orange tinge to the milk

[Tabitha]

my first time mother Dexter cow and I are both first time milkers. I am used to milking goats but not cows that have never been milked. We are the stage that she lets me milk her but I have to keep treats in front of her. I attach a chain to her collar that is fastened to a fence post. I donot have a milk stand and find that is quite a drawback, as she is not very accessible that way, I have to kneel on the ground. the calf only uses one of the front spickets and I think may have started the other. the back teats were looking gorged and it took me a few days until I got to the point that I could milk her. I have milked her now for a week and the milk is not white, the cream is quite yellow and the milk has a strong orange tinge to it. My first thought was that it is colostrum, but how long will that last? so far I milk her morning and night and I have fed the milk back to her. I get a little over a pint per milking, and I do hurry to milk her out. I don't know, my goats are doing better than that. My other cow has had a calf for over a month and her left side teats just look awful, the calf never nurses there but I can not get to her to milk her. It makes me feel miserable to look at her. We thought we had her trained well enough to let me milk her, she is an experienced mother and was supposed to have been milked before, but we can not get close to her. We grew up with milk cows but of course there is a difference if you are a kid and someone else does the milking.

[francismilker]

Sounds like to me you need to get that cow that's not getting any attention on one side of her bag into a squeeze chute and get her milked out as well as treat her for mastitis prevention. As far as the one you're milking, you might just keep on doing what your doing. If you are share milking with the calf, make sure the calf trades teats every now and then. If not, she'll start tailoring one specific udder for her calf. Good luck.