And that's why there is something wrong with this whole Canada cow story.
Canadian papers show the cow had two calves before it was exported to the United States, contrary to U.S. documents which classified the animal as a heifer when it arrived , meaning it had never borne calves.
Anyone in the cattle business would recognize a , as you called her, "first calf heifer." Canadian papers show she had 2 calves and if she was a milking cow, especially a Holstein, no way could she be classified as a heifer. You'd have to be blind .
The American version says she was 4 1/2 years old. She could have had the three calves we know about but if she was a heifer in 2000, she was born in '99 . Or almost, two years after the ban went into effect.
If she was born in mid 97, the year the ban was put in place , she , like all other calves , could not digest solids till her paunch developed and as a dairy heifer she was likely put on milk replacer , not whole milk . With the ban in place in '97 the question is , are there animal by-products in milk replacer ? Animal fat , not milk fat. And how did she get it if it was banned? Milk replacer is a specialty feed, you just can't mix it up like other feeds. And even then is it the same animal , because no one would label her as a heifer after she had 2 calves.
I'd like to know how many cows were being milked on this farm. Years ago, between high school and college I worked on a farm that milked 80 cows year round . Plus fed the dry ones. The owner knew were every one came from , her health history , her blood tests, her blood lines. By sight and memory! Did this farm not have any record books of AI breeding ? Anything?