Let-down--a spin-off of Milk performance in Dexters

[zephyrhillsusan]

In the thread on Milk performance in Dexters, Stephanie mentioned the amount of milk related to the let-down reflex.

I don't milk mine, I had enough of that when I was a dairy farmer but I do sometimes take a few pints of colostrum for the freezer, in case it is needed. I took half a gallon off a 20 month heifer whilst her calf was suckling. Which brings me to a point....you will get better let down if you milk one side whilst the calf has the other, there have been occasions when people have thought a cow had little milk but she was simply keeping it for the calf, also you are more likely to get the best bit this way as the most cream is in the last of the milk to come through.

Stephanie

Read more: dextercattle.proboards.com/thread/3704/milk-performance-dexters?page=4#ixzz2nI3O2qVS

I've been wondering what methods you all use to encourage let-down?

My first-calf heifer (or do I call her a first-calf cow, by now?) has a 6 month old heifer who is still nursing.  When I'm ready to milk Siobhan, I tie her outside the stanchion and bring the heifer Macree on a lead.  I let her nurse for 30-60 seconds until she gets swallowing steadily.  At that point I take her off and tie her in the stanchion next to where Siobhan's head will be.  Then I let Siobhan go into the stanchion and start eating while I milk.  At one point I was getting a quart to a maximum of 1 1/2 qts., and I noticed it didn't have near as much cream on it as I heard some people talking about.  So I figured she was holding back on me, especially because Macree would nurse quite a while when I put them back together.

So I started doing a second let-down.  When I can't get anything more out, I untie Macree and let her nurse, and I've noticed that if I let her really get going for a minute or so (longer if she keeps switching teats a lot), I get as much as two more cups.  Of course, I have to re-wash the udder and use teat wipes and Bag Balm again because Macree gets everything really slobbery!  But now I'm routinely getting 1 1/2 to almost 2 quarts, so I'm not complaining about a little extra work.

So one question I have is, I assume giving the calf one side only works with a milking machine?  I hand milk, and I can't see how I would make Macree stick to her side or how I'd keep her from splattering slobber around!

Another question I have is, do any of you have any other suggestions for increasing let-down?  I realize Siobhan is not a high-producing cow by any means, but she is a sweetheart to handle and milk, and there are just two of us, so I'm not complaining because I have plenty of milk for drinking, yogurt and cheese.

[northstar]

I milk all I can get, then let the calf on for less than a minute, milk, and sometimes let her on again for less than a minute, tying her by her mother each time. The only time I let the calf nurse on one side, while I'm milking on the other is when they are real young. Otherwise they are too pushy and slobbery. You'll probably get more milk with her next freshening.
Marsha

[zephyrhillsusan]

So, Marsha, if I understand correctly, you don't do a let-down nursing before you milk the first time? But then you might do it up to two times during milking? I've wondered whether I really need to do it before I start milking because her udder looks so full to me, I think I could milk her without a let-down. I think I'll try it that way a couple times and see what happens. And I've also wondered about doing a second let-down like you described. I think I'll give it a try. I milk into a cup, so I can see how much more I get and if it's worth the effort of cleaning her up again!

Thanks for for the help! I know they say "if it ain't broke don't fix it," but hey, if a tune-up will make it work better, why not?    Next year I plan to milk my new A2 cow, but I plan to milk Siobhan a bit, too, to see how much her production improves with her second freshening.

[dexterfarm]

we dont do anything for let down. A conssitent routine works best. We milk in the morning and then the cow goes back with her calf for the day. I am sure I dont get everything but I get enough.