improving milk production

[Guest guest]

I am a new member and this is my first posting. I have had my cow for

2 months now. She had recently freshened when we got her and had a

bag the size of a large beach ball, which was somewhat intimidating

seeing as how I was used to milking one little goat. There was no way

I could milk her out completely and that was just one half. We have

the calf and he gets the other half. On top of that she had the

stress of coming to a new home, a change in feed, and either had or

all that caused bad digestive problems that have taken me a while and

LOTS of probiotics and herbs to clear up. Either part or all of this

has caused her to drop her production way down to where I am now only

getting a little over a gallon per day from half her bag. The man I

got her from was getting three. Does anyone have any suggestions on

how to improve her production. She is mainly grass fed, all the

pasture she wants plus a mixture of grass/alfalfa hay twice daily, and

I do feed her a grain mixture of oats and barley that I soak in whey

for 24 hrs. to help predigest it. I did try to take her off of the

grain completely in the midst of all this, at someones suggestion, but

that is when her production really dropped, so I put her back on and

she stabalized at the amount I am getting right now. Can anyone help?

Thanks,

Lyda

[Guest guest]

Hi, I have a small herritage Jersey cow that I completely milk out 2X

per day and I feed a calf a bottle of warm fresh raw milk 2 or 3

times a day. I got 3 gal/day for 9 months. Now I get about 2.5

gal/day from my very small cow.

I have learned a great deal from:

http://www.keepingafamilycow.com

My first cow I tried to make all the rules and share with her calf

and she is in the freezer in little packages because it did not

work 'cause " I " am not in charge and I can't make something work just

because it would be ideal to have it work that way.

The relationship between a cow & her calf is complex and usually by 4

months they (the cow & calf) will have worked out a system to

eliminate almost 100% of the milk from your patient hands. You might

yank all day and get a few drips.

Please make sure your cow is in good flesh and feed her accordingly.

If she is loosing weight and becoming unthrifty then you need to

throw all of " your rules " out the window and feed her what she needs

to produce healthy milk and stay healthy & fit herself.

I think that I have the best cow in the world. We have not had any

problems with let-down (her giving me all the milk easily) because

she does not have any calf nursing.

I feel I need to strip ALL the milk out every time I milk (in other

words every time she " lets-down " ) and that keeps her udder productive

& prevents mastitis.

I would strongly suggest you visit where I go daily for advice, the

discussion group at keeping a family cow (link above) The book,

Keeping a family cow is a must.

-sally

> I am a new member and this is my first posting. I have had my cow

for

> 2 months now. She had recently freshened when we got her and had a

> bag the size of a large beach ball, which was somewhat intimidating

> seeing as how I was used to milking one little goat. There was no

way

> I could milk her out completely and that was just one half. We have

> the calf and he gets the other half. On top of that she had the

> stress of coming to a new home, a change in feed, and either had or

> all that caused bad digestive problems that have taken me a while

and

> LOTS of probiotics and herbs to clear up. Either part or all of

this

> has caused her to drop her production way down to where I am now

only

> getting a little over a gallon per day from half her bag. The man I

> got her from was getting three. Does anyone have any suggestions on

> how to improve her production. She is mainly grass fed, all the

> pasture she wants plus a mixture of grass/alfalfa hay twice daily,

and

> I do feed her a grain mixture of oats and barley that I soak in whey

> for 24 hrs. to help predigest it. I did try to take her off of the

> grain completely in the midst of all this, at someones suggestion,

but

> that is when her production really dropped, so I put her back on and

> she stabalized at the amount I am getting right now. Can anyone

help?

>

> Thanks,

> Lyda

[Guest guest]

Hi Lyda,

Welcome to the list. We bought 2 jerseys from a dairy that we heard were

giving hormones or " stuff you wouldn't want to put in your home dairy cows "

(according to the feed mill that serviced the dairy). Our cows had been

producing over 8 and over 5 gallons per day respectively. The day after they

came home, their production dropped to 1/2 that, and continued down to their

average now which is a combined total of 4 gallons/day (they peaked at 6-1/2

gallons/day after freshening). They also lost quite a bit of weight when

they 1st came, but when we took them off grain they both gained. One is

gorgeous and plump now, though she gives a little less milk than the other.

The other is still lean, but not as thin as she was. I just wonder if taking

them off the hormones from the dairy shocks their systems.. I know my system

takes a blow after a pregnancy :-).

Meg

[Guest guest]

From another List on another topic, but.....

"I have goats that I milk and a couple months ago their milk production dropped drastically. I had been getting a couple gallons a day and suddenly I was lucky if I was getting a quart. I tried fenugreek, etc with no luck.

I was reading all my herbal healing books and stumbled across a sentence that said if your goats milk production dropped suddenly to check the water source, chlorine would almost bring it to a halt. Sure enough, someone had removed the water filter from their hose and they were drinking chlorinated water.

This is probably a long shot...and goats may have no similarities to humans but it has left me wondering if chlorine could have any affect on woman that are breast feeding."

Re: improving milk production

Hi, I have a small herritage Jersey cow that I completely milk out 2X per day and I feed a calf a bottle of warm fresh raw milk 2 or 3 times a day. I got 3 gal/day for 9 months. Now I get about 2.5 gal/day from my very small cow. I have learned a great deal from: http://www.keepingafamilycow.comMy first cow I tried to make all the rules and share with her calf and she is in the freezer in little packages because it did not work 'cause "I" am not in charge and I can't make something work just because it would be ideal to have it work that way.The relationship between a cow & her calf is complex and usually by 4 months they (the cow & calf) will have worked out a system to eliminate almost 100% of the milk from your patient hands. You might yank all day and get a few drips.Please make sure your cow is in good flesh and feed her accordingly. If she is loosing weight and becoming unthrifty then you need to throw all of "your rules" out the window and feed her what she needs to produce healthy milk and stay healthy & fit herself.I think that I have the best cow in the world. We have not had any problems with let-down (her giving me all the milk easily) because she does not have any calf nursing.I feel I need to strip ALL the milk out every time I milk (in other words every time she "lets-down") and that keeps her udder productive & prevents mastitis.I would strongly suggest you visit where I go daily for advice, the discussion group at keeping a family cow (link above) The book, Keeping a family cow is a must.-sally> I am a new member and this is my first posting. I have had my cow for> 2 months now. She had recently freshened when we got her and had a> bag the size of a large beach ball, which was somewhat intimidating> seeing as how I was used to milking one little goat. There was no way> I could milk her out completely and that was just one half. We have> the calf and he gets the other half. On top of that she had the> stress of coming to a new home, a change in feed, and either had or> all that caused bad digestive problems that have taken me a while and> LOTS of probiotics and herbs to clear up. Either part or all of this> has caused her to drop her production way down to where I am now only> getting a little over a gallon per day from half her bag. The man I> got her from was getting three. Does anyone have any suggestions on> how to improve her production. She is mainly grass fed, all the> pasture she wants plus a mixture of grass/alfalfa hay twice daily, and> I do feed her a grain mixture of oats and barley that I soak in whey> for 24 hrs. to help predigest it. I did try to take her off of the> grain completely in the midst of all this, at someones suggestion, but> that is when her production really dropped, so I put her back on and> she stabalized at the amount I am getting right now. Can anyone help?> > Thanks,> Lyda