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T O P I C R E V I E W
CloversMum	Posted - Mar 08 2014 : 8:24:54 PM Since Clover will be our family milk cow when she's grown and safety is a priority, we always knew that we wanted her dehorned. Clover required two surgeries after being born and subsequent complications. So during her second surgery (and less serious one) our vet went ahead and dehorned Clover. I thought that was kind of our vet to suggest it and for Clover so she never had any discomfort!
23 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First)
CloversMum	Posted - Jun 16 2014 : 10:29:32 PM Miss Daisy sounds like a good mama. I hope Clover will be a good mama when the time comes.
maryjane	Posted - Jun 12 2014 : 10:09:53 PM In a month or so, the hair will grow over them and you won't even be able to see where they were. Miss Daisy licked not only his head wounds but his entire body for two days. He also received some immunizations so I had to watch for diarrhea and/or lethargy but he had neither. Things are back to normal now. The rest of my calves that were born recently were all naturally polled. Happy about that! I'm slowly getting rid of horns in my herd.
hudsonsinaf	Posted - Jun 12 2014 : 5:32:28 PM It looks so much better!!!! I didn't realize how quickly it would heal. What is the time frame for healing? How is Momma Daisy taking it?
maryjane	Posted - Jun 12 2014 : 4:56:13 PM Update
CloversMum	Posted - Jun 09 2014 : 10:56:26 PM Ouch! Poor Beaumont! This part of farm life is one I could definitely do without...I really dislike the disbudding/dehorning time which is why I got a naturally polled buck for my goats. Half of my goat kids this spring were also naturally polled and it was wonderful to skip this little unpleasant procedure! And their heads look so much better without those burn spots. I would love to breed Clover with a polled bull this coming fall.
hudsonsinaf	Posted - Jun 09 2014 : 3:47:49 PM Give me about three more years and we will so be there!!!! And your poor baby boy!!!!! That just breaks my heart </3
maryjane	Posted - Jun 09 2014 : 3:43:26 PM I've posted the photos I took yesterday over under Bulls and Semen FOR SALE, (https://www.heritagejersey.org/chatroom/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=155) because eventually I'll be offering semen for sale, starting with Samson.
maryjane	Posted - Jun 09 2014 : 3:24:44 PM This is the reason why I'm breeding for polled cattle.
maryjane	Posted - Jun 09 2014 : 11:10:39 AM I'm heading over to fetch him right after I finish milking today. Will post after pics of his procedure.
hudsonsinaf	Posted - Jun 09 2014 : 10:38:20 AM That is seriously the sweetest thing ever!!!! How is he feeling now? Poor little fellow :(
maryjane	Posted - Jun 09 2014 : 09:43:06 AM Here's Miss Daisy and son Beaumont enjoying the AC digs at the WSU Vet Teaching Hospital. Check out their dorm mate behind them, a Holstein that is 4x Miss Daisy's size with one of those portal holes in its side so they can take out donor stomach flora and fauna and give it to sick cows. In this photo you can see Beaumont's little horn bud that will be coming off. I knew from the semen I purchased to produce him, he'd have horns that I'd have to get removed. When you take them to a vet to have it done, they numb the area first. Here's my little buddy telling me it's time for his neck rub. Pretty durn cute they way he beckons for attention. Impossible to resist giving him what he wants!
CloversMum	Posted - Jun 08 2014 : 10:35:18 PM Did you hand milk your mama cow this morning or did you haul your milking machine over? How did the little guy do with the dehorning? How long does he have to stay there? Looking forward to seeing photos of your bulls!
maryjane	Posted - Jun 08 2014 : 09:14:47 AM I'll take some photos of my bulls today and get them loaded so you can see the variety in size and body type. I don't know of anyone currently who offers semen that is polled but I hope to remedy that by driving one of my polled guys 12 hours to a facility that can certify the quality of it, immunize and test for disease, collect it, and then ship it to whomever buys it. He has to stay for 64 days. Coming soon to a website near you! P.S. I have one of my little guys (2 months old) at the WSU vet hospital this weekend getting his horns removed. He's there with his mother so I have to head over shortly to milk her at the same time I always do as if she were here at the farm. You can't not milk a cow that has adapted to producing X amount of milk for both you and her baby. That's a good way to bring on a case of mastitis.
hudsonsinaf	Posted - Jun 07 2014 : 3:18:29 PM I wonder what the purpose of the horns were/are. It would also be interesting to see if there has ever been a study done showing the likelihood of twins always having one wit horns and one without. The local goat farm nearby dehorns all of her goats so the do not hurt children (she does a lot of field trips) and so they do not get caught in fencing. I had never realized you could do the same for cows. I can definitely see the pros of doing this! I just wonder if it would be easier for us, when the time comes, to purchase one that without, genetically. When you artificially inseminate, can you request the donor to be one that also does not have any, genetically?
CloversMum	Posted - May 05 2014 : 10:23:39 PM My theory has held thus far in that I can definitely tell which goats are naturally polled and which ones will have horns within 24 hours of birth. Its been interesting as each set of twins has one of each! One twin is polled and the other has horn buds. Our last set of goat kids are due to arrive in just over a week. Then, we'll be through for the season.
CloversMum	Posted - Apr 22 2014 : 12:00:26 PM Actually, we are expecting kids any day now and I, too, am on night watch again! I just got caught up on my sleep from the last round so this is great timing. I am no longer getting up at night to feed our first set of twins as they are growing and thriving! Our pregnant goat is starting to show some signs so we are checking her every couple of hours. The waiting drives me crazy, but the delivery of new kids always is so amazing and miraculous ...well worth the wait!
maryjane	Posted - Apr 21 2014 : 07:04:58 AM Any new kids yet? I'm expecting a calf any day now. Night watch again!
CloversMum	Posted - Apr 18 2014 : 9:59:51 PM After my first twin goats were born last week, I tried to feel for their horn buds. I couldn't feel them on the first day, but I could on one little doeling on the second day. That has stayed the same...so a day or two after birth I can tell on my goats which are polled and which are not. In this case, one twin is polled and one is not. That one will be disbudded in the next couple of weeks. Our next set of goat kids are due next week so I will get to test my theory out again!
maryjane	Posted - Apr 05 2014 : 06:24:40 AM With my cattle, I haven't been able to feel horn buds at birth, let alone actually see buds for a month or so. The DNA testing I've been doing lets me know for sure. I recently paired two knowing from their DNA testing that their offspring had only a very slim chance of being polled. (Both of the adults carry the gene for horns although only one of the two actually had horns.) Guess what? Their calf is polled! I started checking for horns on her when she was about a month old and couldn't feel anything so I sent some of her tail hairs in and she came back polled. I was feeling pretty lucky that day. I should have driven into town to buy a lottery ticket!
CloversMum	Posted - Apr 04 2014 : 8:43:49 PM I can tell at birth if my goats will have horns or be polled; but, it would be nice to know if my does carry a gene for polled or not. It sounds like you cannot tell at birth if a calf will be polled or not. Is that the case?
maryjane	Posted - Mar 12 2014 : 09:26:28 AM I'm not sure about goats, but I send a hair sample pulled from under the tail of my calves and for $25, I get back a DNA report from UC Davis that tells me not only if the animal will have horns but the percentage likelihood it still carries a gene for polled. At this point, I've tested all my animals so that when I shoot cupid's arrow, I know who to put with who to select for polled and eventually get rid of horns in my herd altogether.
CloversMum	Posted - Mar 10 2014 : 9:40:02 PM I've been breeding for polled Oberhasli goats for the same reasons! And goats are so much smaller than any cow! My buck is naturally polled and is throwing about half polled and half non-polled so we'll see what happens this spring with the new batch of goat kids. With our little Jersey Clover, I think I would like to breed her (when she's old enough) to a polled Jersey.
maryjane	Posted - Mar 09 2014 : 1:12:11 PM I've been breeding for polled Jerseys (born without horns) because I'm uncomfortable around horns. I have four grand girls whose eyes are about the height of a moving horn when a cow has her head down. Also, I did have a cow here with horns and she used them to hurt the other cows, plus they can get their horns stuck in wire fencing. If I have a calf who starts to grow horns, I have the vet remove them once the calf is thoroughly numbed in that area. It's a simple procedure. Milk maids used to use a cow's horns for tying a rope to but now we have halters. I just don't see any reason to keep them.