| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| NellieBelle |
Posted - Nov 27 2022 : 2:15:08 PM
MaryJane, did you ever find Samson or any of your bulls aggressive?
And did you have special fencing for them?
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| 11 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| NellieBelle |
Posted - Dec 23 2022 : 07:03:08 AM
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| NellieBelle |
Posted - Dec 23 2022 : 06:59:56 AM
-8 not counting windchill again this morning. Sun dog and sun rainbow, caught a picture after chores. Agustus didn't last but a little over a week. The vets had me give him Nuflor and two bolus, but I think the Nuflor did him in. He couldn't stand after that. Sad time. First calf I've ever lost to scours. Thanks for the recipe MaryJane. I did look it up here on the chatroom earlier, but it was too late for little Gus. The men who dig for the cemetery came and buried him for us. Heartbroken. Peaches is doing great and we have milk and cream once again. All the cows that have been AI'd appear to have taken so now we will wait and see how the summer goes if God's willing. We just want to get through this cold snap for now. Next week back in the 40's. |
| maryjane |
Posted - Dec 23 2022 : 02:50:42 AM
Here's the recipe for scours. I keep both the brandy and kaopectate on hand. It works kind of miraculously. I usually only have to administer it once.
https://heritagejersey.org/chatroom/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=27028
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| maryjane |
Posted - Dec 23 2022 : 02:46:50 AM
I hear you about the cold. We hit -20 night before last. It created a ton of work because we've also been without electricity for several long stretches, one of them 14 hours and the other 16 hours. You can't keep pipes from freezing when you don't have heat or running water. Fortunately, they make an indoor propane heater now so I bought the last three available in town and they helped. Today, we're supposed to get relief from the cold so I will attempt to turn the water back on in the milking parlor at least with fingers crossed that I don't witness a geyser.
For scours, I've had 100% immediate success giving my calves a mixture of blackberry brandy and kaopectate. I'll find the recipe for you if you're interested in trying it. Happy to hear Peaches is being peachy keen about coming into your parlor! Congrats on a new cow, knock knees and all:) |
| NellieBelle |
Posted - Dec 22 2022 : 03:56:54 AM
-8 degrees and that's without the windchill. Horrid and bitter. The main focus here for the next few days will be trying to keep the animals as comfortable as possible. May you all be safe. |
| NellieBelle |
Posted - Dec 06 2022 : 07:09:56 AM
Good morning!  Weather is still pretty mild. Cold nights and warmer 40-50's throughout the day. Things are running more smoothly. Peaches has finally decided to trust me and comes into the milk parlor stanchion on her own. Whew! Sure is nice when they get the hang of things. All new to her so quite understandable. Little guy (Augustus) is having some scour, so he's on electrolytes for a couple of days, but should come around. With the trip and milk different from his mothers, it's just one big transition phase here. Just an update on the newbies.
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| NellieBelle |
Posted - Dec 02 2022 : 07:58:06 AM
New to us. This is Peaches PP. She calved with her first calf 5-23-22 and is due back with her second 5-18-23. Bred to Verjatin Averell-P. She is JNS carrier but unless she gets bred to a bull that is also a carrier, it will never be an issue.  She is quite knocked kneed, toe out on front legs.  I traded her for two of my AI'd heifers, (don't know if they took or not.) Anyway, I wanted milk because none of my gals are due to calve until next Aug-Sept. so wanted milk desperately. Also have a new bull calf that I'm bottle feeding off of Peaches milk.  I named little guy Augustus, Gus for short.  Things are going but not as smoothly as I would like. Given time and patience and TLC I think things will be okay. Time will tell. Never a dull moment. |
| NellieBelle |
Posted - Nov 29 2022 : 07:50:25 AM
I will have to get my Temple Grandin books out again and do a refresh. I may just be smart to stick with AI. We will see how things develop. We're not likely to get results as good as you did with Samson.
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| maryjane |
Posted - Nov 29 2022 : 07:14:58 AM
What I loved about Samson was how gentle and loving he was with a smaller steer I put in with him as a companion. I tried that with another bull I had afterward thinking he'd father the steer, but instead he bullied and mounted him. Samson never once mounted the steer he was with. Their relationship was very sweet. |
| NellieBelle |
Posted - Nov 29 2022 : 01:58:11 AM
Thank you MaryJane for the information. Yes, I remember Samson, matter of fact I just used some of the semen I got from you to AI one of the gals. I may raise a bull, but it depends on the testing. If it doesn't work out then he will be freezer bound but if it does work out, then new fencing and gates will be in order. This is one of the tougher decisions.
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| maryjane |
Posted - Nov 28 2022 : 6:41:12 PM
Good question Janet. I considered all my bulls aggressive if given the opportunity. And unpredictable. The most aggressive one (he went out of his way to be aggressive) was the one Nick handled and scratched and played with when the bull was young. People were familiar to him so when he felt like paying attention to his hormones (like he's supposed to), he targeted humans, rather than just showing off for the girls or marking his territory against other bulls. You've seen the wildlife videos online of male elk in rut, mountain goats, etc. That primal, innate behavior is not something a human should think they can fix.
I will say that my bulls were well-mannered with a healthy respect for me and likewise, me for them. An example would be when I took Samson to a facility to collect his sperm and left him there for a month. They said he was their "dream bull." In other words, they always had metal in between them and Samson but Samson "behaved himself" by adapting to their routine and "doing what he was told" (mount a pretend cow and give them semen over and over again). I think what happens often with people who are scared of their aggression is to prod them, poke them, and in general mistreat them. I never, ever mistreated my bulls. We both kept our distance and that was that.
Yes, I had an elaborate series of gates they went through whenever I needed to load them into the trailer. I always took my bulls to the vet at WSU for vaccines and hoof trims because they had a series of chutes and gates that provided protection should one of them get confused and come after a human. Their mass is to be respected. When I put my girls in with a bull, I'd outfit her with a good fitting halter and turn her loose. When I went the next day to retrieve her, I'd finagle separating them using grain and gates so I could put a lead rope on her and lead her away.
Speaking of male aggression coming from out of the blue. Last fall, one of my employees was maybe 50 feet away from our compound, on our prairie, working on some brush removal. It was a sunny beautiful, fall morning. Along came a bull moose, just sauntering along. She saw him from quite a distance and thought nothing of it. He kept walking toward her, not running or anything but at some point she decided to exit and vamoose for a nearby shed. We all heard the commotion as Mr. Moose completely trashed her wheelbarrow with its feet. It bent the metal handle and pounded in the sides of it. He had quite a field day with it and it was way beyond repair. Since then, we all carry really good bear spray. And we never trust a male moose. |
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