I am a newbie about milking cows and want to learn about it..

deafgoatlady · #1 10/12/07, 10:48 AM

Hey.. I am very new about milking cows. I havent raise cows before but my family have long time ago before I was born.. And I always want to learn about milking cows. Can u help me to find the information so I can learn.. I am trying to find a milking cow but it is hard to find them.. I am trying to see if they are pregnant and will be calving by between Jan to Feb.. Oh well.. So I can get their milk before my goats to have babies.. Well I cannot afford to buy milking machine. I want to look for a nice teat that will fit my hand.. Thanks for your help..

matt_man · #2 10/12/07, 12:45 PM

I have a Dexter for sale due the first week in March. Her teats are nice sized. Dexters are smaller, easier to handle, and she is experienced milker. I think she would be good for a beginner. PM me if you want to talk details. We are in MO also.

Rachel

deafgoatlady · #3 10/12/07, 02:25 PM

Matt_Man. I just pm u..

JHinCA · #4 10/12/07, 06:30 PM

This is a good site for info about cows and milking.

http://familycow.proboards32.com/index.cgi

JulieLou42 · #5 10/12/07, 07:48 PM

If you are a first-time milk cow owner, I would recommend you NOT have your cow freshening in the winter ...or rainy months of early spring, because of the cold, for one, and the chance of the calf scouring.

I don't even go there at all, as I plan mine to come in early summer, after our rains stop, so my cow was AI'd in late Sept.

Good hunting for the cow of your choice.

deafgoatlady · #6 10/13/07, 08:09 PM

Thanks. We will see what happens.. My hubby and I are still talking about it and try to figure out still. Thanks.

MikeParks · #7 10/14/07, 10:27 AM

Thats where we were two years ago.

We got a mixed dairy breed that was going to calve in about a month. (This was spring, early summer, so I don't know problems to consider about winter calving. I don't see why not if you have a good place to keep them. You can get a fleece "jacket" for calves to help keep them warm.)

Anyway the milking part takes practice. If your anything like us I suggest you get ready by,

having a mastitis drug ready (just in case). It is not unusual for a cow to get mastitis after calving and if you have trouble milking her clean you may need it.

They say have colostrum for the calf but I think that is more for big operations that are more likely to run into trouble. The colostrum is in case the cow doesn't let down right for the cow or other problems.

Have the hay/straw/shavings (not sawdust bedding as we made the mistake of using.... the poor cow got a lot of sawdust in her that day). If your cow is anything like ours (and I've heard they all are very similar) she will let you know when she is going to calve. Ours pretty much wanted to be left alone until she started calving. When she was ready, she started trying to get our attention.

Look around the web there are a lot of good sites that talk about calving and milking.

Mike