Milking Question

[Karen in Alabam]

I have a question about milking.

Do you have to milk a cow 12 hour apart?

The morning milk times may not be an issue (just don't want to get up really really early), but sometimes the evening times will be an issue.

Say, twice a week, I need to leave the house by 5:30 and not get back till 10pm.

I normally get out the door for the chickens and bottle feeding by 7am. I am figuring that I will have to be getting up earlier now.

But are 6am and 4:30pm reasonable?

[BlackWillowFarm]

You can't mix it up all week long without expecting some trouble, but if you can consistently milk at 6:00 and 4:30 you'll be fine. If you're off once in awhile, but go right back to the normal routine, you'll be okay.

[springvalley]

How long has your cow been milking? My cows have been milking sence spring and are not running the bucket over , so we are only milking once a day. It takes a bit for them to get use to but if they aren`t milking heavy they should do fine. If the cow is giving 5-6 gallon a day yet it won`t work, just to much milk to hold all day. > Thanks Marc

[Callieslamb]

I milk between 6 and 6:30 am and between 5 and 5:30 pm. I don't like to do two milkings a day in the dark so we go out earlier in the evenings. It's working for us. I haven't noticed a problem except less milk at night than in the mornings.

[Karen in Alabam]

Haven't gotten the cow yet. She actually comes tomorrow. She just calved middle of October.

she may milk 6 for a whole day. They were milking the back and let the calf have the front, because the calf cut the back teat on a sharp tooth.

I was thinking a regular schedule of 6am and 4:30pm, will that be a problem?

[sammyd]

a regular schedule shouldn't be a big problem. Cows prefer routine.

[springvalley]

Nope, no problem, just stick to it. > Marc

[francismilker]

Hate to be the odd/lazy one out here, but my cows get a strict morning milking time they get a "when I get around to it" evening milking and I don't have any probs. With my busy schedule of having a day job, being a dad, working in the church, and helping neighbors from time to time I just can't be real dependable in the evening time.

They always get milked when I'm milking 2X per day. The evening times very though.

[matt_man]

We don't milk on a strict schedule either Francis and our cows are just fine with it. We milk anywhere from 8 to 10 am and before 6am on Sundays and the evening milking varies by a couple of hours as well depending on how hectic things are.

[ozark_jewels]

Originally Posted by matt_man

We don't milk on a strict schedule either Francis and our cows are just fine with it. We milk anywhere from 8 to 10 am and before 6am on Sundays and the evening milking varies by a couple of hours as well depending on how hectic things are.

Yep, our home milk cows get milked between 6-9 in the AM and 6-7 in the PM. They do fine. Of course they are only giving between 4-6 gallons a day.

Our dairy herd on the other hand, is on a schedule. A herd does better that way. They get milked at 5 and 5.