Hello and need some encouragement

[swiss.susan]

Hello all...hoping to get some advice and encouragement. I bred and showed Nubians for about 15 years and sold my herd so I could concentrate on my Brown Swiss herd. I am knowledgeable about udders and milking as far as goats, wondering how much is similaar to cows? I am milking my first Brown Swiss, she just freshened on the 16th with a wonderful little heifer. First calf. Teaching her to milk to trying my patience, much as it did with first freshening goats. She doesn't kick at me by any means but she constanly tries to knock me off as if she were kicking a calf off of her. I know it's only been a few days, 4 to be exact but I'm feeling pretty discouraged. I know this is all new to her and she may be sore, I am feeling some edema and that's something I was wondering about how alike cow udders are to goats. Sometimes a doe would freshen with some edema and it just took it a week or so to go away. (?) About how long am I looking at for her to settle down and accept the milking? She doesn't seem to be distressed, she eats her grain calmly and I can hear her rumen rumbling the way it should be. She just isn't comfortable being milked. She is such a large beast compared to the goats and I thought "if I can milk 28 goats twice a day for 15 years I can milk a cow" wrong, totally different. At least she is easy to milk, easy let down and large orifices....I am getting around 3 gal out of her , is that about on track for a first freshener? In goats, it takes about 4-6 weeks for a first freshener to really develop that udder and come into milk, same or different? I have 4 more heifers due to calve soon and so can make comparisons...real hard to do with just one. Any thoughts or encouragement would be much appreciated~!

 

[currycomb]

you may need to hobble train her. they actually made metal ones that fit above the hocks, to prevent hind legs from moving

 

[animalfarm]

Patience young Paddywon.

I don't know squat about goats but I have been getting rolled in the poop 2x day for over an hour this past week. You guessed it...heifer training. Yes they can have edema and lots of it so its difficult to know if you have milked enough. They know you aren't baby and its a dominance thing at some point as well. Usually they scarf the feed and decide its quiting time; experienced milk cows can be a pain when they first calve as well and decide they really don't need me they have a perfectly good calf thank you very much.

If your heifer didn't spend a lot of time being tied up like they are in dairies, that may be part of the problem as well. No patience. I was not expecting my heifer to calve at this time, but she aborted (wasn't supposed to be pregnant yet) and developed an udder as big as a house over night. She wasn't taught to stand patiently for long periods of time and she wants to be gone. They can be pretty fidgity especially if they are experiencing any residual cramping when being milked. I bought 2 dairy cows last Oct. and one was a first time heifer who gave me a hard time for about 2 months and the other was 2nd timer who is just now starting to co operate. it simply takes time for them to get with the program. The only hard rule for me is that I decide when milking is over and not the cow. I don't worry if she is stripped but its important to end things when she is behaving.

My heifer was refusing to even come to the barn or let me catch her after the first day. Tonight (day 6) she was the first one in line, and I actually used an old bucket and got a little milk for the pigs in the morning. Until they settle down I don't bother with buckets; its the milking that counts.

If you are getting 3 gallons I would say you are off to a decent start. You won't know what is normal for her for a cycle or two. The odds are, you aren't feeding a dairy barn diet, so you cannot expect to get rediculous amounts of milk regardless.

 

[MrsKK]

Since she isn't kicking, you are way ahead of the game! When my cow was a first calf heifer, I didn't know how to milk, either. She kicked me for ten days, until I finally figured out how to get the message across to her. I was bruised from hip to thigh. I got her when she was six weeks old, so I wasn't intimidated by her, though.

At four days fresh, I would guess that your girl may still have some residual birthing hormones going on, which makes them very protective of the calf and the milk for the calf. To help with edema, you can feed her red raspberry leaves. I give a couple of handfuls of it with the grain twice a day. If you don't have any growing on your property, you can buy the tea, but make sure the main ingredient is red raspberry LEAF - many times you find tea that is red raspberry flavored with very little of the actual herb in it.

Also, warm compresses and massage will help. You can also use cayenne pepper and peppermint essential oil to help stimulate circulation in the udder, which will help get rid of the edema. I melt about a quarter cup of lard or coconut oil in a double boiler and add a couple of tablespoons of cayenne pepper to it. Allow it to sit over barely simmering water for an hour or two, then take off the heat. Once it has cooled to be comfortable to the touch, add a few drops of the peppermint EO. After milking, rub it all over her udder, especially where she has edema.

That's also a good rub for mastitis.

Good luck and keep up the good work!

 

[herfrds]

i usede a Stop Kik which worked great.