New Calves

Well , it is that time of the year. The cows are having calves . We have had 4 cows freshen ( have a calf ) . Out of those 4 they had 3 bulls and 1 heifer . Since September we have had all bulls and no heifers. And of course heifers are what you want . You sure can't milk a bull ! But when the cows freshen they sometimes have problems. Like milk fever . We had a cow last week with that . It is a calcium defiency . They go down and can't get up. They are too weak. We had the vet here 3 times for that cow. Luckily she got up and has stayed up. But we have to still give her pills . My husband has to climb in the stall with the cow . And get a halter on her and then I help give her the pills ( they measure about 3 " long ) . Then this morning we had to get the vet here again. We had a different cow get mastitis . The quarter where the mastitis is will swell and the milk gets clots . And of course you have to treat the quarter . You have to throw all her milk away . And right now with the milk prices we need every ounce we have . We can't put her milk back in the milk tank til it passes a test . The test shows if there are antibiotics in the milk . There are very strict rules for antibiotic milk .
Also last night the one water cup in our extension barn broke. We got done milking about 8:00 p.m. My husband had to tear the water cup apart to get it fixed. He got done about 9:00p.m. So it was a late night for us. We don't have any more cows due til the end of April . But Lexi , our grandaughter was all excited about finally getting a heifer . She thinks she will name it " Annabelle " . She climbs in the pen and pets it and helps feed it with the big bottle. She is definitely a little dairy farmer .