She Can't Take the Heat

It is July 1st today and I was telling Tricia that we have a whole lotta summer left!  It has been pretty hot, but we can take it.  Well, except for Rosie.  She does not like the heat.  Not one bit.  Today all the rest of the cows were out in the pasture eating grass.  Where was Rosie?  She was in her favorite spot - it is a mud hole between the two barns.  It is a shady spot and the mud must be cool.  She likes to go and sit in it.

Hey, whatever floats your boat, Rosie.  There's just one problem with laying in the mud.  It forces us to have to give her a bath before we milk her as her belly, udder and legs will be very, very muddy.  This exacerbates the problem as the run-off from her bath creates a new mud-hole in a different spot.  Then she will lay in that one and be even muddier!  Bathing her wastes a lot of time.  Milking usually takes about 10 minutes to get everyone in the barn, separated and feed buckets prepared.  Rosie's penchant for mudholes adds another 15 minutes to the milking process as you have to spray her down and then take her in the barn and dry her off. 

Rosie wouldn't go out in the sun in the pasture to eat, so we opted for Plan B.  I had the electric fence up in the yard, so I walked her out where she can enjoy eating grass in the shade.  As you can see, she eats just on the fringes of the shade!

So why does the heat bother her and not the others?

Good question.  I think it involves several things.  First, I think she's pregnant.  She's heavy and its hard on her.  Next, we clipped her hooves and she's moving a little slow.  Taking the effort to walk way out into the pasture is probably painful for her, but it should get better soon.  Finally, Jerseys in general don't handle the heat very well.  It may be a genetic thing.  Rosie has always panted in the heat, breathing heavy with her big tongue hanging out

She'll be fine.  I know she's just anticipating fall.  I hate to tell her but she has at least 3 full months of this heat and humidity left to go.