Our 13 year old jersey is in calf!

LaurieLovesLearning

We thought our oldest jersey (13 yrs old) was no longer taking. Ruby has been like this for years & she just always seemed to be getting increasingly overly fat. A fat jersey is like a beach/medicine ball on toothpicks.

This winter we bought better hay. Our previous hay was certainly not poor quality, but all of our animals are now obviously much healthier. This hay is more expensive (so we thought not an option due to finances), but must have more stored nutrition. It is like eating empty "food" vs. real food. They are eating less hay because they are getting what they need, so it really doesn't cost that much more. Dairy certainly needs better feed quality than beef. We knew that, but didn't realize the feed was missing that something. We suspect that quality of feed may have played a big part in Ruby's weight gain & so lack of taking.

Through late winter & early spring we still thought she was just fat. Well, as of last week, she slimmed down rather noticeably and her flat udder was/is growing quickly. We were very surprised! Her belly has a different (healthy, calf containing-type) shape as well. We suspect that she will calve in approximately a week. And to think that we were "this close" to giving her to someone as a companion for a lonely horse so that she could live out her days in bliss. We wanted to keep her, but it wouldn't work if we were to get another cow. We don't have that much pasture space. We had just been talking about getting another milker...so it was a welcome & pleasant surprise! It is much cheaper too!

Anyway, we will soon be swimming in milk as we are still getting well over a gallon a day from the current milker & this old gal will give us 3-4. When we are done milking her, it will be a very sad day, but she still is wanted for a companion for that horse. She will live out her days being spoiled.

Torey

Lucky lady! I know you are going to feel a bit overwhelmed with all that milk but it has been quite awhile since I had access to fresh milk regularly. So I am quite jealous. I thought the Cheese Making class in the recent summit was an excellent presentation and can't wait to find some fresh milk to make my own bocconcini. I might be going in on a goat share soon. Quite excited about that.

What breed is your current milker? I remember we had a Guernsey and a Jersey when I was growing up. Our Jersey was also a fantastic producer. The Guernsey only produced half as much but had so much more cream! Both getting the same feed. Mum never made any hard cheeses but lots of soft ones. And yogurt. Didn't get an ice cream maker until I was older with my own home and access to fresh milk.

JodieDownUnder

Nice story Laurie and what a cow! 13yrs is considered pensioner status in these parts! Reminds me of a fresian x cow that I reared from a calf. She had her 1st calf, a bull when she was 2yr old. She went on to have a calf every year(all heifers) until we gave her to some friends. I couldn't bear to sell her. She was 13 when we handed her over to our mates with a heifer calf at foot. She went on to have 1 more calf until a cancer eye finally beat her. A 14yr old cow and had 12 calves, bloody legend!

LaurieLovesLearning

@torey Bocconcini...the cheese where you pop the head off the bird! At least, that's how the instruction article explained it to me. 😏 When making it, it reminds me of the French children's song Alloutte, but in this case, it is only the head that is affected.

We currently have all jerseys as milkers. Rose is our current milker. Then there is Ruby (bred to milking shorthorn), and we do have an up & coming heifer from Rose, named Dixie. We also arranged just before we discovered Ruby was expecting, to buy a bred jersey heifer, Daisy, in fall (so a spring calver & bred female specific jersey).

Once Rose is done, she will take a break, and our oldest daughter may take her. When Ruby is done she will move on into retirement. Then it will be breaking in Daisy, the new one. Once Daisy is done a year later, we hope Dixie is calving.

We like to give our cows' bodies a break & not keep them continuously in calf. We also don't want to breed them really young. It gives the heifer time to mature properly and give the calf a stronger start. We would end up having 3 to cycle, considering the female specific breeding.

@jodienancarrow Exactly! That is why we were officially retiring her. She hasn't caught in years. We always hoped. She is an excellent cow, gave enormous amounts of milk with the heaviest cream, and for a jersey has big teats, but it was time for her to be pampered. She really is in good shape, though!

Yours had almost continuous heifers? Wow! That's awesome. We discussed trying to see if she would have one more calf after this, but we won't force the issue. All the more reason to hope for a heifer calf!

JodieDownUnder

Yes, just to keep her line and memory going. Every heifer calf my cow Poddly had, I kept as a breeder. They were quiet, milked well and had awesome vealer calves. They were also by a range of different bulls, so I think the female gene definitely came from her. I miss my cows, so when yours calves can you please put up a pic?

JodieDownUnder

Laurie, she meant so much to me that I was prepared for her to miss a yr or two and have a break but even when I didn't have a bull on the property she still went in calf! (Obviously neighbours bull had a midnight rendezvous ) I should have changed her name to Mary!

LaurieLovesLearning

Haha! Yes, somehow that can happen, but it sounds like it worked out well for you.

I will certainly post pictures.