Guest guest Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 She is a Holstein, and from heavy producing stock. Her calf is 10 days old. Wondering if I had milked her from her first lactation, if having her calf around would not be such a distraction. I also picked up a jersey bull calf from a neighbor, but it immediately got scours from too much milk I assume. So I have him off milk until his scours clear up. She has a really nice udder and it looks like she should be giving 5 gallons a milking at this point, Like I said, I am really concerned about what will happen if this continues. And will the milking machine help the situation? Thanks you so much for all your help! Liz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 Liz what kind of cow is she? ro-ia Older Fresh Cow That older fresh cow I asked help with earlier, is not letting her milk down when I hand milk her. At six years old, this is her first experience with a person milking her. She is quite calm, but only gives a 1/2 gallon at a time if that. An old herdsman said that when my portable milking machine arrives she should be OK. When reading others talk, it sounds like some keep the calves with and others prefer not to. Could this make the difference? She looks like she should be giving a lot of milk. The herdsman agreed, she should be giving 5-7 gallons easy. But I have her calf with her. I am afraid she will end up with mastitis yet if I don't give her a shot of oxytocin or something. Thanks, Liz No virus found in this incoming message.Checked by AVG Free Edition.Version: 7.1.410 / Virus Database: 268.17.1/640 - Release Date: 1/19/2007 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 I would not give her a shot of oxytocin. How long has she been with the calf? If for a month or so, she has adjusted to the calf, and could even be holding it back for the calf. I have one that did that. As soon as I weaned the calf, she began giving me all her milk. Rose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 Our 7yo milk cow,whom we milk in the am. after a 12 hour seperation from her calf, took several weeks of 1/2 gallon days before she would let down to the 1.7glns we ultimately recieved. I believe the weeks of consistent milking,and a good ration she liked, contributed more to the eventual let down than my singing to her while milking. Actually, she does like the singing and will stand quietly whilst thru milking time lest I quit singing. Without song,she is constantly shifting her weight around and otherwise distracted. "Ruffles" is particularly fond of beatles tunes with "Hey Jude" being her favorite. Might Try A Song Robie www.bluestemfarms.com ps. this is her first hand milking lactation --- Older Fresh CowFrom: clarksummitfarm@...Date: Mon, January 22, 2007 8:48 pmTo: rawdairy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 Liz as with any lactating mother the more you nurse her (or milk) the more milk she will produce. The cow is only going to produce enough for that calf unless you milk her more often. (our opinion). We have never had to give oxytocin. We take the calf off at about 24-48 hours and separate them. Freeze the colostrum that doesn't get fed to the calf, for future use, then milk the girls twice a day, usually from spring calving until about thanksgiving time, then we dropped back to 1x a day milking. We have Jerseys and JerseyX cows. With the good milkers we get around 40#'s or 5 gallons a day at their peak production. the girls get pasture in the spring and we don't push them at anytime to produce. If you want more milk now you could always increase their corn ration. Where we are we need to feed some corn because of the temps in the winter and their energy need. As i write this i don't know or remember what kind of cows you have. the breed also affects how much milk you will get and also the kind of cow she is. we had one we had to nurse back to health and she never was a good milker but gave a great heifer calves! As you will notice on this list, you will get may schools of thought. Just remember, as we all should, none of them are right or wrong, it's just the way each farm family does things. ro-ia Older Fresh Cow That older fresh cow I asked help with earlier, is not letting her milk down when I hand milk her. At six years old, this is her first experience with a person milking her. She is quite calm, but only gives a 1/2 gallon at a time if that. An old herdsman said that when my portable milking machine arrives she should be OK. When reading others talk, it sounds like some keep the calves with and others prefer not to. Could this make the difference? She looks like she should be giving a lot of milk. The herdsman agreed, she should be giving 5-7 gallons easy. But I have her calf with her. I am afraid she will end up with mastitis yet if I don't give her a shot of oxytocin or something. Thanks, Liz No virus found in this incoming message.Checked by AVG Free Edition.Version: 7.1.410 / Virus Database: 268.17.1/640 - Release Date: 1/19/2007 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 25, 2007 Report Share Posted January 25, 2007 You don't want to get her hooked on the oxytocin! Try to get the calf to nursing on one side and you milk out. Sometimes it's really hard on a cow at first to let down milk twice. I often do this- put calf to nursing it's favorite teat and I milk other three. Donna Safehaven Nubians Dandridge, TN > > That older fresh cow I asked help with earlier, is not letting her milk down > when I hand milk her. At six years old, this is her first experience with a > person milking her. She is quite calm, but only gives a 1/2 gallon at a time > if that. An old herdsman said that when my portable milking machine arrives > she should be OK. When reading others talk, it sounds like some keep the calves > with and others prefer not to. Could this make the difference? She looks > like she should be giving a lot of milk. The herdsman agreed, she should be > giving 5-7 gallons easy. But I have her calf with her. I am afraid she will end > up with mastitis yet if I don't give her a shot of oxytocin or something. > Thanks, > Liz > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 2, 2007 Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 She still is holding her milk. She is two and a half weeks fresh now. Once or twice she gave me a whooping gallon and a half. Now she is back to one quart. I haven't been taking her calf away for the night. Maybe that would help, and let it suck while I milk. Tomorrow the portable machine arrives. She really seems like she has a lot of milk. Taking the calf away entirely is an option, but I would prefer to leave him with her. Also, she has become so tame, she is difficult to move. If she is full of grass, even alfalfa doesn't entice her to follow me. There is an older cow that always follows me, so usually she is the ticket, unless she is out of sight. We are so anxious to make cheese, yogurt, butter and kefir! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 3, 2007 Report Share Posted February 3, 2007 Why would you prefer to leave the calf on than take it off of the cow. i'm just trying to understand here. =-) ro Re: Re: Older Fresh Cow She still is holding her milk. She is two and a half weeks fresh now. Once or twice she gave me a whooping gallon and a half. Now she is back to one quart. I haven't been taking her calf away for the night. Maybe that would help, and let it suck while I milk. Tomorrow the portable machine arrives. She really seems like she has a lot of milk. Taking the calf away entirely is an option, but I would prefer to leave him with her. Also, she has become so tame, she is difficult to move. If she is full of grass, even alfalfa doesn't entice her to follow me. There is an older cow that always follows me, so usually she is the ticket, unless she is out of sight. We are so anxious to make cheese, yogurt, butter and kefir! No virus found in this incoming message.Checked by AVG Free Edition.Version: 7.1.411 / Virus Database: 268.17.19/663 - Release Date: 2/1/2007 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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