01/12/11, 01:07 AM
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: the flat land of Illinois
Posts: 4,652
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my cow is a stinkpot
she's been holding out on me! and I finally got the bucket of milk to prove it! lol.
Biscuit calved 11/23 - I left her calf on her the first 2 weeks and then started separating them at night, machine milking biscuit in the am. Morning milking produced about 1.5 gallons of milk from 3 teats - leaving 1 quarter untouched for Arthur, her bull calf. Then Biscuit fell back to a gallon per morning milking, then .75 gallon.
I started getting nervous about the low production - I need to sell Biscuit this spring and have a wonderful family all lined up to take her. So I started separating Biscuit and Arthur at 5 pm and then machine milking her at 10 pm, in addition to the morning milking. First night got a whole cup of milk, second evening milking got 1/3rd of a cup, third night not a single drop in the milker.
Hmm. She was looking a little skinny. So I upped her hay by 1/2 bale of alfalfa/day and made sure all the salt and mineral feeders were clean and well filled. Did I mention that Arthur, the calf, taped at 180 lbs at 6 weeks? what a butterball chunk of a calf!! Clearly someone was getting milk and it wasn't me.
I really do dislike lugging and washing the surge belly/bucket milker from the house to the barn and back again 2x a day so just switched back to hand milking - not getting enough milk to make washing that beast worth the effort. Doubled my 'premilking stimulation' with warm water teat wash, a bit of udder massaging. First morning of hand milking I got the normal 3/4 gallon, second morning a full gallon, this morning (day 3) I got close to 2 gallons!
Night milking remained a total empty effort....till tonight. I warm water washed, massaged, milked - barely enough to film the bottom of the cat bowl - gave her one last tweak - and she started gushing! wholeymoley. From maybe 1/4 cup last night to 3/4 gallon tonight - making today's yield to me 2.75 gallons plus a happy fat big calf.
Biscuit was holding out on me. unbelievable! and, amusingly enough, since I started handmilking again she's starting licking me again. I think she's resigned herself to feeding her 'second calf.' lol.
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