[chickens]

Hi
We have a jersey cow, we bought her when she was in calf last june, we have been milking her ever since.  She is fed luzerne, grass, hay and mangels we had the vet out and tests were down, she had a mega infestation of worms (apparantly she must have had them when she came to us because they only happen in may june time and the vet said for the amount she had over 12000 compared to 500!) We have treated her with l'eprimax which is a powder but she still seems painfully thin.  Any suggestions please?  The vet did a blood test and faeces test (which is what showed up the worms).

Thanks

Chickens

[Rosemary]

A hug?

I assume she calved in June when you bought her? If you stop milking her, she'll be able to put some weight on instead of converting food into milk. A year seems a long time to be milking without a break - most dairy cows woudl be dried off after 9 months or so and have three months dry before calving again. All good milk cows will "milk off their backs" ie convert body reserves into milk at peak lactation because they can't eat enough to make the amount of milk they are producing but they have to have a chance to put on the condition in the first place.

[Roxy]

I agree with Rosemary - the cow needs to put weight back on, and she won't do that without stopping milking. 

Having a bad worm infestation will take some getting over, and it will not happen overnight, her body needs to recover.  Perhaps you could feed her some cattle feed alongside good quality hay, lucerne etc.  I do think if you stop milking her, her conditon will improve.

Do you know what age the cow is?  If she is an older cow, and has been feeding a calf, that will pull her conditon down too.

[smithy1949]

Hello,

I concur with Rosemary & Roxy. The poor girl needs a rest and some extra feeding to get condition back.

Good luck.

Tony

[chickens]

Thank you all for your replies.  We asked the vet about milking her and he said that we did not need to stop as it would not make a difference but that the worm infestation was terrible when we brought her.  Now we dont know what to do.

[Roxy]

I hope you don't think we are all ganging up on you saying you should stop milking her, did not mean it to sound like that.  But I still think it will help her condition.  She will put her energies into getting body conditon instead of making milk.  The grass will be losing its goodness soon, so its unlikely she will put on weight without some help ......

Just a thought - have you had a blood test done?  She could be lacking in some vits and minerals. Does she have access to a mineral bucket or something.

[chickens]

No not at all Roxy I really appreciate everyones advice and help.  She had a blood test but nothing showed up.  She has a mineral bucket.  Perhaps we better stop milking her then I just dont know, only in the books I have read as well people milk their cows for up to two years, we were hoping to do the same.  We dont even know what she is like normally could she just be naturally thin ?   

If we stop milking her any advice on how to do this wouldn't want to make her poorly and could we freeze the milk for later use?  Its strange though because she gives us normally around 5 litres per day but in the last week she has been giving 7 litres.

[Roxy]

Jersey cows never look the fattest of cows to me - my neighbour calved his every year.  I was very upset when he sold the farm, as he had a sale, and  put the cow in the auction - she was 20!!  Anyway, someone paid £200 for her, maybe to rescue her .....she was never fat, and as she got older went very thin, but like yours, she carried on calving and milking.

How old is she?  If she is getting on in years, her teeth may be getting very worn, she may not be utilising her feed in the best way, especially after having a bad dose of worms, and maybe nothing is going to change her.  If she is eating ok, and bright enough, maybe being thin is just how she is.

I can understand you want to have the milk from her, but if she milked for two years, you would be getting a lot less milk every day.  One of my goats milked for two years though, but not as much in the second year.

[Rosemary]

I think your vet's talking total mince. Get hold of a text book like Colin Whittemore's "Lactation of the dairy cow" (if it's still in print - it was the standard text when I was at agricultural college) - it will explain how a dairy cow works. She has to maintain her bodily functions, plus feed a gut load of worms and fill a bucket with milk - no wonder the poor thing is thin.

Old cows do get thinner. It could be a dental problem but presumably your vet has checked that.

I've never heard of a cow milking for two years after calving.

If you just stop milking her she'll dry off. Some farmers put an antibiotic up each teat to prevent mastitis, so check with your vet. If she's run down, she might need some tlc.

[welshboy]

Assuming she calved last june (08) you have milked her off grass for the (08) summer which is ok if it is good quality but from about the end sept onwards grass alone even if supplemented with hay/mangels is really only a basic maintenance food intake. To continue to produce milk she should have had some supplementary feeding- a daily guideline would be about 2 kilos of cow cake for each 5 litres of milk. If she has not been getting this she would milk off her back becoming thin. In the spring April May the grass would give more sustenance than maintenance only say maintenance +15/20 litres but she would only be recovering slowly from a hard winters work hence the slight increase in yield. I would try feeding a supplement (cow cake ) for a while say 3 kilos daily to see how she gets on.
I would not dry her off during July/August as this is the worst period for mastitis and summer garget as it is called locally is particularly bad news. If you do decide to dry her off I would wait until after September.