Underconditioned Jersey

So where's my stimulus check I bought a Jersey cow from a family that was unable to feed her well. I've been giving her a traditional worm medicine like Ivermectin because I thought she may have had worms. She has been getting all she can eat a good quality hey I'll be at it is not alfalfa. in the months that I have had her she's had access to minimal winter pasture aside from a couple of weeks of snow. she is awesome and getting a little bit of sweet feed every day since I like to spoil my animals I know this is all about permaculture and being 100% natural but no my dairy animals are not totally grass-fed. I plan on breeding her to a bull that is a cross between a Charolais and a Holstein. If I don't breed her soon she'll be calfing in the middle of winter but I am worried that she is still a bit under condition to breed. Aside from getting her a protein tub and increasing her grain ration to her diet what are some ways to get her to gain weight? most of the ranchers are you speak to say giving her corn or corn gluten would be the solution. I'd prefer to either up her sweet feed or get her a protein tub but I'm not sure which would be the better call at this point.

Is she in milk now? Or would this be her first pregnancy?

Can you post pictures of her, we could maybe give an opinion about her condition.

Is this your first cow?

Also, does she cycle regularly?

Liv Smith wrote:Is she in milk now? Or would this be her first pregnancy?

Can you post pictures of her, we could maybe give an opinion about her condition.

Is this your first cow?

Also, does she cycle regularly?

I don't quite have pictures figured out on here yet. Thank you for your response here's a little bit more background on my cow. So the people who got her before us had it for less than a year she calfed for her fourth time and is approximately 5. Bought her from a dairy because she was only giving about three gallons a day which was less than their other production cows. family hand milk her and said they would typically get 2 and 1/2 to 3 gallons a day before they quit milking her. They quote dried her off but when we got her she was still in milk but had not been milk for over a month. I milk her once a day because I have heard you should keep an open cow in  milk because you're easier to breed back. This is not my first cow but it has been about five years since I've had any. the best way I can describe how skinny she looks is that it looks like her pins drop before calfing but she ended up milking off her back and never gaining again. I'll try to get pictures figured out but there's no guarantee that'll happen lol.

I can PM you my e-mail and you can send me pictures of her, if you want to. I can either post them here, or just look at them, and tell you what I think.

From what you're saying, it does sound like she is underconditioned.

For a cow that milked 3 gallons a day, she must have been way underfed or possibly has some disease that caused her to lose weight.

If she was mine I would test her for all the major cow diseases, and take it from there.

If she is disease free, it really should not be hard at all to put weight back on her at this low production, or if dry.

You didn't say if she has good heats? If yes, I would breed her now and not worry about her weight. She would have 9 months to get in top condition.

If she doesn't cycle (no detectable heats), then you would need to bring her back in shape before trying to breed her.

Also, I wanted to ask what you feed for salt and minerals.

I have a loose Redmond mineral salt out for all ruminants, and loose minerals specific to animal. Different for goats, dairy cows and my steers.

If it's a mineral defficiency issue, that would be easy to fix.

Yes I will print them usage you my email address so I can get your opinion on her condition. I was just cuddling with her while she was chewing her cud and I did notice a few thinner patches of hair on her so I know they're concerned it's been running through my mind is that she might have mites because I didn't see anything that could have been lice or any larger insects. As for minerals she has a salt block for cattle not any loose minerals for goats she isn't a different paddock than my goats are because the goats prefer brows and she is on pasture.

I would recommend loose minerals offered free choice instead of a block....they just don’t get enough minerals through the block....