Post by zephyrhillsusan on Feb 2, 2014 17:41:08 GMT -5
After following some discussions on this subject, I started keeping milking records. I keep a flow sheet with production recorded columns in both pounds and quarts, along with notes about changes in feed, when Macree refuses to do a let-down nursing halfway through milking, the presence of visitors, cold spells, etc. However, I like tables and charts for their visual impact. I'm not very good at Excel, so I made a simple table using Word.
The image is a little hard to see by the time I got it down to 1MB, but here's an explanation. The measurement in quarts is listed along the left-hand side, from 0 almost to 5. I'm an optimist!
I know the traditional way to measure milk production is in pounds, and I do record that, but my mind interprets quarts better, so I prefer to chart in quarts. I divided each quart into four, which helps to record amounts more accurately. Across the bottom of the chart are numbers 1-31 for the date. For example, take the 1st: I put a dot in the middle of the vertical column for that date, say at 1.25. I continue day by day, then draw lines between the dots, which gives me a visual on whether production is stable, going up or down, or varying widely. In the space below each date, which looks like a long skinny column at the bottom of the form, I jot any relevant notes--skipped for Sunday, extremely cold, Macree refused let-down, etc. These notes are also on the flow sheet, but in greater detail. The chart just contains things that might explain a high or low production for a certain day.
Do any of the rest of you milkers keep records, and have you developed (or found) good charts for keeping track of your production?
The image is a little hard to see by the time I got it down to 1MB, but here's an explanation. The measurement in quarts is listed along the left-hand side, from 0 almost to 5. I'm an optimist!
I know the traditional way to measure milk production is in pounds, and I do record that, but my mind interprets quarts better, so I prefer to chart in quarts. I divided each quart into four, which helps to record amounts more accurately. Across the bottom of the chart are numbers 1-31 for the date. For example, take the 1st: I put a dot in the middle of the vertical column for that date, say at 1.25. I continue day by day, then draw lines between the dots, which gives me a visual on whether production is stable, going up or down, or varying widely. In the space below each date, which looks like a long skinny column at the bottom of the form, I jot any relevant notes--skipped for Sunday, extremely cold, Macree refused let-down, etc. These notes are also on the flow sheet, but in greater detail. The chart just contains things that might explain a high or low production for a certain day.Do any of the rest of you milkers keep records, and have you developed (or found) good charts for keeping track of your production?