Early last year, in the prime of calving season, a dear friend of mine lost her beloved dairy cow. She had just calved a beautiful Jersey bull (one of Tanks babies) and within 12 hours of calving, the cow was down with 4th stage milk fever. It took another 12 hours for the vet to get there. Within hours after that, she began to bloat. She bloated to the point that they had to stab her in the side to release the gas. Two days later sweet mama cow passed away ultimately from a infection from the stab wound, despite multiple rounds of antibiotics. To this day, almost a year later, my friend is still traumatized from the loss. She has lost all her confidence in raising a dairy cow and seconds guesses herself constantly.
When I first started with dairy animals, I didn’t have a lot to go off of. Sure I had some books and a few Internet resources but I was still young and very naïve. I grew up in a household of real food where everything was homemade and there was always a steer in the freezer. As an adult, I wanted the same for my family on a more escalated scale. I dreamt of owning a raw dairy one day. And now I do.
Looking back over the last 13 years and reflecting upon my successes, as well as my many many mistakes, I’ve come to realize that the majority of my dairy successes are solely because of my epic failures. Maybe I should repeat that..EPIC failures!! And there are some doozies. However, I’m only going to share a few with you or else you might be here reading this post all darn day.
Epic failure #1.
When I first got my two dairy goats, Lily and Winney, I brought them home in a large dog crate in the back of my Range Rover, which my family quickly renamed the “Free Range Rover”. In the first couple weeks the young goats did great. I decided to put them in my poultry run because I didn’t have a pasture ready for them and I would be out with the chickens & turkeys daily anyways. I also didn’t have a proper feeding station for them, as I had just left my job to be a aspiring homesteader and I was Broke, with a capital B! However, I improvised and put their hay in a 50 gallon Rubbermaid tote that I had found in the garage. As it turns out, they eat more then just their hay off the ground, they were eating their poop and chicken and turkey poop. This practice didn’t take long to quickly smack me in the face when suddenly both my goats came down with Coccidiosis, a protozoan parasite. Both goats got sick, had bloody diarrhea and hung their heads low. Being new to goats, I didn’t know what this was. I thought maybe they were still adjusting to new home, new hay and a new living environment, so I just fed them a extra large chunk of alfalfa. Which then caused them bloat. So now not only were my two goats sick with ‘cocci’ but also I had caused them to get a deathly condition by me falsely “treating” them and ignoring their illness symptoms . Fortunately, I was quite savvy with Google and figured out what I had done. I fed the goats as much baking soda as they could consume and rushed to the farm store and bought home some Corid. Thankfully, my goats were able to make a full recovery but I was very very lucky.
Lesson learned; 1). One shall not compromise an animals living quarters due to convenience. 2). Hot hay is never a good idea.
Epic Failure #2
Ever since I was six years old, I dreamt of having a beautiful milk cow. I would name her Jersey Girl. She would lick my face and be my best friend. Dairy cows are very uncommon in our part of Idaho, as everyone seems to raisie beef. One day, I came across a brown Swiss/Jersey bred cow on craigslist and I was quick to email the owner and buy her. The problem was, she lived next to Canada, about 4 1/2 hours away for me. So I did what any wild crazy free-spirited farm girl would do.. I went to the bank, got some money, then loaded up the cow trailer and took a road trip. Not only did I make a hastily decision to buy a cow but I was also feeling like I had the flu. I spent the next 4 1/2 hours hunched over in the front seat of the pick up, while my father-in-law drove and on the way back, I did the same. (The next day I would find myself in the hospital. But that just adds to the adventure, right?). Jersey Girls original name was Jezebel. She was $2000.00. Her owner said she would make a great “solo cow”. She lived in a sandy/dirt pasture with about six other jerseys, there was no fresh grass. Jezebel had horns. Big, pointy, horns. But this wasn’t going to be a problem, right? Well it wasn’t, for me, but it was for our miniature horse, the vinyl fence and the metal barn. Jersey Girl marked her territory by puncturing holes in everything she could. I consulted with my vet and because Jersey girl was six years old and bred, it was not a safe time to remove her horns, so I left them on.
After a couple months of having Jersey girl on fresh green pasture, she quickly began to gain some weight in the midsection and was starting to get a little milk bag. Fast forward till nine days past her due date, I called our cattle vet out to the farm and she did a pregnancy check on Jersey girl. She found her uterus was swollen but empty. Meaning that she had been pregnant but had at some point spontaneously aborted the calf. I assumed with our coyote heavy area that a coyote probably drug off the deceased calf, as I found zero evidence. This was devastating to me. Not only because I had anticipated having a new life on the farm for the last 260+ days and was impatiently awaiting being rich in beautiful creamy milk, but also this news came especially devastating for me because just days earlier, I too, had miscarried a baby. Over next several months I watched Jersey Girl go in and out of heat, and each time she was artificially inseminated (AI). This went on for several month. All of the AI’s failed, as she continued to go into heat. Jersey Girl was now 7 1/2 years old and had never calved. My plan on the farm was to have a dairy cow in milk and it wasn’t looking like Jersey Girl was going be able to give me that. So with a very very heavy heart, I decided to sell Jersey girl. I sold her to a friend of mine for $1000. I knew his intentions were to butcher her and use the meat to feed his family. I was heart wrenched but thats farming.
Lesson learned. Soo many lessons learned here.. 1). Always get a ‘accurate’ cow pregnancy history prior to purchase. 2). Be suspicious. There was a reason they were selling a 6 year old cow with horns. 3). Don’t drive 4.1/2 hours for a cow when you have the flu. 4). Dont put a cow with horns in a pasture with other animals that can not defend themselves, unless you really, really want to learn how to pack and stitch up a wound. 5). You will lose money by making hastily decisions.
Epic Failure # 3 This one is the WORST!
I got a call from my above mentioned friend who bought Jersey Girl and he said that when he butchered her he found that she was carrying a three month old fetus. I was sick. I could’ve died. I’m still sick. I know I saw her go into heat, I just know it. But I should’ve called a vet out to double check her and I didn’t. There was nothing I could do. I decided to buy back her hide from him for $150.00. I wanted a rug out of her beautiful hide. I drove 2 hours up to his house and saw her hanging from the tractor. All I could think about was that she didn’t fail me after all, I in fact, had failed her.
I took her hide to a tanner. It cost me $900.00. She graces my office floor and as I type this, my feet are resting on her warm soft fur. It is a daily reminder to never cut corners and never assume!
Lesson learned. Always. ALWAYS, draw blood to preg check a cow before you butcher her.
I tell you all this not so you think I’m a idiot, believe me, I’ve already beat myself up. But rather, in hopes of someone, somewhere could possibly learn from these mistakes that I’ve already made as they were all preventable. Raising dairy is hard and not for the weak. Dairy animals are the most high maintence females you’ll ever come across. If you can successful raise a dairy animal, without incident, consider yourself one of the few lucky ones.
Be kind to yourself friends!
For more of livinlovinfarmin ..
Canning pickled beets
Farm Fresh Raw Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta
10 Reasons You Need A Cow
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I have happened upon your fabulous blog by “accident”, spending hours roaming through Pinterest. Very addictive and time-consuming armchair sport, by the way, but so FULL of wonderful information from such clever people everywhere. You are one of these wonderful, clever people to which I refer.
No sooner was I totally absorbed by your site but also in tears by your stories. Your “Epic Failures” broke my heart and reminded me of my own animals (indoor cats & dogs) I’ve had over the years that were NOT just pets! They were family!
During really down times I still cry over having made the choice to put down my beloved cat when she became deathly ill, or my two sister dogs that continued to bite each other and me due to jealousy. A toddler was being raised next door and visited my home often and I could not take the chance with the baby being exposed to being bitten. I had to make that heart-wrenching decision after having been bitten over 7 times, each time breaking skin through clothing.
Anyway, you site is wonderful, I envy your fortitude in making your dream for a self sustaining farm come true and I’m glad you got an early start. I’m in my mid 50’s and it is not enough to grow my own veggies organically & vertically in the backyard. I want the farm, and chickens, and goats and a root cellar and to learn to can, etc, etc.
I’m glad for you that you knew early on what you wanted and that you made it happen. There are no mistakes or failures, only lessons. Difficult, heartbreaking lessons but lessons nonetheless.
I’m going to go now and finish reading all of your information and look forward to future posts. FYI- I have my own recently diagnosed autoimmune disease. Reiter’s Disease, now referred to as Reactive Arthritis. No fun. Diet/activity are EVERYTHING! Thanks for all you share.
Thank you for sharing this! My ultimate dream is to have a dairy cow, also. I have been raising dairy goats for 7 years now and have a number of “epic failures” under my belt as well, but it’s good to read up on how to avoid some pitfalls in raising a dairy cow, before I achieve my goal of having one.
Also made a four and a half hour trip for some doelings while I was pregnant…..such a horrible trip, but so hopeful too!
Just want to thank you for taking the time to share these stories. I am an agricultural student at UMass, hoping to follow in your footsteps and I find every detail about stories like these valuable, and you’ve allowed me to take many notes for my future. I’m sure you have so many other learning experiences that could help me immensely, if you ever have the time to share more successes/failures, anything at all is huge to me because I have grown up on Cape Cod, MA, and have not been exposed to any type of farm life or farming whatsoever. I’m so passionate about what i’m learning and what you write about, and just want to sincerely thank you for your website and posts.
Thank you!
Thank you for sharing. I know I have learned something from your experience. So don’t beat yourself up you are using your experience to help others, thanks for that.
Thank you Dorie.
I am very sorry for your losses. As you say, farming isn’t for the feint of heart, and it can be one of the most heart-breaking, challenging things anyone can do.
We had a sister-pair of goats. The seller was totally up front with us about the goats and gave a good deal for a “herd reduction,” as she was getting married and combining “your, mine, and our” animals. The goats had to go, so we took them.
They were some of our first goats… little Nigerian Dwarfs. Of the two sisters, one goat had never had kids, but she wanted them SO badly. You could just tell… So we introduced her to a buck, and she took! About 4.5 months into her pregnancy, my husband picked her up right across her stomach (after I begged him not to) to put her in a raised barn area. She cried out but didn’t protest after he put her down.
The next day, she started “oozing” red/brown liquid, and I just KNEW something had gone wrong. The trauma of being picked up across her belly caused her to abort at least one of the kids, which became trapped inside her. I watched her strain and try to pass the kids a week later, but nothing… Just more goo and pained cries. We called a vet and were told that the house visit, ultrasound and surgery to remove the dead kids would start around $2,500. We just didn’t have that kind of money, but the vet said she might make it with antibiotics to prevent infection and that she could pass the mummified kids eventually.
She didn’t pass them. About three months later, my sweet little goat ended up passing away from a uterine infection in my arms, despite antibiotics. We rehomed her heart-broken sister to another farm where she would have lots of pasture and other goat friends.
To this day, she remains my favorite goat ever. The best ones always get taken too soon.
My heart goes out to you, sister!!
Ugg. That’s a rough one! I’m terribly sorry for your loss.
I like reading these failures, just to know I’m not alone. I lost my first dairy goat and her twin does last year, because I waited too long to pull the babies out. I asked others for advice and everyone said to wait. DON’T WAIT!
If it be any comfort to you, know that there is a list of epic failures burdened to many of us. Sister, praise our good Lord for our hearts that break and bleed, while it is in Him, who promises to mend them, we assuredly find our rest. Praise Him for all things. Thank you for sharing your story and your website. May the Lord richly bless you and the fields you prepare. Isaiah 25:8