Dumb Question alert...

[Judith]

Ok since I milk at large commercial dairy and have my own milk cow you would think I could answer this question. Apparently not.. slaps self in forehead. Can A cow who freshened over a month ago be put into milking duty? She is still nursing the calf so she is making milk for her baby. But will there be enough milk to bother putting her into production. I only know that we put the cows into production immediately so I honestly can not comment on this one.

[Valmai]

I can never remember what you mean by freshening. It's either coming into season or mating? Over here our cows calve every 12 months and they are dried off at least 2 months prior to their due calving date. So that would tell you if she 'could/should' be taken into the milking shed. How much milk she would produce is a bit like asking how long is a piece of string. What breed, how old, how long has she been lactating, what demands for milk the calf is making??

[Oxankle]

You can milk any cow at any time if she is lactating. If there is enough feed for her she will increase her production as you take more milk from her.

She will not give as much as if you had started milking her as soon as the colostrum was gone and her milk had come in, but you will not hurt her by starting to milk her now. Strip her good and dry at each milking.

Of course you have to leave some milk for the calf, but you can put out feed for the calf too if it has learned to eat.

[Judith]

Thanks a bunch I will let them know freshening means calving not sure why they call it freshening She has had a calf for over a month and has not been milked via machine or by hand. At the dairy we milk the day they have their babes so I had no idea what to tell them