bad milk stand habits - what to do?

cathleenc · #1 08/11/10, 08:41 AM

our sweet family milk cow has steadily increased her pooping/urination habits on the milk stand - somedays she manages to drop 2 full loads of poo and a full pee while being milked. We've tried distracting her by providing hay once she's finished with her grain (50% success rate) and by yelling at her while she's actively soiling the stand. I thought for awhile she just did it while my husband was doing the milking but nope, I get it too. She'll watch us and wait till we're busy doing something else before letting go.

It's gross! Our surge belly milker is frequently soiled and the stand itself gets disgusting. We'd very much like to reduce if not eliminate this behavior.

She's due in late november - I've read that it's normal to have issues like this right after delivery but we're still months away from that.

any ideas or suggestions?

thanks!

sammyd · #2 08/11/10, 08:49 AM

2 loads...how long are you milking her?

What are you doing with her just before milking? If she's just getting up and then stepping over to a stand you'll have problems.

cathleenc · #3 08/11/10, 09:13 AM

It takes a full 7 minutes to get her milked out. We've checked the pressure, the oscillation, hand checked her udder - it's 7 minutes. I know that's long but that's her pace.

Yup, she gets up and walks over. Maybe 10 steps from where she likes to lay in the this dang heat to the milk stand. I don't know if I could make her/coax her into walking round the barn first - she's a sweet yet quite determined jersey mix and she has the way of letting us know when we're not doing things the way she wants them done. LOL.

Timberline · #4 08/11/10, 09:19 AM

One of my Jerseys did that, too. I started tying her up to a hitching rail outside the barn and giving her a good brushing. She would do all her unloading out there, then into the barn for milking. If she went right from lying down to the stanchion, she'd make a lovely mess for me every time.

Callieslamb · #5 08/11/10, 11:15 AM

cows like routine. I think it's time for this one to find a different one. She will resist any change, but keep trying. I agree - get her to walk around a bit before coming in the barn.

springvalley · #6 08/11/10, 12:59 PM

Best thing to do is make her walk around a bit before going in the barn. My cows, if put in and milked and let right out, some times they don`t do a thing in the barn. However if I have customers come and I get side tracked doing other things, they will most certainly go pooh and pee in the gutters. Now granted I have a nice old dairy barn, with gutters and mangers and such and it is no big deal for me as the pooh and pee can be easily cleaned out of the gutter. And as Callie has said cows like routine, day in day out same thing. Yours needs a new one, so try tying her outside and brushing her out and messing with her, if she`s broke to halter take her for a walk first. I hate bad habits in cows, and I don`t tolerate them, I work on changing them, or they go bye bye. Try something new, I don`t think you could make it worse. >Thanks Marc

linn · #7 08/11/10, 02:11 PM

You might try leaving her in the lot outside the barn for about 30 minutes before milking. She might get all of her business done then. I read of a lady who kept a five gallon bucket handy and when her cow urinated, she caught the urine in the bucket.

cathleenc · #8 08/11/10, 02:42 PM

oh, Linn, you've busted us on our urine control system! Yup, we've got a 5-gallon bucket ready for 'catching' plus a wide shovel for the other catch. My husband likes to keep score on who wins each elimination round - the cow or us.

I'm sure we've contributed mightily to the problem by letting her free roam wherever she wants. She's not halter trained but will follow at the right times of day. It's been so stinking hot I've been letting her seek shelter in the cooler barn lately where, oddly enough, she won't pee/poo during the day - only during milking. Go figure.

This morning I tried getting her to walk around the barn before milking - she'd have to leave the barn entryway where she was hiding from the sun and walk through the corral and around to the door. Silly thing - sat there with her tongue up her nose, whiffing the grain scent from the bucket I was holding - but would not take one step into the direct sun. Without my dh to prod from behind I got nowhere. Will try again tonight and then tomorrow and then.... eventually we'll all have new patterns. Who trains who? That's what I always wonder with this cow, does she train me how to handle cows or am I really able to teach her any new tricks? I would never have guessed how smart cows really are! And yes, she's done 90% of the training. I guess I'm a slow learner.....but she likes me and has yet to give up on me.

thanks everyone!

sammyd · #9 08/11/10, 06:06 PM

she needs to get up earlier and walk around a bit before you get her in the milking stall.
Cows will usually let go within minutes of standing up

francismilker · #10 08/11/10, 06:18 PM

I'm with the others that have said she needs to walk a bit before coming in to the barn. I've had a cow or two that liked to poo when their grain was empty and I eventually taught them against it by saying "NO" in a stern voice and popping them on the tailhead as soon as I seen it start to raise. Cows are creatures of habit and don't change overnight. One things for certain, if the tail starts to raise the poop is inevidable. It's coming! Nothing much else to do but guard yourself from the spatter.

willow_girl · #11 08/11/10, 11:15 PM

Quote:

We've tried distracting her by providing hay once she's finished with her grain (50% success rate)

How about mixing the grain in with some hay to slow down her eating? It sounds like she wants to be off as soon as she's done with her grain, so she's getting ornery!

Make sure she has a chance to "go" before you start milking, but if she starts up again, raise Cain!

I swear some cows WILL poop or pee maliciously. Grrrr!

I tested for a herdsman who trained his cows not to "go" in the parlor or while exiting. If he saw a heifer's tail go up, he'd put the fear of gawd into her (not hurt her, just scare her half to death). It really worked; it was very rare for a cow to make a mess in his parlor.

My black cow Twister was a real stinker. She didn't like being milked by human hands, so not only would she potty, she'd also take one of her front feet, scraaaaape it back through her bedding, and fling it at me! Or she'd toss hay or grain back over her shoulder at me. My blood pressure goes up just remembering! LOL

DJ in WA · #12 08/11/10, 11:52 PM

If she was laying down before milking, I'd get her up and let her walk around. They like to unload a bit after rising.

I then gave my cow some hay while milking to keep her occupied. But she'd start reaching and shifting around which isn't so good for hand milking. So I would feed her, put a 33 gallon garbage can behind her. Then I'd tie her up short and she'd immediately dump in the garbage can. When done milking, dump garbage can on manure pile. No splashing with a tall container. Just want to tie the tail up to keep it out of there, making sure to make it break-away if forget to undo.

Looking4ewes · #13 08/12/10, 05:49 AM

How about milking at a cooler time of day? Sunrise/sundown? No heat issues then. I hand milk, so the cow has to stand in the stanction for a half hour or more. I've split her grain ration to keep her busy after I change teats. I also mix alfalfa cubes in with her grain to give her something to do when her grain runs out.

cathleenc · #14 08/13/10, 07:35 AM

Alright, small update: been putting the cow out to pasture at night now for the last 3 nights - quite the struggle getting her out there but so far so good. Mornings have been nice and clean and dry! She did urinate last night but 1/5 milkings so far is quite an improvement - I am pleased with the change.

thanks!

Brooks WV · #15 07/07/15, 07:01 AM

I've had many milk cows owner the years, but this new one is just plain ornery! She's a wonderful, hand tame Irish Jersey, 5 years old, fresh in May. She is sweet and gentle, until milking time... She will walk right up the stand, without issue, and goes right to eating her sweet feed. As soon as she's done *BOOM*! She will squeeze and grunt, do everything she can th poop and pee...repeatedly. Doesn't matter if it's just a drop of pee, she tries to make a mess! She is free-ranging, and most of the time walks to the barn, so plenty of time to void if she needs to.

Today, every time she arched up, I would yell "NO!" and startle her. It didnt work all that well. She's making a mess of the milk stand, the milking machine, and me! Any other ideas out there?!

Jennifer L. · #16 07/07/15, 08:45 AM

If she waits until her feed is eaten, maybe not give her the feed so quick?

Brooks WV · #17 07/07/15, 01:44 PM

I don't give her the feed until she's on the stand, and it takes me around 7 minutes to milk with the machine (about 3 gallons per milking). Maybe if I switch to alfalfa pellets, I would be able to give more. Right now, I think it would be too much sweet feed to keep her eating the whole time! I also tried putting some hay in with the sweet feed, to slow her down, but she just pushed it out and finished the sweet feed in about 3 minutes.