Cow nurse

Brandy is on the mend, but two udders are still stuffed. I have been nursing her for the past few days, massaging her udder, milking out the two udders which are working and giving her injections of antibiotics. The vet came and gave her some anti-inflammatory, a diuretic and some more antibiotics. He said she didn't have a fever which he found amazing. Also, he said the calf was doing fine.

I now know I should have got in and milked her within 12 hours of her giving birth, especially because the calf was not latching on properly. The vet said she was over-sprung- meaning, she produced a massive amount of milk quickly. She was bunged up with milk within 24 hours of giving birth.

I have Brandy and the calf in a paddock next to the house block. Rosie is missing her and keeps bellowing out. Despite the abysmal failure of the house cow, I have not given up on the dream of one day milking our own cow, making cheeses and developing milk-maid arms. I now plan to double my chances. I will have Rosie, now 18 months, and Brandy artificially inseminated in about 5-6 weeks time. Brandy will be at her most fertile 30 to 60 days after giving birth.

There is some chance we will get milk from this cycle. Once the withholding period from the antibiotics is over in two weeks, I will take the calf off over night to see what I can get from a morning milk. Also, my neighbor, Hairy, said they had a cow that dried up from mastitis, but came back on with milk after it was cleared up and the calf was put back on.