Cow Drying up??

[Ironwood Farm]

Hi All...have any of you experienced a cow drying up 3 months after calving? I posted on the Dexter Cattle Enthusiasts facebook page a week ago and got comments/suggestions from many of you, but just thought I'd ask here as well!

When I first separated the calf from my cow overnight it was at 6 weeks, milking only in the morning. At that time I would get 1 1/2-2 qts of milk. She always seems to hold back; her udder would still be fairly firm though the teats would be flaccid, and I was unable to get any more milk, despite some 'bumping' and massaging. That amount was pretty consistent until we bred her AI three weeks ago. In two weeks time she dropped down to giving me only 2 cups! I added a little more feed (dairy ration and alfalfa pellets), but kept the same routine, nothing else changed. The calf is a big boy (jersey cross - I bought the cow bred), but he is eating hay and some calf starter feed when he is in a stall overnight. She has unlimited hay all day as the pastures are done for the season. I milk by hand once a day (mornings) and the calf goes out with her during the day. She is the herd boss.

It makes no difference if I bring out the calf to her side or not (from a let down perspective).

I was just hoping for some new insight...I realize she just might not have a large quantity (first lactation, hungry bull calf), or that she just might not be ideal milk cow material.

Thanks! ~Angela

[zephyrhillsusan]

Ironwood Farm, first, on her holding back and you only getting 1 1/2 to 2 quarts of milk, that's not at all unusual. Dexters are very good at holding back the cream for their calves, and the cream is in the hindmilk--what she wasn't giving you. I'm not sure if you ever looked for this or not, but I would bet that when you reunited her and the calf after milking, the first thing the calf did was go nurse, and there was something there for him.

If you're still following the same routine, separating the calf at night and getting less milk from the cow, it's possible that several things are happening. At 3 months the calf is taking more milk than it was at six weeks. However, I would expect you to be getting more than 2 cups, unless she's getting that much better at not letting down. Some cows do drop in production after being bred back; this could take care of itself with time, but I haven't experienced this problem personally so I can't give you an estimate on how long to give it.

As a first freshener, she hasn't reached her peak production, so it's possible that's a factor. However, when I milked my first freshener, we never had a drop in production like that; I always got a fairly consistent amount.

Is the calf in a stall or is there any possible way he could be nursing through a fence or gate? They do that, and moms will even turn and let them get both sides. (First-hand experience there!)

Finally, based on my personal experience, I have to raise one unpleasant possibility--the possibility that she is self-sucking. As her production has increased, keeping that full udder overnight might be enough to make her turn to this to relieve the pressure. When I had one quarter that went way down in production compared to the others, that turned out to be the cause. If this is your problem, you need to fix it because she could give herself mastitis that way.

Someone else may have more thoughts, but these are the ones that occur to me.