How do you ever repay the kindness shown to you? We have had a very stressful year (as most people did), yet many positive things also happened.
One of the stressful things that happened was one of my husband's favorite cows injured herself. The vet called the injury a "stifle". Most cows do not recover from this type of injury. She was on a flush cycle at the time and the vet said all we could do was keep her comfortable, continue with the flush and see how she feels. After a couple of weeks, her leg did not seem worse so we continued keeping her on stall rest.
About a month after the flush we had the vet out to check her leg and give her an all over physical. We routinely check the cows for pregnancy after a flush to make certain that no embryos mistakenly remained. The vet liked the way her hip and leg were moving but informed us that she was not only pregnant, but it was twins.
This gives us some extra problems. With a leg injury do you want her pregnant? Much less trying to carry twins? She needs a pen to herself, with winter coming, we wont have that kind of space available...now what?
As we discussed all of this with our vet, he assured me that the leg was coming along better than expected and if we could find her the right situation, he felt she had a good chance of maintaining her health and the babies.
Since it was still warm outside we had some time to find the right "situation". My husband gave it a lot of thought and came up with an interesting idea. Spicey didn't originate on our farm, she was purchased from a farm that was no longer going to milk Holsteins, but milk Jerseys. He called the farm and asked about their winter situation. They, of course, remembered Spicey's dam and said they would love to help.
Spicey's pen is made out of concrete and we used several bales of straw to make her a pack. The pack was very thick, which is why her leg was not as stressed and she seemed to be improving. The Jersey farm had an outbuilding with a dirt floor and straw pack. This would be even more ideal for her leg. We were very excited to take her there. I was a little nervous putting her on a trailer because there is a step to get in or out.
We got her there and she got out of the trailer very well. She walked over to the feed and checked it out before looking around at her new herd mates. I am pretty sure she was wondering why they all looked like solid color heifers to her. She is a very large Holstein and Jerseys are a smaller breed.
While watching her to make certain that she would settle in without any issues, the Jersey farm owner told us that they would be happy to keep her until after she calved. This is a huge responsibility for the farm. Twins are difficult for the cow and the farm, but we weren't sure when we would move her during her pregnancy since we wouldn't want to stress her or her legs.
Incredible that they would want to help us like this! For those of you that farm, you know how difficult it is to find enough space for your own animals, much less make room for someone elses' larger animal.
We were on their farm last week and Spicey is doing great! She has good body condition, barely limps (you really have to look for it and know which leg to watch) and seems really happy.
They said the only time she shows her injury (or age), is when it gets really cold outside. Being 10 and a grandma, she gets a little stiff when getting up at first.
We are so very lucky and blessed that this has all worked out so well. I will try to come back in the spring and let you know how she fares during the birthing process and if the twins survive.
These are not the only amazing friends and neighbors we have...
We had a ton of help from people during our recent classification and Dvorak Farms has been instrumental in keeping us going since we took over from my husband's father.
I would love to hear from other people who have GREAT friends and neighbors that have helped them. In closing, remember to thank GOD each day for the great things and people in our lives.
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18 comments:
Ummm. What's a flushing cycle? Showing my ignorance here but WANT to learn!
Thank you for asking...I am happy to impart any thing I have learned!
Flushing is what we do to "special" cows with genetics that we want to carry on. We put her on a special cycle of hormones to make her produce multiple eggs, then fertailze her (in our case artificial insemenation). A week later we harvest the eggs, and give her a shot to start her estrus cycle. This will make certain that she does not remain pregnant with multiple pregnancies.
In Spicey's case, she had one egg in each horn that had not dropped into the uterus at the time she had been given the shot to start her estrus. We ultrasounded her to make sure that those were the only embryos there. Lucky for us they were.
In horses, you can pinch off one embryo, in cows you can't. You usually lose both pregnancies and sometimes the cow due to internal bleeding.
If there were too many embryos left we would have had to give her something to abort them.
I hope this was not too much info, and thanks again for asking.
We are not a big farm, just an acreage, but a big "Amen!" to the part about thanking God for the blessings He's given us, and you!
How interesting! So Spicey wasn't meant to carry any babies to term - you were just taking the embryos to use for something like a surrogate to carry on her genes?
Ian - the same for us. We are only milking 45 cows at this time.
PaintCrazy - Correct, we didn't intend Spicey to remain pregnant. We wanted to make sure her leg was going to heal. And yep...surrogate cows are called recipeints.
Thanks for the flushing explanation - I was wondering, too!
You're so right about farm neighbors - good ones are priceless, and for some reason it seems like farm folks are most always ready to go the extra mile (often literally) for their neighbors. A real world "pay it forward" so to speak. I've commented to my husband that dairy farmers have one of the toughest of all ag-related businesses. Milk cows don't take days off, holidays, or weekends :)
I think that twins in cows must have better odds of survival than twins in horses even though it sounds like it might still be a tough go.
I have seen twin calves several times in my life but haven't known the owners personally so have no idea how the birthing went or if there were issues afterwards.
There's no way one would knowingly allow a mare to carry twins. The odds are great that all could be lost. Even if they survive there can be lots of issues. I know first hand having had unexpected twin foals a few years back. It was a wild ride but all survived.
I wish you and this special cow luck.
I agree Rising Rainbow...I always ultrasound my mares. Would never allow (on purpose; accidents do happen) twins in my horses. We have several sets of twins (dairy cows) on the farm. In fact, one of our older twins just had a set of twin heifers. hmmm, maybe I should do a post about twins?
Glad you have helpful neighbors. Mine all keep to themselves and won't help, even if asked directly. It's really kind of weird.
thanks for finding me! very interesting blog. my grandfather was a dairy farmer in vermont so i have a keen interest in all things farming. i must admit though after seeing a dairy farmer from upstate ny cut off his cow's tail on cnn last week made me think twice...grampie never did that and i don't think it is humane. i am glad your cow will be fine. she deserves the best. i like your website. where did you get the hay at the bottom?
Those are some pretty amazing neighbors...you are blessed!
Maery - Sorry to hear about your neighbors :( I wish you lived closer; I would defineately be a better neighbor!
Kritter Keeper - I saw the video and was appalled and wonder how much of that was planted. Obviously, some farms do dock tails, most farms (including mine) burn or gauge horns. That is for the animal and people safety. However, NEVER is it acceptable to hit an animal with a wrench in the head because it is bothering you.
I can't stand what the media is doing to or industry...I don't understand why they refuse to show what we...the average farmer really does and how we care.
As for the straw bale at the bottom of my website (THANK YOU VERY MUCH for visiting) it was part of the template I chose. I am certain that it is also a choice in their pictures that are available. Thank you for stopping by my sites...I truly appreciate comments!
Frazzled - Thank you we truly feel the blessings!
Here in my California neighborhood our houses are all close together but I don't really know much about most of them and don't associate with any of them for the most part. Everybody pretty well keeps to themselves, but we don't have any problems usually and that's good. Good friends and neighbors would be nice, but it takes time and effort. My wife and I are kind of hermits and that's kind of sad.
If that's your farm in the picture, it sure looks beautiful.
Lee
arlee bird - sorry to hear you live close enough to touch your neighbors but don't know them. Although being a hermit has it's advantages. :)
Yep...that is an areial view of the milking part of our farm. Our home is still a little to the west. Home is where we keep the horses and beef.
Very awesome neighbors! :) Stop over for a visit soon.
I find dairy farming to be fascinating! We buy our milk raw from a small local dairy, and I just love visiting with the farmer. He's so passionate about his cows. Love how you guys take such good care of yours, it brings such a sense integrity to the dairy business, even though I know they're not all as kind!
Hi! Thanks for stopping by my place. As an AnSci major with a huge interest in Production Ag and Repro, I'm really going to enjoy reading about your adventures! You are very blessed. We live on a small cul-de-sac and haven't gotten close to any of our neighbors (we've only been here a year) but everyone has been very kind and welcoming. Somehow tho, city folk just aren't as generous as country folk.
Great to have good neighbors! Your cow will make it through. if she isn't noticeably limping, she should do pretty good. Our old cow was hopping along for 3 years. You did the right thing baby-ing her! I hope she has a great set of calves for you!
Great blog!
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