Milk Cows

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So I did have to work last night, but actually went in at 3pm in thinking of getting off by 11pm in hopes of being able to home at a descent hour and a few hours sleep and IF that were to actually happen, kinda hoped to be able to go today, but even with well intentions, it did not happen the way I wanted. I ended up working an additional 3 1/2 hours on what I needed to get done and then both our 11 pm and 12 am persons did not show up. . . . I didnt get out of bed till 11 am and it was too late in the day by then. Did end up going to the fabric store though. I am going to be making oldest granddaughter some princess dress up cloths for her up coming birthday and since we were in town hunny needed to make a home improvement store run and we needed to go find first birthday presents for the two youngest granddaughters.
 
Well she is finally home!
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Right now I am leaning towards Clara Belle. When we got to the dairy, he had 2 to chose from. One the 2 week old and then this one that was 6 weeks old. I felt that the 6 week old could handle the stress of being moved a little better than the younger and this one seemed to have warmed up to me pretty fast. She was sniffing and licking me from the get go. A large goat halter ended up being a perfect fit for her and we tied her into the back of the truck. We had put the headache rack on the back and also some boards to hold her in and not fall out. Lose enough that she could lay down if she wanted to and we also put some fresh hay down for her to lay on and she did end up eating some on the way home too. She calmed down rather quickly and was basically up and down on the 150 miles home.
Once here, I put her in a smaller pen I use as my sick barn. I wanted her in a contained area where she and I can bond and she gets down the bottle feeding first. I spent the first hour and a half out with her and after a lot of coaxing she downed 2 quarts of milk replacer. I did end up putting my goat Sissy over with her so she doesn't get to lonely when I'm not out there, but in all honesty Sissy didn't seem impressed.:)
Next milk feeding should be at 5 AM but she also has hay out there to eat on and fresh water to drink. I just needed to come inside to eat since I hadn't yet today. . . . I was getting a headache so that had to get taken care of. I'll be heading back out soon.
 
Danil54grl said:
Right now I am leaning towards Clara Belle. When we got to the dairy, he had 2 to chose from. One the 2 week old and then this one that was 6 weeks old. I felt that the 6 week old could handle the stress of being moved a little better than the younger and this one seemed to have warmed up to me pretty fast. She was sniffing and licking me from the get go. A large goat halter ended up being a perfect fit for her and we tied her into the back of the truck. We had put the headache rack on the back and also some boards to hold her in and not fall out. Lose enough that she could lay down if she wanted to and we also put some fresh hay down for her to lay on and she did end up eating some on the way home too. She calmed down rather quickly and was basically up and down on the 150 miles home.
Once here, I put her in a smaller pen I use as my sick barn. I wanted her in a contained area where she and I can bond and she gets down the bottle feeding first. I spent the first hour and a half out with her and after a lot of coaxing she downed 2 quarts of milk replacer. I did end up putting my goat Sissy over with her so she doesn't get to lonely when I'm not out there, but in all honesty Sissy didn't seem impressed.:)
Next milk feeding should be at 5 AM but she also has hay out there to eat on and fresh water to drink. I just needed to come inside to eat since I hadn't yet today. . . . I was getting a headache so that had to get taken care of. I'll be heading back out soon.
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She is perfect Dani! How young can calves eat hay? Will you bottle feed her for a long time? Glad you are getting something to eat. You’ve got to be tired and hungry!
 
We have had them start nibbling grass and hay after just before or after 3 weeks. I will be bottle feeding her at least 2 month. It all depends on her. Our beef cow Big Mom will let her calf still suck on her at a year old. . . She learned how to be a momma from my Jersey and they tend to be great mommas. . . Sometimes even too well and try stealing other calves to nurse.
 
Since Clara Belle was basically tied today on the way home, I am not really going to start halter breaking and leading again until tomorrow except I did put the halter back on tonight just so she gets used to it. Tomorrow I will put it back on and then tie it off for a few hours. I want her to learn that if the lead is on she can not break away from it. I would rather her fight a post instead of me. I want her to have good experiences with me.
Rellgar said:
Aww we, what a pretty. Steak!
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She is my soon to be milk cow. She will be working for her pay eventually. Lord knows I have enough beef on the hoof running around here already.
 
As I said, Sissy was not impressed at all and when I went back out after I had dinner Sissy had actually jumped the fence and when I saw she wasnt there called her name. She answered back. . . .was standing by the front goat pasture. . . Well that didn't work out so well :D So Clara Belle is by herself tonight. The mosquitoes finally ran me off.
 
Danil54grl said:
We have had them start nibbling grass and hay after just before or after 3 weeks. I will be bottle feeding her at least 2 month. It all depends on her. Our beef cow Big Mom will let her calf still suck on her at a year old. . . She learned how to be a momma from my Jersey and they tend to be great mommas. . . Sometimes even too well and try stealing other calves to nurse.
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Forgot to say Clara Belle is a lovely and fitting name for her! It seems in every type of animal, including humans, there are good mammas and then the not so good ones.
 
I went out to give Clara her bottle this morning at 5 am. Around 8 am I put her halter back on with the lead. I ended up working with her instead of just tying her off. She didn't fight too much so thought I would go ahead and start training. 8 am was just in her small pen, which she did ok. She is young and wants to play, but I also want her to know I am in control when that halter goes on, By her next bottle feeding time at 11am, I put the halter and lead on to walk her out to the golf cart to get fed and back in her pen. I am trying out small and increasing each time. A little after that 11 o'clock feeding, hunny wanted in her pen to cut down some brush so I led her outside since I knew she would not like it when the weed wacker started up. I led her around the big garden to see the goats on the other side. They all sniffed and checked each other out. And then back to her pen. I am trying out the "Whoa" and "Come on" with her, which she is doing ok with right now. When she gets too fast, I tell her whoa and pull on her lead. When she stops to sniff around I will give her a slight tug and tell her come on with a little pat on her backside with my hand. This seemed to work out ok for us considering this is just the first day. I did learn that my dog Maggie has to be in the house while I am trying to work with Clara though. Poor baby ended up doing a somersault. .

I will be working tonight so came in for a shower and try to take a nap before 5 pm feeding. No more going into work early for awhile but feeding at 5am it should work out good.
 
It wont be long before she out grows the large goat halter. Hunny went to work with his buddy today and when he came home I greeted him and he started to tell me about his day when I spotted a new blue halter in his hand. . . . I got excited! It is adjustable for her nose and head. She has already shown progress with the halter and lead breaking today. I left the lead on her but only while I was out supervising. I am probably being over protective but I would honestly worry too much if I couldn't see her with it on. Yesterday I woke up at 3:30am knowing she needed her bottle at 5. After working last night I got off by 2:30 but stayed up since she needed her bottle. After she was fed I did get a few hours sleep but wide awake by 10 am knowing she needed her bottle by 11. . . I was expecting to go into work tonight expecting a couple trucks, but only a few items came in from the warehouse. So instead of trying to take a nap today, I ended up staying up so I could sleep tonight. Tomorrow I have a grand baby turning 2 and her party is 2 hours away. So tomorrow I will be able to do the first 2 feedings, go to the party with 4 grand babies and then come home for a late feeding, clean up and off to work until I can't go anymore. I already told boss lady's assistant I will work until I can't go anymore since my truck didn't show up today. I am scheduled 2 days a week and then go in for a truck but I already had these plans. I can't help if the truck is behind schedule. I'll get the majority done though and go back in on my scheduled day the day after to finish up what I cant get done. And then try to stay up for the next 5 am feeding.
 
Danil54grl said:
It wont be long before she out grows the large goat halter. Hunny went to work with his buddy today and when he came home I greeted him and he started to tell me about his day when I spotted a new blue halter in his hand. . . . I got excited! It is adjustable for her nose and head. She has already shown progress with the halter and lead breaking today. I left the lead on her but only while I was out supervising. I am probably being over protective but I would honestly worry too much if I couldn't see her with it on. Yesterday I woke up at 3:30am knowing she needed her bottle at 5. After working last night I got off by 2:30 but stayed up since she needed her bottle. After she was fed I did get a few hours sleep but wide awake by 10 am knowing she needed her bottle by 11. . . I was expecting to go into work tonight expecting a couple trucks, but only a few items came in from the warehouse. So instead of trying to take a nap today, I ended up staying up so I could sleep tonight. Tomorrow I have a grand baby turning 2 and her party is 2 hours away. So tomorrow I will be able to do the first 2 feedings, go to the party with 4 grand babies and then come home for a late feeding, clean up and off to work until I can't go anymore. I already told boss lady's assistant I will work until I can't go anymore since my truck didn't show up today. I am scheduled 2 days a week and then go in for a truck but I already had these plans. I can't help if the truck is behind schedule. I'll get the majority done though and go back in on my scheduled day the day after to finish up what I cant get done. And then try to stay up for the next 5 am feeding.
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Luv hearing your stories of Belle! A blue halter sounds cool. Enjoy those grand babies today!
 
I've been working with her everyday and she had made great progress. This morning she walked and didn't try to run so didn't even have to say whoa at all. She stops when I stop. I did have to tell her come on a couple times when I led her by my dog Buddy. She kept her eyes on him and wanted to slow down and sniff at him. This morning we stayed in her small area, but this afternoon I will try her out around the garden.
 
Danil54grl said:
I've been working with her everyday and she had made great progress. This morning she walked and didn't try to run so didn't even have to say whoa at all. She stops when I stop. I did have to tell her come on a couple times when I led her by my dog Buddy. She kept her eyes on him and wanted to slow down and sniff at him. This morning we stayed in her small area, but this afternoon I will try her out around the garden.
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You are making such great progress! Not surprised she is a bit leery of the dog.
 
After Mid Morning feeding I worked with ClaraBelle out in her little area which she did try to struggle with me today, but yet when I dropped the lead, she still wanted to follow me around. Later this afternoon I put the lead back on and took her around the garden area. I dont do this everyday, but should. On days I work, I normally only work with her in her little pen. Since I am only off two days a week now it's not enough I am afraid. When I took her out today she was very excited. . . Wanted to run and had to say "whoa" many times.
I did end up taking her halter off this evening. It was just getting way to tight and the next halter I could find locally is for a horse that weighs around 100lbs so she needs to grow into it. I will put it on in the morning though. Just thought she would like to have it off for awhile. I scratched all under her chin and neck which she loves putting her head on my knee at first then worked her way up to my shoulder.
 
Danil54grl said:
After Mid Morning feeding I worked with ClaraBelle out in her little area which she did try to struggle with me today, but yet when I dropped the lead, she still wanted to follow me around. Later this afternoon I put the lead back on and took her around the garden area. I dont do this everyday, but should. On days I work, I normally only work with her in her little pen. Since I am only off two days a week now it's not enough I am afraid. When I took her out today she was very excited. . . Wanted to run and had to say "whoa" many times.
I did end up taking her halter off this evening. It was just getting way to tight and the next halter I could find locally is for a horse that weighs around 100lbs so she needs to grow into it. I will put it on in the morning though. Just thought she would like to have it off for awhile. I scratched all under her chin and neck which she loves putting her head on my knee at first then worked her way up to my shoulder.
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Sounds like you and Clara Belle are bonding well! About how much does she weigh? Is it okay to let her have run and fun time or does she need to learn to follow you first?
 
She is probably around 75 lbs right now. The little area I have her in right now allows her to do some running and playing. Hunny talked about putting his little calf that was born at the end of May in with her. Good luck with that. . . She is a wild one. I don't want Clara Belle learning any had habits from her. Once she gets a little better trained, I will put her in with my goats. Afraid that the yard where we do our longer walks is just too big of an area to let her run right now. It's connected to the front and backyard along with the lane going down to the big pasture.
 
Well she out grew her halter and there have been some days I wasn't able to work her. Saturday before we went to youngest granddaughters birthday party we made a stop over at Tractor Supply so I could get her a poly rope type. It fits well but the only ones I could find was one that you clip onto something instead of having a lead type. But it works. She really doesn't fight it much at all. I was worried she had forgotten since it had been a few days, but she followed me around with no problems so yay!!
 
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