Marylou is one of two house cows here at Eatwell Farm. She was born on a farm in Petaluma and then sold to a Dairy in Lodi where we bought her last August. When she was born she contracted a disease called Johne's (pronounced Yo-nees). Newborn calves are sensitive to this disease for the first 12 hours of life. This disease incubates in the cow and then suddenly takes them down two to five years later. Two weeks ago Marylou started to loose weight and her milk production fell dramatically. The vet was called, he took a blood sample which came back on Monday morning as positive for Johne's. There is no cure or treatment for this degenerative disease. So on Monday afternoon she was euthanized by the vet with Jason by her side.
As you can imagine we have all become very attached to our cows. Jason has learned so much from Marylou, she was teaching him all about keeping cows. It is a very difficult time for him. We thank Marylou for giving us so much. She spent the last five months of her life in what the vet called 'Dairy cow Heaven' here on the farm.
Frank, the dairyman who sold us the two pedigree Guernseys has very kindly offered to replace her free of charge. This disease does not show up in big dairy herds as the cows are mostly slaughtered after two lactation's.
We cannot live without the incredible Golden Guernsey milk. The class on Raw milk production will take place here on Sunday 24th February with Tim Wightman.