Questions About A Nurse Cow

[PoultryScienceAggie]

Howdy Ya'll. I had been on the look out for a nurse cow for quite a while, well yesterday I bought a Jersey nurse cow from the auction barn. She is older and I feel like I got a pretty good deal on her. She came with 4 calves. She is not in the best of shape and I am now wondering if she was sold because she was someone elses problem. I have a couple questions about her that some of ya'll may know answers to.....
1. She has been coughing quite a bit since I got her home. We gave her a shot of Pencillin yesterday. Is there any thing else she needs?
2. She is quite skinny. We took one calf off already and may take more off if needed. We bought her a good sweet feed, oats, and good hay. She has good grass as well. Is there anything else we can do to help her gain weight?
3. Today when she was laying down, I noticed that she had a gooey discharge coming out of her back end. It made a small puddle. It was clear. What is this and do I need to worry about it?

I will try to post pictures of her tomorrow. She is so gentle and I am in love with her.

 

[WildRoseBeef]

Howdy Ya'll. I had been on the look out for a nurse cow for quite a while, well yesterday I bought a Jersey nurse cow from the auction barn. She is older and I feel like I got a pretty good deal on her. She came with 4 calves. She is not in the best of shape and I am now wondering if she was sold because she was someone elses problem. I have a couple questions about her that some of ya'll may know answers to.....
1. She has been coughing quite a bit since I got her home. We gave her a shot of Pencillin yesterday. Is there any thing else she needs?

Maybe...some Nuflor or something to help her help with the respiratory illness she's contracted somewhere along the way, most likely in the salebarn

2. She is quite skinny. We took one calf off already and may take more off if needed. We bought her a good sweet feed, oats, and good hay. She has good grass as well. Is there anything else we can do to help her gain weight?

Sounds like your on the right track. Maybe add some loose mineral mix and sume cubes too to her diet.

3. Today when she was laying down, I noticed that she had a gooey discharge coming out of her back end. It made a small puddle. It was clear. What is this and do I need to worry about it?

I will try to post pictures of her tomorrow. She is so gentle and I am in love with her.

Good luck with her.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

Howdy Ya'll. I had been on the look out for a nurse cow for quite a while, well yesterday I bought a Jersey nurse cow from the auction barn. She is older and I feel like I got a pretty good deal on her. She came with 4 calves. She is not in the best of shape and I am now wondering if she was sold because she was someone elses problem. I have a couple questions about her that some of ya'll may know answers to.....
1. She has been coughing quite a bit since I got her home. We gave her a shot of Pencillin yesterday. Is there any thing else she needs?Sounds like pneumonia or some other resportory infection. Penicillan won't help. You need a product such as LA200, Excenel, Naxcel, Tylan 200, or Terimyican crumbles.
2. She is quite skinny. We took one calf off already and may take more off if needed. We bought her a good sweet feed, oats, and good hay. She has good grass as well. Is there anything else we can do to help her gain weight?IMHO-4 calves is way too many for one cow to nurse and that is at least part of why she is so skinny. Take her down to 1 or 2 calves. Feed a good grain. Give freechoice mineral make sure she is getting vitamins and feed a good probiotic to help get her system on track. A probiotic is something like probios or live culture yogurt.
3. Today when she was laying down, I noticed that she had a gooey discharge coming out of her back end. It made a small puddle. It was clear. What is this and do I need to worry about it?With her being run down, I'm surprised by this. It sounds like she is in heat. I'm not sure I would have her bred this time around though. Take the next few weeks to build her up and then have her bred. Less chances of her settling where she is run down.

I will try to post pictures of her tomorrow. She is so gentle and I am in love with her.

 

[PoultryScienceAggie]

Oh my! I thought that meant that she was in heat! Well she is penned away from the other cows and bull. We aren't planning on breeding her until she is looking better than she is...I was thinking June. I will take another calf off of her today and start bottling it. Thanks for such great advice. Pictures to come later.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

You're welcome. Once you get the calves settled away from her and used to you being their feeder then you could pail train them. It will be easier on you.

 

[WildRoseBeef]

Tylan 200 can't be used on lactating dairy cattle, since this Jersey is lactating.

http://www.americanlivestock.com/pc-1359-123-tylan-200-injectable.aspx

And what the heck are Terimyican crumbles??

I just did some research and apparently, PoultryScienceAggie, don't use Nuflor either on the Jersey.(sorry for the misinfo). The best ones that are more safer to use are LA200, Excenel or Naxcel.

Kitty gave some more great advice.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

Since she is lactating only to feed calves it would be okay. There is no established milk withholding time on them so that is why they say non-lactating dairy cows. Note how there is no such concern with the beef cattle.

 

[Imissmygirls]

I am questioning why she "came with" 4 calves? Are they all Jerseys? Is this how they *dispose of" worthless Jersey bulls by sending them with a cow?

I would suspect she may have a uterine infection or a hard birth or even a expelled uterus that never healed.--- or the aforementioned Johnne's.

I would never ever buy a dairy cow from a general sale barn UNLESS I knew the farmer that sent her and why she was sent.
A dairy sale barn is something different since those animals are expected to be good salable producers and often come with registration papers or ID's from the owners. But you aren't paying meat auction prices either!
When we bought new born calves at the general sale barn we always looked them over carefully- close up first and got them out of there immediately. Occasionally while in the office paying for it,we could find out who had been the previous owner .
It is always preferable to buy direct, even if you have to stop in cold and ask a farmer if he has available the type of animal you have in mind.
When I posted that DD MReit had visited the local auction, I neglected to say that afterward she had stopped in at a local farm where she had often admired the beef animals in the field. She didn't know the farmer, who turned out to be an elderly gentleman and quite willing to talk business. She told him what she was looking for and he told her WHEN he would have something available. She will go back there. Not sure what the cost will be but most farmers are honest businessmen. There aren't many farmers out there and everyone knows everyone else so word gets around if something isn't kosher.
Bottom line: do your homework.

oh... and next time your college buddies are having a beer... give her some. It's good for her. Skanky beer too!

 

[Farmer Kitty]

How are they doing today?

 

[Farmer Kitty]

PSA, how are your cow and calves doing?