veritastar
Chillin' with the herd
Is my new Jersey cow meant to be this round?
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veritastar
Chillin' with the herd
Devonviolet
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Hello, @veritastar. Welcome to Backyard Herds, from beautiful, hot, humid NE Texas!Congratulations on your new cow and calf. Being a goat person, I don't know much about cows. To my inexperienced eye, it looks to me like she could be pregnant.
Another thought might be she has some bloating. Given that they both came to you with scours, there might be something going on in their GI tract. When you palpate her sides, what do you hear? Does it sound hollow? Or solid? Soft? Or hard? Does she have has? Burp excessively?
Two members, come to mind, that might have some thoughts about what is going on with your pretty Jersey cow: @farmerjan and @greybeard. I know there are other cattle owners, but at the moment, only those two come to mind.
Where are you located? That might help, anyone who tries to help you. You could go into your account and add it to your profile.
Once again,
I hope you find answers, about your cow soon.
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veritastar
Chillin' with the herd
Thank you for your welcome. 
I'd love to have some goats- I wish I had a bigger farm for all the animals I want! I doubt she could be pregnant because her calf is only 7 weeks old.
I'm in NSW, Australia. We are coming out of winter now but the lush spring grass is yet to come.
I am worried that it might be bloat. I don't remember if she was this round when I went to see her a few weeks ago. I remember thinking she was very bony. I also can't remember if she was this round when she arrived. I'm hoping it's not the Lucerne. I know that grazing fresh Lucerne causes bloat but I thought hay was safer. As I said, she is showing no sign of distress, otherwise I would cut her feed strait away and call the vet.
I'll be very interested to hear everyone's opinions.
I'd love to have some goats- I wish I had a bigger farm for all the animals I want! I doubt she could be pregnant because her calf is only 7 weeks old.
I'm in NSW, Australia. We are coming out of winter now but the lush spring grass is yet to come.
I am worried that it might be bloat. I don't remember if she was this round when I went to see her a few weeks ago. I remember thinking she was very bony. I also can't remember if she was this round when she arrived. I'm hoping it's not the Lucerne. I know that grazing fresh Lucerne causes bloat but I thought hay was safer. As I said, she is showing no sign of distress, otherwise I would cut her feed strait away and call the vet.
I'll be very interested to hear everyone's opinions.
farmerjan
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Hi and welcome to BYH. I know nothing about the types of hay you have in Austalia, so won't even attempt to advise on that.
If it was bloat it is very doubtful she would be eating regularly. Most cows that I have had any experience with bloat and they are few, would not eat or were not comfortable at all. And bloat will kill them so I really don't think that is her problem but again I don't know your hay types.
To me she looks like a very content, full jersey. They tend to be more pear shaped from the back especially if they are fed more hay and roughage and are not being pushed for production. Maybe when you looked at her she was not very full or not being fed enough? I honestly did not see anything wrong with her except that her udder was a bit small but if all she is doing is feeding her calf, and you are not milking her then she will only produce what is being used. That is actually detrimental to getting her up to her production potential, but at 7 weeks, it is unlikely you would get her to "come into her milk " much more, as it is something that needs to be developed from the time she freshens.
Some cows just tend to carry their weight, and have a different shape than others. Had a beef cow that was as round as a barrel. She would calve and a couple weeks later looked like she was 10 months pregnant and overdue to calve !!!!!! Just her body physiology. If you observe her eating, and then chewing her cud, then I wouldn't worry about it. Once she gets used to your place and the hay/feed, she will settle into what her body needs.
I keep good pasture and/or hay in front of my cattle all the time. Only grain the dairy cows when they are in production and I try to get them to raise at least 3 calves at a time so they are earning their keep. In order to get them to produce as much milk as possible, I push their ration as soon as they calve, and continue the grain feeding for at least 3-5 months until the calves are eating more on their own.Then I cut out the grain for the cow, or cut it back alot. By then they are hopefully bred back and the calves are coming in to the creep feed area where they can eat without the cows bothering them and they get accustomed to grain and when they are weaned they do not lose weight by trying to get accustomed to a new ration. The milk production has fallen off and it is usually easy to dry the cow off until her next calving.
If it was bloat it is very doubtful she would be eating regularly. Most cows that I have had any experience with bloat and they are few, would not eat or were not comfortable at all. And bloat will kill them so I really don't think that is her problem but again I don't know your hay types.
To me she looks like a very content, full jersey. They tend to be more pear shaped from the back especially if they are fed more hay and roughage and are not being pushed for production. Maybe when you looked at her she was not very full or not being fed enough? I honestly did not see anything wrong with her except that her udder was a bit small but if all she is doing is feeding her calf, and you are not milking her then she will only produce what is being used. That is actually detrimental to getting her up to her production potential, but at 7 weeks, it is unlikely you would get her to "come into her milk " much more, as it is something that needs to be developed from the time she freshens.
Some cows just tend to carry their weight, and have a different shape than others. Had a beef cow that was as round as a barrel. She would calve and a couple weeks later looked like she was 10 months pregnant and overdue to calve !!!!!! Just her body physiology. If you observe her eating, and then chewing her cud, then I wouldn't worry about it. Once she gets used to your place and the hay/feed, she will settle into what her body needs.
I keep good pasture and/or hay in front of my cattle all the time. Only grain the dairy cows when they are in production and I try to get them to raise at least 3 calves at a time so they are earning their keep. In order to get them to produce as much milk as possible, I push their ration as soon as they calve, and continue the grain feeding for at least 3-5 months until the calves are eating more on their own.Then I cut out the grain for the cow, or cut it back alot. By then they are hopefully bred back and the calves are coming in to the creep feed area where they can eat without the cows bothering them and they get accustomed to grain and when they are weaned they do not lose weight by trying to get accustomed to a new ration. The milk production has fallen off and it is usually easy to dry the cow off until her next calving.
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veritastar
Chillin' with the herd
I'm relieved to hear that it is unlikely to be bloat! She is my first cow so I don't know what's normal yet. We are planning on just letting her feed her calf and getting her used to being handled so when she has her next calf we can hopefully start milking her. I didn't see much grass or hay at her old home so perhaps they weren't feeding enough.
Thanks so much for your reply.
Thanks so much for your reply.
