While we are excited about every calf born on the ranch– the birth of our first Jersey calf has been highly anticipated since purchasing Shelby’s Milk Cow in December. She was AI’d to a Jersey bull, and we were really hoping for a heifer. Since we raise angus cattle, the future breeding of our Jersey will most likely be to one of our angus bulls, so this was our best chance at a pure bred replacement milk cow. Little did we know the roller coaster ride our little mama cow, Sassy, would take us on! Hopefully our experience will help you prepare for the possibility of milk fever, and to encourage anyone else hoping for a heifer that late calves don’t always mean bulls 🙂
Sassy’s due date was June 2, and as the time got closer, our anticipation rose. We read up on preventing milk fever, and I studied up the notes I’d taken from Sue when we bought Sassy. Double checked to make sure everything was ready for our new arrival, and tried our best to be patient. June 2 came and went and Sass didn’t even look close to labor. The later she got, the more people were telling us that we were sure to have a bull, because they are most often late, but we were still hanging on to the hope of a heifer.
Finally, on the afternoon of June 12, Sass seemed a little different. She had been laying down quite a bit, but usually if you approached her, she would stand right up. This time, she didn’t budge. Her breathing seemed heavier than normal, but there weren’t really any other signs. I took a short video of her and texted it to Brad, the expert, to get his opinion, but he was out of cell range and never answered. I didn’t want to get Shelby too excited and get her hopes up for nothing, so I just kept an eye on things from a distance.
When I looked again, Sass was up on her feet, and I could see that her water had broke and there was a big red bubble hanging from her back end. I got Shelby and grabbed the camera. Brad stopped by on his way to a meeting, and reminded me to leave Sass alone and let her do her thing- he knew there were 10 days of extra excitement bottled up in me 😉 She stayed in the back corner of her little pasture, and we watched from a distance. Not too much longer there was a super cute little orange body awkwardly trying to stand next to her. Such a cute baby!! But, still, we couldn’t tell- bull or heifer? Shelby and Chase crept close enough to see and we were so excited to find that Sass had produced another heifer!! Everything was just as we’d hoped and baby was nursing good, so we left mom and baby alone and went swimming.
That night, Sass and baby were laying down resting in the back of the pasture and Shelby hauled some water back to Sass, which she readily drank. We wondered if everything was okay, but I figured a gal needs a lot of rest after having a baby, so we let them be for the night. Brad got home really late, so we left the girls alone til morning.
I was worried to find Sassy still laying down in the back of the pasture in the morning. Brad headed out to check on her while I ran Paige to town for volleyball camp. I came back to see Brad and Shelby out with Sassy. She was looking bad, lying flat on her side and barely alive. I couldn’t believe she could be so sick so fast! It was terrible!
There are a few ways to treat a cow down with milk fever, the fastest being an IV of CMPK (a calcium/magnesium mixture) straight to the jugular. This is also the most risky, but Brad had done it on some of our angus cows in the past with mostly good results. Being Sass was Shelby’s precious milk cow, and obviously much more touchy than angus, we were a little nervous. The vet was unavailable til the end of the week, though, and there was no time to waste, so Brad had started the IV, with Shelby helping. Every time he has done this with an angus cow, she has been up on her feet, full of spunk by the time he gets the full bottle in her system- but not Sassy. She kinda perked up, but didn’t change much. She was lying flat on her side, so we rocked her into an upright position and scooted her baby towards her and were encouraged when she started mooing and munching some of the alfalfa we had brought to her. We kept plenty of hay and water available for her, and watched close hoping for signs of improvement. After a lot of nudging from her baby, she ended up getting up and walking around, coming into the corral for a drink, and we hoped the worst was over.
The next morning, though, she was down again. I stopped in to ask our vet for advice, and he recommended another round of CMPK- but this time, he said, we had to go real slow and track her pulse, or we’d stop her heart. He said we could also give her the dosage in her paunch, which although easier, was not something we’d ever done- so there was plenty to be nervous about! But something needed to be done for Sass! Brad is such a champ, and we worked together to very slowly give her another dose of CMPK, plus a round of glucose, which the vet recommended to get her blood sugar back up. Brad gave her a round in the paunch, but also went with the IV again, and fortunately, Sass handled it well. By the time we got it all in her, she jumped up like we’d hoped she’d do the first time and walked away with her baby in tow.
All this time, the little calf was doing great! While Sassy had worked hard delivering her baby, it seemed that her baby then worked hard keeping Sassy interested in staying alive. We kept such a close eye on Sassy after that, and very slowly she has gotten back to normal and we eased into milking her, and she has even accepted another baby- one of the bum calves from the ranch. In cases of milk fever, it is really up to the cow’s body to adjust to the demand and while we have gone back and forth on how this could have been prevented, it seems that we really lucked out to save Sassy and I’m not sure we could have done much different, except maybe treating Sassy that first night. We thought maybe having provided her with more alfalfa leading up to birth would have helped, but some say that trains their body to rely on the hay for calcium and magnesium and not produce it themselves. Though Sassy had never come down with milk fever like that, at 6 years old, she was at the prime age for it. Also, with being in a new place, it seems her body has taken longer to adjust to a different setting.
After another mysterious sickness awhile after the milk fever, we have turned Sassy back out on the lush creek bottom grass during the day, and added a protein tub to her diet. We had thought that having plenty of feed and mineral available would be enough, but it seems the extra protein is really making a difference. I had intentions of keeping Sassy’s diet so pure and homegrown, but am finding that the best thing to do is keep things exactly the way they have always been for Sassy.
She is now doing great and has really proved to be a great mother, and her baby, who Shelby named, Shiloh, is proving to be such a fun and spunky addition to Shelby’s little herd! We are so thankful to be on the other side of this tough experience, and next time instead of watching for milk fever- we will plan on it- then hopefully we can stop any problems before they get so bad.
I hope that you never have to experience milk fever, but if you do, maybe some part of our experience can help.
It has been so rewarding, watching Shelby with her crew- she has become the go-to gal for caring for bum calves on the ranch, who for whatever reason have no moms. The extra milk from Sassy, combined with the love of a 15 year old have been like magic to a great little bunch of otherwise orphaned babies 🙂
What an experience. Glad everyone is OK. Kudos to Shelby and all for saving the day and gaining the knowledge. Sending you the best from CA and wishing we were on the ranch!
Thanks for your kind words, Billy and Janet! We sure missed seeing you this year! Hope all is well, and hopefully we can get you back out soon 🙂