding or a gutter with their need to scratch their necks on most any textured vertical surface :). It is partly done out of the fact that my husband does not enjoy mowing as it gives him "tractor back" the next day but more so done out of the fact that we are graziers to the core and why would we waste something that our bovine friends will happily and gratefully utilize? So I took a video of our bovine friends coming out of the pasture onto the lawn to happily truncate our herbaceous plants, using the least amount of fossil fuels whilst adding an eco-friendly fertilizer to the lawn at no charge and giving us milk and meat in return! (grin) I love farming.

Blessings to each of you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. This season we have been reflecting on the redemption we have through His death on the cross and the hope of eternity as He conquered death and rose from the grave.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

A Goodbye to Tubby

Tubby in the spring of 2013.

This season was my husband's favorite cow, Tubby's last season. The spiral started with the huge weather swings and we had just gone through two days of weather in the 16 to 20 degree F range after three to four days of weather being in the 50's.

My husband noticed that Tubby had some bloody discharge that night when he was checking out the cows in the pre-fresh field. He figured Tubby was getting ready to calve and we would see a calf by morning. Morning came with no calf--not even a part of a sac hanging out and Tubby didn't look like she was having contractions so we called the vet.

The vet called back and instructed us to get her in, wash off her back end, and palpate her vaginally. The calf was still in there and the sac felt full of fluid and unbroken (though we supposed there was a small leak somewhere). My husband also noticed that her cervix felt small, as though it were closing back up, and she had slight muscle shivers. We gave her a bottle of calcium under the skin and let her be on her own for an hour. When we checked on her later she looked perkier, but still no calf or contractions. We called the vet again.

The vet told us that she was most likely calcium deficient and that caused her to not go into labor when she should have, but her body had given the signal for labor the day before and was already starting to close up the cervix now and wall-off the uterus--in essence her body was preparing to mummify the calf that it could not deliver.

We broke the sac open and put chains on the calf (which was still alive). We pulled gently, but with no success and no contractions or pushing on Tubby's part. The cervix was small (about 6 inches) and the calf's head was slightly to the side. We gave her oxytocin to hopefully help relax the muscles and help reopen the cervix and we waited for another hour. The cervix was slightly more dilated, but when we pulled we still had no success. We made the call and decided to have the vet come out. We weren't willing to do a c-section since the cost is high with a high mortality rate for both cow and calf. The vet said he would be there in about an hour and that we should leave her alone until he got there to give her a chance to build up some energy.

When he finally rolled in, we had Tubby in a halter, not so anxiously waiting for him. When the vet palpated her vaginally, he reluctantly told us that he didn't think that the calf was alive. He put a head snare on the calf (a metal cable behind the ears and under the chin) and once he got the calf's head through the small opening of the cervix, Tubby started pushing and the rest of the calf slid right out! To our surprise and delight, the calf was alive (though a bull).

Tubby lied down shortly thereafter and we got the bull over to the calf pen and began to dry him off. I gave Tubby some pills and an aloe drench and we put her back into the pre-fresh field without milking her.

The next morning Tubby was up and attacking the salt block when I went into the field. She looked in good spirits and ate her grain in the parlor with all of the excitement that only Tubby can manage. She filled the milk pail full of colostrumish milk, and Danny caught her to give her a few more pills to help to keep her stabilized.

That night, however, Tubby seemed a little lack luster. She ate her grain, but not all of it and she looked much more depressed. It had now been about 24 hours since she had calved. We gave her some more pills and let her out. The next morning she didn't eat her grain at all. We called the vet and he thought she might have ketosis.

So we began to treat her for that by giving her light salt from the grocery store, because it has high levels of potassium in it. An older protocol called for dextrose IV, but the vet said that actually usually ends up doing more harm then good to the cow (unless it is crazy ketosis). She seemed to come around and our hopes were once again bolstered until she suddenly stopped eating feed again. If you know Tubby, she does NOT miss her feed voluntarily.

We did not know why she was going off feed again, but it seemed to be time to make the call. So, that next day, we sent her to the auction. She looked perky and moved well, but was just not eating well and her milk production was dropping. We don't know what caused her not to calve properly and why she wasn't turning around. The chance of us getting her bred back when we needed to were slim. We have analyzed our herd and out of our cows that have a "calving difficulty" (we have to pull the calf out or she has other problems as a result of calving) - those cows have a 13% chance of breeding back in the window.

We are sad to see her go. I think we all cried. I am going to miss that cow with all of her personality.

Tubby and others eating salt kelp.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

60 Crossbred Cows to Go to New Holland Auction on April 30th at 10 AM

This will mainly be a picture roll. For those of you that may be new to this blog, we are a seasonal grass-based dairy. We are in the middle of calving season right now, but are on the downward slope.

My father-in-law's cows are crossbred and he has been crossbreeding for the past 20 years (my husband thinks). He started out with a herd of purebred Ayrshires and then through buying some cows and crossing some cows and crossing some of the bought cows, he has added in Dutch Belts, Normande, Jersey, Holstein, Norwegian Reds, Finnish Ayrshires, New Zealand Ayrshires, New Zealand Holsteins, Linebacks, and Milking Shorthorns. Some are AI sired cows and some are bull bred. He is on test, but as he just started calving cows, he only has one test under his belt for this season. The majority of the cows are fresh (starting at the end of February).

The herd is on a regular vaccination program and they are also on a monthly DHI testing schedule so we have records available.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at amazinggracedairy@gmail.com

THE COWS WILL BE GOING TO AUCTION IN NEW HOLLAND, PA
AT THE NEW HOLLAND SALES STABLES
ON APRIL 30TH AT 10 AM
http://agmarketnews.com/livestock/new-holland-dairy-sale-wednesday/

The current breakdown for the herd is as follows:

5 - Springing Heifers
25 - 1st Lactation Cows
11 - 2nd Lactation Cows
23 - 3+ Lactation Cows

Below are pictures of some of them. I will post some more on. This will not be all of the cows, but will hopefully give you an idea of the herd of cows that he is selling. I am not sure if I have time to take pictures of all of his cows as my husband and I are calving our cows as well currently.

Here we go!

2 ~Just fresh (but pictured when dry)
Ayshire/Dutch Belt/Normande Cross

Sire: NZ Ayrshire - Brody, Maternal Great Grandsire: Normande - 180NM4. Fresh: 4/15/2014

10
Ayrshire/Normande/Jersey Cross

Sire: NZ Ayrshire - Edberg. Maternal Great Grandsire: Normande - 180NM3. Fresh: 3/19/2014

20
Ayrshire/Normande Cross

Sire: Herd Bull that was a Normande - Pompon (20NM11) Son. Maternal Grandsire: NZ Ayrshire - Edberg. Fresh: 4/7/2014. She may not look like it, but her first test on the 24th of April said she was milking 80 lbs of milk with 3.9% BF and 3.0% P at 19 days in milk.

22
Ayrshire/Normande/Dutch Belt Cross

Sire: Finnish Ayrshire - Octav. Maternal Grandsire: Normande - 213NM11. Fresh: 3/6/2014.

27
Ayrshire/Normande Cross

Sire: Finnish Ayrshire - Siirakki. Dam: Normande/Ayshire cross out of a herd bull. Fresh: 3/9/2014

28
Ayrshire/Dutch Belt Cross

Sire: Swedish Red - Sale. MGS: Dutch Belt - 138DL819. Fresh: 3/15/2014

195 ~ Dry
Holstein/Milking Shorthorn Cross

Bought in - no genetic information - Milking Shorthorn/Holstein Cross. She milks well and she milks out fast. Up until last season, she bred back first service every year. Last year she took two services. Due: 5/5/2014

304 ~ Dry
Holstein/Jersey Cross

Bought in - no genetic information - Jersey/Holstein Cross. Due: 4/30/2014. She has excellent milk production and a wonderful udder. Not to mention low SCC.

714
Dutch Belt Cross

Sire: Dutch Belt Herd Bull. MGS: Dutch Belt - 138DL819. Fresh 3/6/2014

731
Normande/Ayrshire Cross

Sire: Normande Herd Bull. Dam - Full blooded Ayrshire (whose records I do not have). Fresh: 3/5/2014. She is one of my father-in-law's top milkers.

776 ~ Just Fresh (but pictured when dry)
Normande/Ayrshire Cross

Sire: Normande - 20NM8. Dam: Ayshire. Fresh: 4/19/2014.

963 ~ Polled
Milking Shorthorn/Jersey Cross

Sire: Milking Shorthorn - 54MS44. Dam: Jersey Cross. Fresh: 3/11/2014.

977 - Mouse
Milking Shorthorn/Holstein Cross

No genetic information - bought in cow. Dam: Milking Shorthorn/Holstein Cross. Fresh: 3/7/2014.

981
Milking Shorthorn/Holstein Cross

Sire: Milking Shorthorn Herd Bull. Dam: Holstein. Fresh: 3/30/2014.

984
Holstein/Jersey Cross

No genetic infromation - bought cow. Holstein/Jersey Cross. Fresh: 3/5/2014.

1045 ~ Stardust ~ Dry
Lineback

No genetic information - bought cow. Lineback. Due: 5/5/2014.

1101
Normande x Normande x Dutch Belt Cross

Sire: Normande Herd Bull - son of 214NM17. Maternal Grandsire: Normande - 214NM18. Fresh: 3/22/2014.

1103
Ayrshire/Normande Cross

Sire: Finnish Ayrshire - Siirakki. Dam: Normande/Ayrshire Cross. Fresh: 2/27/2014.

1104
Ayrshire/Dutch Belt Cross

Sire: Finnish Ayshire - Siirakki. Maternal Grandsire: Dutch Belt - 138DL396. Fresh: 3/9/2014.

1105
Ayrshire/Dutch Belt Cross

Sire: NZ Ayrshire - Brody. Maternal Grandsire: Dutch Belt - 138DL819. Fresh: 3/16/2014.

1115
Swedish Red/Ayrshire

Sire: Swedish Red - Sale. MGS: Ayrshire - 70AY45. Granddam - Registered Ayrshire. Fresh: 3/13/2014.

1118
Normande/Ayshire Cross

Sire: Normande Herd Bull - (Son of 214nm17). MGS: Finnish Ayrshire - Passeli. Dam - Purebred Ayrshire. Fresh: 3/1/2014.

1120 ~ Just fresh (but pictured when dry)
Normande/Ayrshire/Holstein Cross

Sire: Normande Herd Bull. MGS: Finnish Ayrshire - Passeli. Fresh: 4/17/2014.

1142
Normande/Ayrshire Cross

Sire: Normande - Tetrapack. Dam: Normande/Ayrshire Cross. Fresh: 11/16/2013. She has been fresh for a while, but not bred, because my father-in-law thought he was going to milk again this year so he was saving her until the seasonal breeding season started in May. Since he has decided to sell the herd, she will be bred if she comes in heat before the auction.

1147 ~ Polled
Jersey x Milking Shorthorn x Jersey Cross

Her dam was purchased as a pregnant heifer. Sire: Jersey Herd Bull. MGS: 54MS4. Dam: 963 (pictured above). Fresh: 3/7/2014.

1151
Ayrshire x Ayrshire x Normande

Sire: NZ Ayrshire - Brody. MGS: NZ Ayrshire - Challenge. Dam: Ayrshire/Normande Cross. Fresh: 3/6/2014.

1162
Ayrshire

Sire: NZ Ayrshire - Brody. MGS: NZ Ayrshire - Challenge. Fresh: 3/19/2014.

1208 ~ Taco ~ Just Fresh (but pictured when springing)
Ayrshire x NZ Holstein x Jersey Cross

Sire: Herd Bull. MGS: NZ Holstein - Meridian. Granddam: Jersey. Fresh: 4/28/2014.

1216 ~ Elixer
Swedish Red x Jersey x Holstein

Sire: Herd Bull. MGS: Swedish Red Herd Bull. Fresh: 3/16/2014.

1223
Ayrshire x Lineback/Jersey

Sire: NZ Ayrshire - Nigel. Dam: bought cow - Lineback/Jersey Cross. Fresh: 3/17/2014.

1224
Ayrshire x Milking Shorthorn/Holstein Cross

Sire: NZ Ayrshire - Brody. Dam: Milking Shorthorn/Holstein Cross (#981 - pictured above) Fresh: 3/4/2014.

1225
Ayrshire/Normande Cross

Sire: Herd Bull. MGS: Normande Herd Bull (son of Pompon). Dam: Ayrshire/Normande Cross (pictured above - # 20). Fresh: 3/22/2014.

1226 ~ Pippy
Lineback x Jersey/Holstein Cross

Sire: Herd Bull. Dam: Lineback x Jersey/Holstein Cross. Fresh: 3/17/2014.

1228
Normande/Ayrshire/Dutch Belt Cross

Sire: Herd Bull. MGS: Normande - 183NM61. Fresh: 3/18/2014.

1230

Sire: Herd Bull - Finnish Ayrshire/Dutch Belt Cross - Safir Son. MGS: NZ Ayrshire - Brody. Dam: Ayrshire/Normande Cross. Fresh: 3/11/2014.

1232
Norwegian Red/Ayrshire Cross

Sire: Norwegian Red - Velsvik. MGS: NZ Ayrshire - Challenge. Fresh: 3/2/2014. She lives up to the Velsvik genetics--she is one of the top milking heifers.

1249
Normande/Ayrshire Cross