Someone needs advice quickly
 

I'm hoping someone can give some advice. This is not for my cow, but for someone who is new to cows. They have raised dairy beef feeders, but were offered a free Holstein in milk, and accepted. She is from a commercial dairy, is 4 years old and HUGE. Here is the message the owners sent:

"Got a cow yesterday, we are new to dairy cows, we've only raised Steers. This cow is about 4 years old and has come come from a big dairy farm, we are trying to hand milk her and we also tried to milk her with a small machine, but she kicks us EVERYTIME and we cannot milk. She is a HUGE Holstien... ripped out a cattle pannel today, when she got her hoof stuck. She saw one of the young calves (who has scours, any help with that would be appreciated as well) and started going CRAZY and now isn't settling down, We have no idea what to do, and are kind of freaking out. She is also trying to nurse on herself because she wants milked but wont let us milk her. We don't know what to do. Please help!"

I raise Dexter cattle but haven't don't have enough experience to advise. Any suggestions, while she tries to sign up here? This cow is acting like she is going to jump the gate and has already pulled a fence panel out.

Thanks!

If someone holds her tail up she can't kick. Like take the base of the tail and hold it straight up like and L to her spine she can't kick. They need to get her restrained. Tie her to a tree and watch her till she calms down. Give her some grain when trying to milk. This is a whole new rodeo for the cow. She may be bad tempered and why they were getting ride of her.
If there isn't two people that can milk her you can tie the tail. Place a rope in front of her udder tie it on top. Pull up her tail, tie her tail with the last bit of rope. If they can get a pressure halter for the cows face they will have a better chance.

Holding the tail she can still move but can't kick.

Wow, I'd be getting in touch with the place they got her from and/or taking her back there. Not much help, but that's what I'd do.

Someone needs advice quickly
 

When we had critters, and had one that didn't follow the rules, we had steak.

hobbles, feed and couple of panels too squeeze her.

Her tail is docked so there isn't much to hold onto. She wants those feeder calves and she is ready to go get them.

Like this. Cows dont like to be alone. She may want a buddy. Is the cow alone?

She has goats penned next to her and she can see the calves.

She needs to buy or build a stanchion with a neck gate right away. The cow has likely been milked in one of these or a squeeze unit. Until she knows she can't run you over you are going to have trouble. No wimpy hay string contraption. Good solid construction.

They like to touch and smell. They feel safe when touching. Like beef cows, dairy cows gater in a herd. For protection and heat. She is scared.

even if docked you can still grab enough tail to hold her still.

You can also tie a small rope or heavier twine around her just in front of the udder (kinda like the above picture)and if you tighten it up she will not kick either. Have done this at a friends place I milk for on more than a few occasions.

I would remove the calves or move the cow as well to calm things down.

http://www.fleetfarm.com/detail/cobu.../0000000001395

I'm 70 years old, and I use one of these on every cow I milk, even the most gentle.

Questions abound. What is a small machine?

I flank rope. Makes anti-kick a one person job. Here is a link if myheaven's fantastic drawing didn't do it for you. http://gpvec.unl.edu/files/westernu/...y%20Manual.doc.

And make sure no one is around to hear you scream when that 1200 lb Holstein looses her balance and falls on you. (Seriously, flank ropes are very effective, but very dangerous. I wouldn't hand milk with one, because you are right in harm's way the entire time. With a machine, you can keep a safe arms length distance during hookup/tear down. Be careful. Assume the cow will fall at any moment. About 2-3 days of milking with one, with all other stimulus remaining constant, should get her settled in and safe, ropeless milking can resume.)

Also have your friend consider that possibly other factors might be at play that cause tenderness, such as mastitis. No amount of "settling in" will occur if she feels like her teats are in a wringer.

I have a cow that kicks like Bruce Lee. Hope she isn't like that. I can tolerate the high hoof lifts and shuffles. When they reach up and try to tickle me behind the ears...uggh.

What am I missing here?


Why on earth would a dairy give away a free 4 year old Holstein?

What did they tell this person as to why they don't want the cow?

Odds are she is a nutcase. Kicker, tearing the place up, and milking herself? Can't blame this all on being a new place. Not like she's never seen people before. She's not a range cow.

Stop making excuses for her and make hamburger before somebody gets hurt. Especially people who aren't experienced. Not the cow to learn on.

And by the way, do they even know how to milk, and can they milk several gallons at a time? All sorts of issues here.

Tell them to get rid of her before she kills someone...... Eat'er

dont know cows but why cant the calf nurse from the cow?

The first step is believing that you can. And believe me, you can.

When I said "questions abound", yours hit the high notes with mine. But not to read more into the OP than what is known to be real, it would be good to leave a breadcrumb of conversation to the gem of a question: Who would give away/sell a "good" milk cow? On face value, the "free" aspect leaves room for all sorts of conjecture on our part. Clearly we are not privy to the story-behind-the-story in this situation.

Without regard to the OP's friend's situation, here are a few generic thoughts for future milk-cow-purchaser that pop out at me because of the post. These thoughts are first and foremost framed around the concept of buying from a commercial dairy. When I consider buying from a fellow "homesteader/family cow operation", a whole different mental flow chart is followed. I don't instantly assume that when a commercial dairy culls, she is not suitable for a family cow. Same holds true for a family cow seller, but I consider different motivations.

large commercial dairies do not keep or cull based on the same set of standards that one owning a family milk cow would follow. What makes a "poor" commercial cow may quite likely make a fantastic family cow. Reasons for cull may include from the following:

A) doesn't match company culture. (I.e. Has an attitude/kicks)
B) low production.
C) mismatched genetics to farm inputs (I.e genetically suited for grain, but suffers on grass)
D) reproduction difficulty
E) chronic health issues
F) udder/teats don't conform to the machinery
G) feel free to dogpile on to this list.

Note that some of those issues can improve with change in environment. Some don't even matter to me. But some are show-stoppers. I don't mind a 3/4 cow. I do mind a 3/4 cow that is on the brink of becoming a 1/4 cow (or dead) though. Every family cow owner brings their own set of standards to the table. One person's "kicking" might seem like "shuffling" to another. If you can find a B) or an F), you might very well have the perfect family cow.

Sorry for the delay in responding. My son was in a snowmobile accident so I have been preoccupied. I wasn't clear on my other post. She was not entirely free. Someone bought her from the dairy and gave her to them. She was cared for and I believe she is just scared and confused, at the moment. They have milked dairy goats, so they aren't entirely new to milking, although cows are a bit different. They have decided to let her dry up and she seems to be calming down. They thought she was bred, since she was AI'ed but she appears to be in heat now. I'm not sure what they will do at this point. Since they are new members here, they haven't been able to post here, yet. Hopefully, they will update when they can.

Thank you for all your excellent input and advice. It is very much appreciated.

Sharmom

Every cow deserves two weeks. If she doesn't calm down in that time, sell her. If she is a committed kicker, she may calm down but you will always need to use restraints on her. Which isn't the worst thing, just something you have to do.

She does sound like she has an active personality, which isn't the best for a milker, but if she is four years old they obviously kept her for at least one lactation so she isn't the worst cow ever invented (see the two week rule above).

I just discovered this post. She is the rescue cow I had posted about earlier. She had always been a quiet, well-behaved cow in the parlor. I had no idea that she would be so tempermental!

I had rescued and milked several other cows without problems. I'm in communication with her new owners, but any suggestions here are welcome, too, of course.

No suggestions but some advice from personal experience.

Be VERY careful around this animal until if and when you get the problem solved with her.

We know a gentleman who has handled large animals his entire life who encountered a cow that struck out at him out of fear and pain. The end result was shattered facial bones and messed up vision that took over a year to heal completely after two or three surgeries. From what I've read, this unfortunate animal is unpredictable and potentially dangerous. They finally had to destroy the animal to prevent others from getting hurt.

Please take care.

my guess is that her udder is hurting her, probably from not being milked in a timely manner when changing hands. its not going to relieve pressure until she is milked and hopefully she doesnt get mastitis

She had probably never been hand milked and the small machine they put on her most likely sounds and looks different then the one from the big dairy. Cows do not take to change well. They will likely need to put her in a head gate restraint with a kick bar to milk her until she settles

The only time I have had trouble with my cow was when she was engorged. Then she kicked bad. I used my little easy-milker thing I had for the goat until I could get the milk flowing, then milked her out by hand. Those engorged teats do no want squeezed on.