Making Farm Calls

Dr. Tom visits our farm every 8 weeks for herd health, the cows are generally not excited about this. I am usually pumped though because I want to see who is pregnant! For us herd health is mainly to check for reproductive problems and new pregnancies, but we also use this time to ask questions about animal health and treatment plans.

The day before the veterinarian arrives we make a list of fresh cows that need to be looked over and any that have been milking more than 90 days and have not yet been confirmed bred. We also do LTP checks (late term pregnancy) to confirm that their due date is still accurate and we can move them to the dry lot.

Herd health days bring good and bad news but this is the cycle of life on a dairy farm. Cattle do not start producing milk until they deliver their first calf. They produce more milk than the calf needs so we take the excess and provide it to the population. This is our business. Cows do not milk forever, if they did my farm would be home to geriatric cows who I could never part with. Older cows like Piglet who we've had since 2008 when we started milking. She has been milking for 10 months on this lactation and is not bred, in fact we've been told for the last 6 months she will not get pregnant. And I drag my feet on selling her because she is mine. Because she is a rotten little brat who kicks me in the chest when I go to milk her the first time after she delivers. She is my brat. Will Piglet be here forever, no. Will she be here for the next herd health, maybe. At some point we will have to decide if she is costing us more than she is making and when that day comes we will sell her.

For the cows who are confirmed bred I give them an estimated due date based on how far along Dr. Tom says they are at the visit (they are pregnant for 9 months). And for the cows who are not bred we watch to make sure they are cycling normally (every three weeks) and watch for any other signs of problem. Cows only deliver once a year and in our herd are bred by a bull when their bodies are ready.

We are so thankful to our large animal veterinarian! Without him the job of caring for our animals would be very difficult. If you'd like to see more about our dairy farm you can follow along on Facebook or Instagram @ michiganfarmgirl