One Fine Acre - 2023 4H Steer Project Update

babsbag

Herd Master
Joined
May 10, 2010
Messages
7,886
Reaction score
9,317
Points
593
Location
Anderson, CA
Sounds like they are all doing really well. Are you done yet for this year?

Somewhere in my perusing of the Internet I came across a study that showed that intense milking at the beginning of lactation would increase productivity for the entire lactation. Do not ask me where I read that, just believe that I did. :)
 

Southern by choice

Herd Master
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
Messages
13,336
Reaction score
14,682
Points
613
Location
North Carolina
I believe that.
I have found many do not know how to optimize their dairy output.
Goats that could be milking (just an example) 5-6 lbs often end up at 3 because of poor early practices. A 2lb-3lb milker may never go over 1- 1 1/2lbs. Sometimes great dairy goats end up mediocre because of the person milking, not the goat.
 

farmerjan

Herd Master
Joined
Aug 16, 2016
Messages
10,202
Reaction score
38,780
Points
748
Location
Shenandoah Valley Virginia
I don't know about goats, but there have been studies done on cattle comparing the effects of milking 2x day to as much as 6x day when an animal first freshens. The ones milked 4x and 6x a day for the first 60 to 90 days had greater milk output not only during that period, but sustained a greater output throughout the whole lactation. So the increased demand on the mammary system, combined with the easing of the pressure on the udder, helped to increase overall production for the whole lactation. There have been some studies also with the farms that use robotic milkers and the cows that went into the robots more often also seemed to produce more milk; increasing overall production about 10-15% over the course of the lactation.
The way I understand they did the comparisons were to take cows coming into their 3rd lactation, divide the group into smaller groups and then do 2x 4x and 6x milkings for 120 days or something like that. So it was random, as the groups were supposedly just divided by weekly freshening. Say something like these 50 calved this week = group #1; these 50 calved week 2 = group #2 etc. You would get some better and some okay and some not the greatest ones that way in each group. Actually had one farmer here that tried an unofficial study of his own, and said it really seemed to make a difference. Also have one dairy farmer that milked 3x day for years; then he ran into serious problems with hired help and cut back to 2x day milking. After about 16-18 months he managed to get things back together better and went back to 3x milking. He said that his fresh cows just never seemed to do as well on 2x as they did on 3x and they never peaked out that good and he had alot more trouble with udder edema. So I would say there is something to it.
 

babsbag

Herd Master
Joined
May 10, 2010
Messages
7,886
Reaction score
9,317
Points
593
Location
Anderson, CA
I may try 3x a day if the dairy is up and running, especially on the first timers. Ultimately it will be 1x but it would be ok to do 3 for a few months if it makes a difference in the long run.
 

OneFineAcre

Herd Master
Joined
Dec 28, 2012
Messages
9,139
Reaction score
10,265
Points
633
Location
Zebulon, NC
Sounds like they are all doing really well. Are you done yet for this year?

Somewhere in my perusing of the Internet I came across a study that showed that intense milking at the beginning of lactation would increase productivity for the entire lactation. Do not ask me where I read that, just believe that I did. :)

No, we actually have 3 more tests for all of the does except Opal the first one who kidded. So, these girls are hitting the fat number for stars early.
Taffy has already hit the volume mark, and Zamia should on the next test.
We dam raise ours, but early in lactation when the kids do not drink as much, we milk them too. We were told that this would stimulate production and make a difference later in lactation.
 
Last edited:

OneFineAcre

Herd Master
Joined
Dec 28, 2012
Messages
9,139
Reaction score
10,265
Points
633
Location
Zebulon, NC
Champion Lineup.jpg


Clara Belle.jpg


Champion Challenge.jpg


Champion Challenge 2.jpg


Zamia with judge.jpg




Some friends took these pics
If you click on the picture it expands them.
 
Top