SEGMENT: LIVESTOCK
Jacqueline Jackson>ISM Interviews A-L>ISM Interviews A-L, Segment 31
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- LIVESTOCK
- Involved in raising calves. Used records on bulls and breeding to weed out bulls with bad milk genes. Discusses breeding records. Nine months gestation; calf born; cow licks calf; in the field cow behavior to protect young. In the barn, calf stays with mother for several days, then separated, then fed for six months on milk. Sold for meat or used for dairy. Today they are housed in little round houses to prevent disease outbreaks. Breed at 15-18 months. Calves 2-3 per two to three years. Cutting feed down encourages cow to go dry. Had Guernsey cows; 3.5 per cent butterfat content. Got Holsteins and grade cows, which performed about the same. A cow bloats because it has too high protein in its first stomach. Grasses are high protein in spring. Creates methane buildup. Story of father as a teen let cows out in pasture and they bloated. Used a jackknife into the bellies to save them. The Sudan grass and a frost combined to cause the trouble. Another bloat story in the green mill. Man shoveled in feed and added protein (urea) & on chute to cows. Man made an error in a bag for the farm - too much urea. Found cows dying after eating it.
