New to Dexters

[momonnet]

Hi all,
We've owned our first Dexter, Maeve, a 2-year-old for about 20 months now. She had her first calf on Saturday, a heifer. We've had a a retired dairy farm Jersey for 6 years. She's about to freshen with the third calf since we've had her, so we're family cow veterans, but new to having a cow freshen for the first time.

Here are my questions:

What does a typical Dexter calf weigh. Our heifer weighed 48 pounds at birth. She was 2 to 3 weeks early.

Maeve's utter is so much smaller that the Jersey's even given that it's her first time calving. What kind of volume of milk is typical with a Dexter?

Her teats are short, only about 1 1/2 inches in length. Do the teats elongate from milking?

Any tips on training Maeve for milking? This morning was our first go at it. We had the calf tied near her head, but she was very fidgety whenever the calf tried to pull away. She kicked the bucket, stepped in it, etc. We're trying to decide whether to leave the calf with her and try to milk her or pull it completely and bottle feed it. With the Jersey we pulled her calves after 48-72 hours and bottle fed them.



Thanks,
Mary

[lsg]

Mary, my Dexters have not been heavy milkers on their first lactation. I let them raise their calves the first time. From then on production increases until about their sixth year of age. I have a cow that milks right around 4 gallons per day at her peak, but she didn't give much milk her first lactation. I usually let my calf run around the milking parlor while I milk my cow, but she is experienced so she is not as nervous as a first calf heifer. Your heifer probably doesn't know what is going on and her motherly hormones are going full throttle. It is my bet that she will settle down in a few days. DH gets his head in their flank and pushes back when they swing around. We usually hold the bucket between our legs, so if they kick, it doesn't get knocked over. When I am breaking in a first calf heifer I usually stand and milk with one hand while I hold the bucket with the other. I lean into the cow, so she can only go the other way. One thing about a Dexter is they are not great big and are easier to push around.
I usually leave my calf with the cow until she starts holding back her milk and then I separate them and let the cow in night and morning. I milk first and then let the calf finish what I leave.