Training first freshener to milk

[BeardedChick]

Why am I saying this... you have 4 yrs expereince!!!

Why did you write this?? I didn't say I have 4 years experience???

I think she is mixing you up with another member new to milking cows maybe. She's referring to nursing one's own baby being the same basic concept as milking a cow.

Aaah, thanks! I have no children, so this is a crash course for me... We've had horses foal, but have never had to intervene.

 

[BeardedChick]

Are the back quarters tight and hard due to the swelling from bagging up, do you think? Sometimes the back quarters will be harder from it than the front ones.

Massage her bag or rub her tailhead or side or whatever seems to help her relax. That may help get her to let her milk down better for you.

The front quarters felt fairly 'empty' to me... Like the calf had nursed them down. Could she be holding the milk up in the back from the calf? Maybe she's sore or something?

I will work on helping her relax. She didn't seem too tense, so I'm not sure what to try next. I will try scratching her tailhead & brisket. She loves that...

 

[BeardedChick]

My 'lil cow let me have more milk today - maybe a half cup. Back quarters still felt more tight, but I milked them and it worked OK.

I watched the calf nurse for a while and she'd take about 4 swallows of milk from each teat, then strip it, bump the udder, and move to the next teat...

How much milk do you pull from one teat before moving to the next one??

 

[wynedot55]

you milk till theres no more milk.then you go to the other teats.but heres the deal.you really dont know how much milk her calf is drinking.because the calf is with her 24/7.

 

[Imissmygirls]

My sincere apologies... I was indeed mixing you up with another poster. That's what I get for posting while home and sick
I will repeat an earlier comment to her, though. Reading breastfeeding books is a great way to inform yourself about lactation. The principles are the same.

My 2 cents... calves are notorious for milking the easy teats. Are you sure the calf is drinking as much on the back as on the front? I used to force mine to empty one side and I'd take the other side. It's usually much harder to milk the rear teats: they are usually shorter and harder to reach. I think it would be logical for a free-roaming calf to drink from both fronts and ignore the rears and let you work your fingers off trying to milk superswollen rears.

Years ago dairy farmers allowed calved to nurse with their moms twice a day. My first job in the barn was *watching* the calves nurse. They are lazy and prefer not to work at getting their meals.
Uneven milking is one of the reasons dairy farmers remove the calf from the cow very early and I think its a big reason that mature beef cow udders are so uneven.

 

[BeardedChick]

I milked today, and while the calf is sucking on all 4 teats, there is one side that she prefers, and the back teat on the opposite side has the most milk & is the easiest for me to milk.

Today there wasn't much of a problem at all with letdown - the milk was there right away. I think the cow is relaxing, and it's getting easier.

Again, there wasn't much milk, but I won't expect great things until I can pen up the calf at night. I will likely wait another week to start doing that.

:bun

 

[Farmer Kitty]

It sounds like both you and your cow are getting the hang of it. Yes, once you start penning the calf up at night you should get more milk.

 

[wynedot55]

once you start penning the calf away from her.she should increase in milk production.