Princess Peach

Today we wanted to check up on the cows we treated yesterday and give another shot of polyflex to our girl sick with metritis. The cow that has metritis was once my bosses show cow several years ago. Her name is Princess Peach and she is super friendly which makes treating her a piece of cake. She appears to be feeling much better than she was yesterday and I made sure to take a selfie with her. It seems she did not mind that her friends decided to photobomb us with their butts in the background! 

After we tended to those girls we went across town to move dry cows. While at the other farm we also picked up one of the bulls that we raised as a bottle calf to our main facility since he is now old enough to breed! His name is Gomez and he is very happy to be with his new lady friends. 

Today we shipped 5,487 gallons of milk and had two new bull calves. 

Triple Keto + Metritis

We have had quite a busy week at the farm so far and today is no exception! After tending to all of the calves we went to the sick cow pen to check on our girls and give any necessary medications. When we were checking on some of our cows we concluded that three of them had mild ketosis and of those three one cow was also afflicted with metritis. Metritis is an infection of the uterus characterized by its pungent smell and thick, white discharge. For treatment we collected three bottles of dextrose to IV each one and the cow that also had metritis will be given a shot of polyflex ampicillin for a minimum of three days and will be reevaluated afterwards. 

Did you know that polyflex has a milk and meat withhold period? For milk any cow treated with polyflex cannot be sold for human consumption during the treatment period and for 48 hours after the last dosage. As for the meat withhold period this is during the active treatment and for six days following the last dosage. This is to ensure that the public will not consume any animal product that might be mixed with medications. Safety is a high priority on our farm and when we treated this cow with polyflex we did several things to ensure that everyone knew. First a giant red marker was flagged on her cow card in the computer system, second we tied two bright red ribbons on her back legs which indicate that she was treated with polyflex on our farm, and lastly we moved this cow into a special pen just for cows that have medications in their system that require special care when milking. Since we cannot keep her milk or risk it going into the bulk tank we will make sure that her milk is properly and safely disposed of. 

Today we shipped 5,609 gallons of milk and had one new heifer calf. '

CIDR

Today we got a special shipment of CIDRs which are especially helpful at synchronizing estrus and inducing estrous cycles in cattle. We went across town to our heifer barn and sorted out nearly twenty jersey heifers. Once they were separated we ran the jerseys into the shoot one at a time to insert the CIDR and give a shot of GnRH and Jvac. In one week we will come back to the farm to remove the CIDR and give each jersey a shot of lutalyse. Two days after the CIDRs were removed we will finish off by breeding all of the jerseys that had the CIDRs and then check them in a few weeks to see if they are pregnant! CIDRs greatly increase the likelihood of catching when we breed so we have high hopes for these girls. If you look at the photograph below and get a little confused as to why there are two wooden boards, well jerseys are inherently much smaller than Holsteins and the shoot was a bit too big for them so in order to prevent the jersey from backing out of the headlock and stepping on our toes we would slide a wooden board behind their butt to stop them. 

Today we shipped 5,556 gallons of milk and had no new calves. 

Colostrum Management

Today at the farm I took a considerable amount of time reading through an extensive PowerPoint presentation all about colostrum management. One of my personal goals for the farm while I am working here this summer is to help improve our current colostrum management. Some of the new strategies we will start implementing will involve the usage of a brix refractometer. This instrument will allow us to test and estimate the levels of immunoglobulins that are present within the colostrum and an ideal reading for a good quality colostrum will be 22 or higher. At 22 this would roughly represent 50mg/ml immunoglobulins which is great news for the calf and will act as a baseline requirement to feed and freeze. Yes, colostrum can be preserved for later uses in special storage bags in the freezer. Calves start their life with a very low immune system so colostrum is very important to give them the boost that they need. This lovely little lady received colostrum with a brix reading of 35+ because the colostrum was so excellent that the brix refractometers scale could not read it, how incredible.

Today we shipped 5,504 gallons of milk and had one new heifer calf (the one in the picture!).

Last Day of Jury Duty

 Hello all, today is my last day of jury duty and I will resume my normal barn activities tomorrow! For now enjoy a picture of the barn kittens growing up! 

Cattle Trailer

This is the inside of our cattle trailer that we use to haul dry cows on Fridays and to move our oldest heifer calves from the calf barn to the other facility. Pretty much we use this trailer for all of our transportation needs for our animals! Today we decided to give it a good cleaning before we moved the cows and it turned out fantastic. As we moved the cows it seemed as though they really appreciated our efforts to keep them comfortable and happy in the cattle trailer! The first photo is before we scraped out the old bedding and we had a helper today who thought they were hidden from the camera. The second photo is after we finished removing the old bedding and adding in fresh shavings, what a difference!

Today we shipped 5,488 gallons of milk and had one new bull calf. 

Computer Training

I have mentioned many times how on Mondays we have a list of cows that need to be given specific shots as well as Friday we will have a list of cows that we need to bring home, but where do we get these lists? On our farm we have a computer program which we can directly connect to on our phones through an app VAS Platform. Today I spent some time familiarizing myself with the program on the computer and learning where I can find the information to create these important lists and how to enter health events such as mastitis or ketosis. Below is a photo from app on my phone and it shows us current information on any cow! For instance I did a simple search for one of our cows that recently calves and we can see that in her events tab. This shows the lactation she is in, which pen we can find her in, and much more. DIM stands for days in milk meaning how many days has this cow been providing milk during this lactation. I definitely plan to become more and more familiar with using the program in the future. Who knew farm work could be so techy!

Today we shipped 5,456 gallons of milk and had no new calves. 

Treatment Day

Today at the farm I started with feeding the calves and then went to the big cow barns to check on some sick cows. We had two cows to treat, one that had ketosis and another which had pink eye. Pink eye can be treated simply by spraying a small amount of penicillin into their eye and it will clear up within a day or two of treatment. Most of the time this will be caused by getting manure or pieces of dirty bedding stuck in their eye but it can be very contagious so we are sure to act fast before it spreads. As for the jersey cow that had ketosis I administered an IV of dextrose to surge her body with the sugars that she needs and pumped her with an alfalfa and propylene glycol mixture for additional hydration. In the picture below you can see the instrument that I use to pump the fluid into the cows rumen. Essentially it looks like a long hose that can be inserted into the cows esophagus and it has a smooth grey bit that will gently grasp the front of the nose to avoid the tube from being ejected. I will slowly stir and pump the handle to get all of the fluid into her stomach and this can be especially helpful for cows that are very dehydrated. 

Today we shipped 5,607 gallons of milk and had no new calves. 

Time to Clean

I am back from jury duty and the chores never stop! Today I focused a lot of cleaning the stalls and spreading fresh bedding into the large group pens that we have in the calf barn. These large group pens act as a transition area for our girls to get used to eating silage and solid foods before we bring them across town. Every Friday I make a post about hauling dry cows and this is the same location where we keep our growing heifers after they are weaned. There are several large barns with outdoor areas for the girls to play in and they get especially excited when they get clean bedding. 

Today we shipped 5,520 gallons of milk and had two new heifer calves. 

Important Update!

Hello all! Today I will not be posting anything about my farm chores because I was selected for jury duty. I look forward to posting more about my cuddly critters tomorrow. For now enjoy a picture of a calf that was born this past winter and we brought her into the office to warm her up. 

Why so Wry?

I have posted many pictures of the various cows on my farm all in different shapes, sizes, and colors and this post will be no exception! Today I wanted to make a post about a special jersey cow with a unique feature on our farm and that is her special little crooked nose. If you look closely at the photograph below you can see that it appears as if her nose is twisting to the right, and it is! When a cow has a crooked nose this is called being wry and it can be genetic and passed down. This does not cause her any harm and only adds to her character. She's a pregnant jersey which we brought back to the main farm today when we were moving dry cows and I just had to get a picture of her beautiful face. Who knows, maybe her calf will have a crooked nose just like her mother.

Today we shipped 5,658 gallons of milk and had one new heifer calf born. 

Milk Information

Now that June has come and gone I wanted to share this and explain how it is that I am making my "total gallons shipped" quotes at the end of each of my posts. In the photograph below is an important piece of paper that is hung in the milk room next to the parlor. This sheet of paper has information useful to us starting from the left; the date, time milk truck driver arrived, the temperature of the bulk tank, the pounds of milk collected, and the name of the collector. This is a very handy paper as we can keep an extra close eye on the temperature of the bulk tank because if it gets too warm it will support bacterial growth and the milk will spoil. We can also keep an eye on the milk that is being produced from our cows and see how it fluctuates depending on the weather or sudden feed changes. All I do is divide the total pounds of milk shipped for the day by eight because there is roughly eight pounds in a gallon of milk which makes it easier to visualize how much milk we are shipping. And yes, we send our milk to Oakhurst.

Today we shipped 45,186 pounds of milk, or rather 5,648 gallons of milk and had no new calves. 

Spa Day Everyday

I have talked about the hoof trimmer and the importance to maintain the cows feet, so let me introduce you to the foot bath! While working late today I was able to grab a picture of a recently milked cow returning to her pen and on her way back she and all the other cows must first walk through the foot bath. The foot bath looks like a dark blue liquid that is only deep enough to submerge their entire hoof. It gets this vibrant blue coloring because it is a mixture of water and copper sulfate. Copper sulfate is an excellent antibacterial agent meaning it will help kill and prevent infections surrounding the hoof, and it can help the hoof material harden making it much more difficult to get rocks and other debris stuck inside. You can see some of other cows which already walked through the foot bath up ahead in the photograph with their blue-dyed feet! 

Today we shipped 5,627 gallons of milk and had one new bull calf.

A "Fowl" Surprise

Today was a very long day at the farm. It started with calf chores and transitioned into working with the older cows. As we aided our veterinarian with the usual Tuesday preg-checks on our cows, we noticed a large bird standing in the manure pit. As we got closer, we realized that this large bird was stuck and needed help so the game warden was called and help was on the way. When the game warden arrived they came with someone from Avian Haven which quickly recognized the bird stuck in the manure pit as a young bald eagle! Using the lift and a large net, the eagle was safely removed from the pit and is on its way to recovery. You never know what you might find when working on a farm...

Today we shipped 5,459 gallons of milk and had one new heifer calf. 

Bosses for a Day

At the farm today chores went as usual and the only difference was that my coworker and I were in charge for the day! With the two of us on the farm we decided to be extra productive and set up a large pen for our heifer calves that are getting weaned, castrated some of the bulls, vaccinated the cows with GnRH/Lutalyse/Jvac, and finished our day by treating two older cows for pinkeye. A quick and easy way to correct pinkeye is to take a syringe filled with penicillin and dispense it into the afflicted eye! The cow is usually not too impressed when we do this, however it clears up the issue quickly. 

In the photograph below is a close up of our recently weaned heifers from this week enjoying their brand new pen! I like to think that she is thanking us for moving her and her friends into this large open pen with plenty of space to run and play. Perhaps we should invest in some toys to keep them entertained.

Today we shipped 5,440 gallons of milk and had three new calves born. 

Learning to Breed

Today we brought a few of our older cows into the hospital pen so that we could start learning to breed cows. Breeding cows does not take the faint of heart as you need to put a long glove on your non dominant arm and insert it into the cows rear. This can get messy but we are trying to feel for the cervix because a cow that is in an active heat will have an enlarged cervix. Once we find that we will then insert the breeding gun which would hold the semen straw and deposit it just past the cervix and into the uterus for the best possible chances of that cow becoming pregnant. I found it quite interesting the amount of arm strength it takes in order to navigate inside the cow as my arm became very tired and sore rather quickly. 

Today we shipped 5,788 gallons of milk and had one new calf. 

Notice for tomorrow - I have a mandatory event to attend to on Friday which means I wont be at the barn and able to publish a post about my farm work for the day! As soon as I am able to I will provide information about my outside responsibilities until then enjoy this post and see you on next Monday. 

Wobbles

This was one of the less busy days during the week and we prioritize cleaning and calf management. One of the newer calves that was born was a small white heifer with black dots splashed throughout her hair. On the outside she looks like any typical calf, however when a farmer gazes upon her they will notice that her legs are slightly bent in towards her chest! Fret not, as the calf grows up she will most likely grow into her legs and they will straighten out the longer she uses them. I have seen crooked legs and and few calves that will keep their hooves curled so they seemingly walk on their wrist but eventually as they grow older and the muscles develop in their tiny bodies they all grow out of it. She is just as shocked about this fact as you!

Today we shipped 5,658 gallons of milk and had one new bull calf. 

Bloat

Cows have a unique diet and it is very important for us to ensure that our girls have a healthy microbiome. A microbiome refers to the microorganisms that naturally inhabit our cow, and there are tons of these guys living inside their stomach. Many microbes play a vital role in nutrient absorption and utilization. Once in a while when feeding cows we might observe one that will blow up like a balloon with an enlarged stomach due to an overproduction and inability to release gas. Ensuring the animal has a healthy and diverse microbiome can help to prevent bloating from ever occurring. Bloating can cause extreme pressure buildup and in severe situations a cow may pass from asphyxiation. If this were to happen and we catch it early we would be able to relieve the cow by inserting a needle directly into the left side of the animals flank and it is possible to hear and smell the gas escaping! I have done this a few times since working at the farm and you can see the relief in the animals eyes almost instantly. It is such an incredible experience.

Today we shipped 5,776 gallons of milk and had two heifer calves born! Happy fourth of July! The girls are celebrating with some delicious hay 📣📣📣

Polygastric

A few times in my previous posts I may have mentioned the word ruminant and I want to explain that. Cows are ruminants just like sheep and goats which means that they have a multi-chambered stomach. I have heard some people talk about cows as having several stomachs, however I like to think of a cow stomach similar to a heart in the way that it is one organ broken into several chambers. There are four recognizable compartments to a cows stomach and each has a unique name being the rumen, omasum, abomasum, and reticulum. Isn't that fascinating?

Today we shipped 5776 gallons of milk and had two new calves.