will my cow get sick if ??

mindyloo · #1 01/22/11, 10:33 AM

I wasnt able to milk my cow today. My machine is not working. Husband is working wont be home till tonight, and she wouldn't let me milk her by hand. will she be ok, as long as we milk her out tonight??

linn · #2 01/22/11, 10:49 AM

I don't think missing one milking will harm her, if she is not prone to mastitis. A lot depends on how heavy a milker she is.

myersfarm · #3 01/22/11, 11:16 AM

no .but really milk her when you can...last year we had a ice storm 9 days with no elec. ice was 6 inches deep everywere...powerline were down everywere could not drive 3 miles with all the blocked roads with the trees down..so by the time I got to town all the big gneerators were sold ..no body had generators that would power my milker but the 2 nd day I stood in line 14 hours and bought a geneartor 80 miles from here....none of them GOT SICK .. had 16 I was milking ..but they were milked out when I got home at 12 am and milked then I did it again at 8 am then again at 2pm then back to 9 pm...did not seem to hurt anything....

only thing I did was it was not cold the ice melted the 3rd day so I did not feed anything but hay those 2 days

springvalley · #4 01/22/11, 02:43 PM

Wow, that is great, most of us wouldn`t have that good of luck. But you hit the nail on the head when you said all you fed was hay. If you can`t get the milk out, then don`t put so many calories in, wonderful idea. That is something for everyone to think about, if you milk with a machine and can`t milk by hand, you need an alternative way to milk. So a generator may be something to think about. I have a tractor generator, so all I have to do is get one of the tractors out, hook up the generator and flip a few circuits and bingo-bongo we have a milker that will work. I also bought a old milk pump from the neighbor that they replaced the motor on the pump with a pto shaft to run off the tractor, novel idea. Most of my cows can be milked either way so I don`t worry so much about the electric, I just don`t think my hands would hold up to milking 15 head of cows. Any way, always something to think about .> Thanks Marc

Callieslamb · #5 01/22/11, 07:48 PM

If it were me and my cow...and her bag was really tight from not being milked - I'd get a bit out by hand just so she could be more comfortable. Maybe that's not possible and maybe she won't get that tight.

I think not milking her will affect the amount of milk you will get for a couple of days. But I don't think she will get sick. She will be mightily confused though.

mindyloo · #6 02/03/11, 02:39 PM

still milking by hand, but now have one infected queater. mastitis. it is cumpy and stringy. praying for my parts for my machine to come tonight. She isnt liking us hand milking her and is getting very cranky. This is our first time dealing with mastitis, and we are trying to milk her out as much as she will let us.

matt_man · #7 02/03/11, 06:03 PM

You really need to get her milked out whether she likes you doing it or not. The worse the mastitis gets the fussier she is going to get about it. There are lots of ways to restrain her so that she can't hurt you while you hand milk. You could use a rope around her belly just in front of her udder or go to your local feed store and buy a kickstop for around $15.

myersfarm · #8 02/03/11, 06:07 PM

agree with Mattman the milk and mastitis has to come out or she will lose that quarter

mindyloo · #9 02/03/11, 07:27 PM

milked her by machine tonight. got my machine fixed and she was good. The one quearter produced stringgy lumpy clots then reg milk for about 3-4 minutes then no milk at all from that quarter. It seemed to be empty. hopefully each day we will see better results. Once she is clear on that quarter for a ffew days when can I start drinking her milk again. I am dumping all of it for now. I know I dont have too, but am just choosing to.

matt_man · #10 02/03/11, 07:50 PM

This is another reason that I think that everyone who has a family cow should know how and be capable of hand milking. Don't become dependent on the milk machine! They can act up....power goes out...whatever happens the cow still needs to get milked out or you will end up with problems.

mindyloo · #11 02/03/11, 08:03 PM

When i first got her, i milked her by hand for almost 2 months. then got the machine for xmas. Since then until now we used the machine. She also likes it better as my hands were going numb from milking her.I couldnt believe the pain I was in after milking. UGG My husnad wants to save up and get another machine so this never happends again. it really stunk, and living in CT. we have gotten hit with soooo much snow, like 5 feet so far and this winter is killing us. She was just very ugly with us and wouldnt let us milk her. She is normally really good and just stands in my little barn tied to the wall. I think she just got useto the machine.

thequeensblessing · #12 02/03/11, 08:27 PM

Even though we use a milker, we still milk our cow out by hand every once in a while, just to keep her used to the feel of it. We're also raising our replacement heifer up to let us do whatever we want to with her udder. I understand you didn't raise this cow from a calf, but it's good training for the cow as well as for you to keep in the habit of hand milking her now and then. I know you say it hurts your hands, but for her sake, you both need to be able to do it if it becomes necessary. Mastitis is no fun! (for either of you.)

springvalley · #13 02/03/11, 08:57 PM

I milk 15 cows, with a milker most of the time, but everyone of my cows can be milked by hand. I am also a fast hand milker so maybe that helps, but my hands sure wouldn`t milk all the cows anymore. I almost lost my thumb in an accident about ten years ago, and it hasn`t been the same. Nothing worse than milking a short teated cow in my book. > Marc

thequeensblessing · #14 02/03/11, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by springvalley

I milk 15 cows, with a milker most of the time, but everyone of my cows can be milked by hand. I am also a fast hand milker so maybe that helps, but my hands sure wouldn`t milk all the cows anymore. I almost lost my thumb in an accident about ten years ago, and it hasn`t been the same. Nothing worse than milking a short teated cow in my book. > Marc

15 of them eh? Yeah, that's when you invest in extra milker parts and a generator. Then you don't have to worry about it at all. I have all my fingers and I still hate short teated cows!

springvalley · #15 02/03/11, 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thequeensblessing

15 of them eh? Yeah, that's when you invest in extra milker parts and a generator. Then you don't have to worry about it at all. I have all my fingers and I still hate short teated cows!

Trust me I have lots of milker parts, and can tear one apart in my sleep. And I sure do have a generator, and I have had to use it once this year allready . > Marc

whodunit · #16 02/03/11, 09:52 PM

Do you have a pair of hobbles? I use horse hobbles.

Those are great when the cow doesn't want to cooperate!

mindyloo · #17 02/08/11, 07:19 PM

ok my cow is letting us milk her with the machine. she is doing much better, but still some signs of mastitis. Little luimpy milk when we first start out by hand, she doesnt seem to be emptying out all the way. she will produce some milk from that quater., I have tried by machine and by hand and the milk just stops, but if you look behind her she still looks full. what else can i do or try???

springvalley · #18 02/08/11, 07:54 PM

You may want to try a teat dialator, there are several differant kinds. I think I would use the plastic kind, they just go up in the teat canal to to help open it up and make milking a little easier. Sometimes a couple will help, and sometimes it takes more. This is just a guess, as I can`t make these long distance vet calls. > Thanks Marc