Where's the cream?

[bbmuddywolf]

So I have been milking Abby for about a week now, sharing with her new calf. I have not separated them yet before milking but by morning when I go in to milk her there is still enough for me to get about a quart. Once milked I have left the milk in the fridge overnight but have not seen any cream separate out yet. I have had quart jars sit for a couple days but still no cream. I was told by my feed mill guy that some cow's milk won't separate. The milk tastes good but I was told it tasted like it had been separated already. Any thoughts?

[zephyrhillsusan]

Dexter cows are good at holding up the cream for their calves, bbmuddywolf. It's part of what makes them good mothers. Also, Dexter milk is naturally more homogenized than that of some breeds. I've seen people share photos of jars of milk from other breeds where there was thick cream on top and pale blue watery stuff below. I've never seen Dexter milk look like that! If no cream separates out after a couple of days, I would say she's saving it for her calf and you'll probably get more when you start separating them. As long as it tastes good to you, I wouldn't worry.

[bbmuddywolf]

Thanks for the reply. I was starting to think I was being snubbed for something I did / didn't do. Anyways o did check out the other forum you had suggested and found some good help there as well.

[zephyrhillsusan]

I'm so sorry, bbmuddywolf , you weren't being snubbed. It's just that not that many people on the forum milk, so most people don't check down this far on the list of boards to notice that there's a new topic.  Especially in this day and age of using phones, only the top boards are easy to see. We've been super busy so I haven't been on every day as I used to.  I'm glad you're asking questions about milking because I'm sure there are lots of people reading the forum who want to know the answers! 

I have a lot of information on my blog about milking.  You can look at the list of tags on the right hand side to find milking-related subjects, or you can put a term into the search box.  Or always feel free to tag me on this forum or send a message through my blog.  If I don't know the answer, I'll try to help you find it!

Let us know if you start getting more cream as the calf gets older.  One thing you can do once it's eating grass well, is after you milk the cow out, put the calf back on its mom and let it suck for about a minute, and she will let down for the calf.  Then you pull it off and finish milking her.  I used to do this in the stanchion, keeping the calf tied by the cow so it's easy to untie it, let it nurse for letdown, then tie it back up again.  It makes you feel mean, but the calf will still get plenty. 

[bbmuddywolf]

Thanks for the comments. I still haven't separated them yet--a little concerned about how mom will react to that. She can get quite aggregated and rawdy when her baby isn't by her side.

Thanks for the link to your blog. I had a quick look around and there will be a lot of help I can find there.

[zephyrhillsusan]

When you do separate them, be prepared to hear them hollering all night at first until they get used to it and realize there will always be a reunion. I do find it helps if you can put the calf in a stall with the cow nearby so she can tell her baby hasn't disappeared. Somehow being able to sniff baby through the door seems to help calm mama down.

[bbmuddywolf]

It's not the bellowing I'm worried about but whether she will try to jump the stall partition. When we de-horned the calf we had them separated in adjoining stalls and mom made it over the 38" high partition wall. I think I will add another plank to the top of her stall to try and contain her better.