If you remember, back on September 18 Maggie gave birth to her little heifer that we named Lili. A little less than a month and a half later, on November 1, Rosie delivered Amy. After about a week of allowing them to nurse on their mom's at will, we began sharing the milk with them. We try to separate them from their moms so that we get the milk when we want it and then give the little girls what's left over. There is plenty to go around.
We've experienced success in the past with this arrangement, but with these young uns, we're having trouble. After milking out the mommas at 5 am, we allow the calves to nurse on their moms and then we put them in a separate paddock than the moms, so we can get afternoon milk from Daisy. The thing is with these girls, they go from mom to mom drinking milk. In the past, our cows would only let their own calves nurse, but not with these girls. They seem to go from mom to mom drinking milk.
Lili (on the right in the photo below) is well-behaved. Amy (on the left) sees herself as some sort of a Houdini. At around 4 o'clock she'll get hungry and start moo-ing. Somehow she's figured a way to get through 3 strands of electric fence and get to her mom and will empty out Daisy as well. There is a device I've used in the past that you attach to their nose that hinders their ability to nurse. It works pretty good, but past calves have figured out ways to pull it out.
This device is used for weaning. The problem is, we're not ready to wean them yet. Weaning is a big step. When you wean them, then you must milk the cows twice a day, every day. This definitely limits your movement as you must be home every morning and night to milk. Ah, the travails of a dairyman!
We've experienced success in the past with this arrangement, but with these young uns, we're having trouble. After milking out the mommas at 5 am, we allow the calves to nurse on their moms and then we put them in a separate paddock than the moms, so we can get afternoon milk from Daisy. The thing is with these girls, they go from mom to mom drinking milk. In the past, our cows would only let their own calves nurse, but not with these girls. They seem to go from mom to mom drinking milk.
Lili (on the right in the photo below) is well-behaved. Amy (on the left) sees herself as some sort of a Houdini. At around 4 o'clock she'll get hungry and start moo-ing. Somehow she's figured a way to get through 3 strands of electric fence and get to her mom and will empty out Daisy as well. There is a device I've used in the past that you attach to their nose that hinders their ability to nurse. It works pretty good, but past calves have figured out ways to pull it out.
This device is used for weaning. The problem is, we're not ready to wean them yet. Weaning is a big step. When you wean them, then you must milk the cows twice a day, every day. This definitely limits your movement as you must be home every morning and night to milk. Ah, the travails of a dairyman!
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| Amy and Lili (growing like bad weeds!) |
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| At 4 pm, I'm bustin' this joint. Alcatraz can't hold me... |
I have a goat halter on Amy's head right now, but I'll soon have to purchase a couple calf halters as I intend on halter breaking them before they get too big to handle. These girls are registered Jerseys and if they are like their Mommas, they'll be good milk cows. Our current plans are to let them grow for a bit and then sell them. Our little 5 acre farm is just not big enough to maintain any more animals than we currently have.
They sure are some cute little heifers!
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