Milk or Freezer

[daletuckey]

After making a decision for my kids to be involved with animals I decided to buy 2 Dexter Heifers (MC and Rosie), MC pregnant. I knew there would be a learning curve but after MC gave birth I realized in part that I had a lot to more to learn and that perhaps I had already made some big mistakes. For one, I only get 2 to 4 cups of milk per day but I'm not sure if it's because she's not letting down for me or if she is just a poor producer. I thought I might do AI with her 1/2 sister and when she calves I could Process MC. 3 questions: I waited 3 weeks after the calf was born before I started milking. Would that be a reason for her not producing much?  Her calf seem to be getting plenty but is only 5 weeks and grazes with Mom. If we decide to process her, what can we expect the ratio to be? We don't really want to but I see no reason to keep feeding her.  And what's the chances of us being able to breed the poor milker out of her with a good bull that has a good milk gene?

[kansasdexters]

daletuckey,

I believe you have correctly identified the most important factors in why you aren't getting much milk. To help clarify, here they are:

1. You have a first calf heifer, in her first lactation, and

2. You didn't start milking her until 3 weeks into that lactation.

You didn't say if you were milking her once or twice a day, you also didn't say if you were separating her from her calf for 8-10 hours before milking her.

If you want to see what she actually produces and encourage greater production, try doing the following:

1. Separate her from her calf overnight and milk in the morning, before the calf has nursed. Then turn them out together for the day.

2. Milk her every day at the same time, so that she has a routine and her body adjusts to that routine.

3. Make sure that she has plenty to eat and clean water to drink at all times.

If you can do this throughout her first lactation, you will probably be able to work her up to 2-4 quarts per day, in addition to what the calf takes. If you can achieve this in her first lactation, then in her second lactation, if you start milking her at freshening (a day or two after she calves), you will get more.


Patti

[zephyrhillsusan]

And you will get even more in her third lactation when she (most likely) hits her peak. I'm milking a third lactation cow (granted, bred for milk production). The calf will be a month old on Sunday, and I just went to OAD (once a day milking) when he turned 3 weeks old. I'm getting a quart and a half every morning with leaving the calf on her 24 hours a day, no separation. At this point I would not go without milking her daily because I don't trust the calf to take it all, and I don't want to risk mastitis.

First calf heifers let you be a lazy milker. By the second and definitely the third, you have to step up to the plate. I'd suggest you follow Patti's suggestions about separating them, enjoy what you can get, and look for more milk next time. Also, when I milked my first calf heifer on a daily basis (beginning when the calf was 2 months old), shutting the calf up at night, we had way more milk than my husband and I could use. I had to make butter, yogurt and cheese. I also believe it helps to have a consistent time and place with a good set-up. She begins to expect it. You won't get a lot of cream this time because she's going to be good at holding up the "hind milk" where the cream is and saving it for her calf. But in future lactations when there's more than the calf can take, you'll have trained her to be willing to let down for you, and you'll get more. We are making lots of butter on this spring grass!

Also, just because I learned the hard way that washing the udder with water is not good, here's a link to share my own udder prep routine.  There's a more detailed post earlier than that one that explains why I use an iodine-based teat dip.  Basically, although it's especially hard to see on black cows, the udder gets manure and dirt on it.  When you wash it, water will drip down and run to the lowest point of gravity, which happens to be the teat orifice--where bacteria can easily get in and cause mastitis.  I'm not sure what you're doing, so I'm certainly not criticizing your technique, just sharing my hard-learned lesson.  

[Pinevalleydexters]

I would never butcher a young cow for that reason alone. If your not happy with her milking, sell her to another Dexter Breeder that wants to add her to his herd to give him nice calves. And I would agree with both Patti and Susan and their milking tips.

[cddexter]

A couple of things:

if you keep the calf off for 8-10 hours, it's going to be darn hungry, and be working the udder right away as soon as they are turned out together. I'd leave some milk in there, or only milk 2 or 3 quarters, otherwise the calf could make the udder sore. However, there is something to the old wive's tale about the cow holding back the cream, which means if you leave some milk behind for the calf, you could end up with low fat content in what you do take.

You might try keeping the calf off, as suggested, and then you milk one side while the calf nurses on the other. You wouldn't get as much milk, but you could actually keep them separated 4-5 hours, and do it twice a day if you wanted to get more volume for the table. I think Susan is our resident tried it all, she might have more input. cheers, c.

[daletuckey]

Thanks for all the advise. At this point I'm feeding the milk to my dog and not worrying about clean milk. I'm just trying to get MC use to me milking her for now.
I have separated them for the night and momma bawled all night. Boy was he hungry in the morning. I only got about 2 cups before she backed out. She was stressed and wanted to feed her bull so I gave up and let him out. So I like the 4 or 5 hours at a time idea. And I have seen him eat grass so he's beginning to supplement his diet.

[daletuckey]

I forgot to ask: are home made auto milkers ok? My arthritis is killing me when I milk her. Pros and cons?

[Pinevalleydexters]

daletuckey check out familycow.proboards.com you will find many helpful people there that milk family cows. They will give you lots of advice, and there are threads about machine milking. I hope you have success.

[zephyrhillsusan]

I would definitely not use a homemade auto milker. There's a commercial brand, EZ Milker, if I have the name right, that I wouldn't recommend either.  Those use constant suction, which is really bad for the cow.  The milker must work on an on-off suction principle like surge milkers. Think how a calf sucks, on and off. Teats can be ruined by constant suction. Ask any mother who has tried to use that kind of machine to express milk, and she will tell you!   

I recommend joining Keeping a Family Cow.  There are lots of experienced milkers there who are glad to help.  I'm glad to help, of course, and the few others here who milk will, too, I'm sure.   My sympathy with the arthritis.  I hand milk and have just this past week gone to OAD (once a day) instead of TAD (twice a day) after three weeks of TAD, starting cold after several months off.  Boy do those wrists and fingers need time to get accustomed!  Some people recommend taking Vitamin C & E, and I like to use a balm with Essential Oils to massage into my hands after milking, even some Ibuprofen when really painful.

Holler if you need more help.  Oh, and you're doing well just getting them used to it gradually and not trying to insist.  I don't lock the cow in the stanchion at first because you don't want them to panic.  If they get used to it and getting good hay or grain there, they'll settle in happily.  The day you hear a big rumen gurgle while you're milking and she chews her cud, you'll know you've arrived.   And when you build up some foam, she's letting the cream down.

[zephyrhillsusan]

daletuckey, you and a new Dexter owner who's been emailing me with questions, have inspired me to do a couple of posts about milking.  Here's the first one with some general tips on training a cow to milk.  Another will follow soon with specific issues and problems.  So ask away, if you have any questions, and I'll try to address them if I can.