Today is Day 3 of the separation of mamas and calves. Mocha’s “moo” sounds hoarse but I believe things are definitely moving in the right direction.
All day and most of the first night, Mocha screamed (and if you knew the sound of her “normal moo”, you would have to agree that it was screaming) all day and far into the night. Honestly, I’m not sure she didn’t scream all night. Yesterday, we took the calves out to the pasture since the temperature had frozen some of the mud, thinking it would be a good distraction for the calves to be able to run and play instead of hearing their mamas call to them all day. However, as soon as we got them into the pasture, they stood at the fence and responded to their mom’s calls with insistent and agitated mooing of their own.
Yesterday evening, when we went to the barn for milking, even Jersey was getting in on the mooing. She is much more laid back than Mocha so for her to moo at all is significant. She mooed in between mouthfuls of hay…about one moo to Mocha’s twenty moos, just enough to let us know she wasn’t very happy with us. The calves joined in the song after they were returned to the barn from the pasture. Oreo has a very “male” voice and he was projecting it as much as he could. Truffle’s moo is a bit more feminine but they were singing a duet. Believe me, it was LOUD!
Today, the calves willingly went to the pasture, even though Truffle was muttering under her breath. You could almost tell what she was thinking, “I thought you were FINALLY going to take me to my mama! She is THAT way, right in there! She is NOT out here!” But, when she saw the Oreo was willingly going to the pasture, she following him but continued muttering. Once in the pasture, she gazed longingly at the barn, but quickly headed for the shelter when she realized Oreo was eating hay.
On Day 1 of the separation, Jersey and Mocha each withheld a portion of their milk, which they typically reserve for their calves. At the end of Day 1, production was short more than a gallon of milk (which is significant when that gallon represents around twenty-five percent of the total production for the day). At the end of Day 2, the amount withheld was less, perhaps a half gallon. And this morning, which is Day 3, I was only short of my “normal” morning milk amount by about a quart and a half or so. We will see what this evening’s milking brings, but I do feel sure we are headed in the right direction.
As I sit at the table and write, I do not hear Mocha screaming. I do not hear the calves calling. So, although I’m sure they are still quite agitated with us and the situation, they are acclimating. Three days is usually what it takes for them to become accustomed to a new situation or routine. I know they aren’t happy about it, but they are staying true to their nature…tomorrow we might even have bliss!
