Milking in a milking stall?

6e · #1 03/08/11, 04:55 PM

We have a heifer cow that is due to calve in May. She's a little jumpy when we mess with her udder, but not too bad, but for my own peace of mind, I would like to put her in a "milking stall" made out of pipe gates just to protect me from stray feet. At any rate, has anyone used anything like this to milk and how does it work? I would put a bucket of feed in there for her and put a chain across the back to keep her from backing out. May have to cut a pipe or two out of the gate to make an opening for the bucket. Ideas or suggestions or experiences?

linn · #2 03/08/11, 08:02 PM

We have a cattle chute that we put our young heifers in if we think we are going to have trouble milking them. Usually a heifer will settle down after the first few days. I have trained many heifers to milk using only a stanchion. Sometimes they do better when their calf is not in the milking area. I used to think I needed to have the calf in the same area, but I have noticed that the cow stresses out trying to keep track of her new calf. With our last heifer, I found that she was calmer and better behaved without her calf in the milking parlor.

6e · #3 03/08/11, 10:09 PM

I think we're going to pull the calf at birth especially if it's a heifer calf. Will that make a difference?

linn · #4 03/09/11, 07:29 AM

She will probably settle down after the first trauma of losing her baby. Be prepared for some pretty dramatic bawling.

Karen in Alabam · #5 03/09/11, 09:24 AM

Aren't you going to let her get the colostrum from the mother?

Callieslamb · #6 03/09/11, 11:41 AM

You can bottle the colostrum just like you do the rest of the feedings.

Was your heifer raised by her momma? My last cow had no idea what to do with her calf to get her to nurse. The calf had no idea either. I probably wouldn't not have lost her had I just bottled her to begin with. I wonder if that's a skill we are breeding/life experiencing out of milk cows since they rarely raise a baby.

6e · #7 03/09/11, 05:08 PM

Karen - Yeah, like Callieslamb said, you just milk it out and give it to the baby via bottle just like you would do when you pull baby goats. The baby gets all the milk it needs from the mama, but via a bottle. Makes the cow easier to handle as she's not wondering where her calf is and makes the baby extremely tame because it's a bottle baby. We'll do this if it's a heifer calf as we want her to stay with us as another milk cow. If it's a bull calf, I'm not sure if we'll pull it or do the milk share thing. I'm really up in the air on how I want to do this. Some cows make enough milk that you can leave a calf on them all the time and still have milk to spare, but seeing as this heifer is new to us and I have no clue what she'll be like, I prefer to just pull the calf and bottle feed it and let her bond with me milking her rather than the calf. shrug. There's so many ways to do it these days, I'm just not sure what's going to work best for us. So, far she doesn't mind me messing with her udder, but gets kicky messing with her teats, so I foresee a bit of a problem at first, especially if there's a calf around.

I have no clue if the heifer calf was dam raised. I "believe" she was a milk shared calf. The people said they had raised her since she was a baby and they mentioned that they don't pull calves, that they share milk with the calves, so I suspect she was a milk shared calf, so her mothering instincts may be fine. I'm more worried about "my" convenience than I am whether or not she'll be a good mama. Don't want her to be a mama. I want her to provide milk for us, the goats, the pigs...... LOL

linn · #8 03/09/11, 06:52 PM

Someone on the Keeping A Family Cow forum suggested putting a glove on the end of a broomstick and rubbing the udder and teats with it. That way the heifer learns to accept the stimulation of her udder and teats and if she kicks, you are out of the line of fire. I have never tried this, so I don't know how well it works.

6e · #9 03/09/11, 07:03 PM

Sounds like a plan. I may try that. Keeps me from getting nailed.

farmerpat · #10 03/10/11, 09:19 PM

I use a grooming chute as it has a headstall you can tighten/loosen to keep them from backing out, and it also has adjustable side rails to protect you from getting kicked. Here is one similar to the one I'm borrowing: http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.h...5&gas=grooming chute . Mine is sturdy enough for my holstein/jersey crosses. I have the steel one, not the aluminum one -- I've heard the aluminum ones are great if you have to move them, but there is a concern that they might tip over if your cow got rambunctious. I also keep a pair of cow kickers hanging on the side rails for some of her more obstinate days. We have a regular squeeze chute too, but it's not really practical to use every day for milking, because it's hard to get your hands in at just the right angle, and the cows HATE it -- they remember that it's used for shots/vetting/preg checking, etc..

francismilker · #11 03/10/11, 10:22 PM

Just my opinion, but I'd let the cow take care of the calf for a day or two on her own before pulling it off. That mama cow can take way better care of the calf than we can provided you're not in the middle of some awful bad weather or there's a problem with the calf's health.

Once you pull the calf, put her in a chute and start rubbing the udder. Tie her back leg that's closest to you if possible and get a broom handle to tap her on the back of the foot if she starts slinging hooves. It usually doesn't take too long to get them in the swing of things.

6e · #12 03/11/11, 09:11 PM

The problem with leaving the calf for a few days, I would think, is that it makes it that much harder on the cow and the calf to separate and a fight to get the calf to take the bottle. Wrestling a baby goat to get it to take a bottle is one thing. Wrestling a calf is another. LOL I would just think it would be easier on the cow and calf both if they never really knew each other.

farmergirl · #13 03/11/11, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 6e

The problem with leaving the calf for a few days, I would think, is that it makes it that much harder on the cow and the calf to separate and a fight to get the calf to take the bottle. Wrestling a baby goat to get it to take a bottle is one thing. Wrestling a calf is another. LOL I would just think it would be easier on the cow and calf both if they never really knew each other.

Goats are different than cows.
I understand your concern with leaving the calf on her, but I can tell you from experience that that has been the MUCH better way for us. Our Jersey is due to calve very soon and we'll be leaving the calf on her for at least a week, probably longer. I usually leave the calf on for months, as we can only use up a few quarts per day ourselves which means I can milk once daily and the calf can stay with momma.

We had a heck of a time switching goat kids onto the bottle after they were allowed to nurse from the doe for even a few days. Haven't had that trouble with baby calves.

6e · #14 03/11/11, 10:09 PM

Can you tell me why you feel this is better than pulling and bottle feeding? I'm not arguing, just genuinely wondering, trying to decide what we want to do. I know I don't want to leave the calf on the cow if it's a heifer calf as we did that with a bull calf we had and even though we were out there with him all the time, he was still just as wild as a march hare. From the day he was born he was shy of us and would run. It didn't get any better with time. But wondering what benefit there would be to leaving the calf on the cow as opposed to bottle feeding other than our convenience since they're getting the same milk.

springvalley · #15 03/11/11, 10:41 PM

If you want calmer calves you should take them away from the cow as soon as she has it licked off. We always took the calves off the cows when my Dad ran our farm, the calves look to you for food and the cows don`t think anything of it. You can raise calves very well without it ever nursing off it`s mother. > Thanks Marc

linn · #16 03/12/11, 04:58 AM

For us, with family milk cows, it is sometimes better for the calf to stay with the cow. The calf nurses normally and develops disease resistance because it gets plenty of colostrum and picks up beneficial organisms from its mother. A calf will naturally try to nibble hay with its mom or lick the feed pan, in this way picks up rumen bacteria deposited by the mother.
The downside is that the cow may start holding back her milk for the calf. We usually let the calf run with the cow and milk out the surplus milk until the cow starts holding back her milk. Then we separate the cow and calf and let the cow in twice a day for milking and to let her calf nurse. We have had less trouble with the scours with the first method.

6e · #17 03/12/11, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by springvalley

If you want calmer calves you should take them away from the cow as soon as she has it licked off. We always took the calves off the cows when my Dad ran our farm, the calves look to you for food and the cows don`t think anything of it. You can raise calves very well without it ever nursing off it`s mother. > Thanks Marc

Well, that's what I'm after is puppy dog tame cows. They're easier for me to handle.

What about the scours thing? Do you find you have more trouble with scours with bottle fed calves that have been taken away vs. calves raised on the cow?

linn · #18 03/12/11, 02:58 PM

Calves that are running outside with their mother and not confined in one area nurse when they are hungry and usually don't overburden their stomach. The only trouble we have had is if the cow is on a pasture with a lot of volunteer white clover. That makes very rich milk and sometimes the calves get a little runny until their system adjusts. Calves running with the mother also get a lot of good exercise and sunshine. If it is winter, then we try to keep the cow and calf in shelter during bad weather and below zero weather until the calf is old enough to brave the elements. I am not saying you are wrong to remove the calf right away, just stating that we have good results with the method we use.

farmergirl · #19 03/12/11, 04:00 PM

The reasons we do it this way are many.

It's easier on US. I only need to milk once daily, and it saves the hassle of filling and washing bottles and keeping the calf confined and thereby having another stall to clean up.

The calves grow stronger and faster and healthier when left with their mommas. The can drink throughout the day instead of having a big bottle-fed meal a couple times a day.

I have done it both ways. And the most shy heifer we have is actually one that we raised ourselves from 2 weeks old.

Just because you leave the calf with her momma, doesn't mean she will be wild and hard to handle. In fact, you can train her to stand tied while you milk the cow, and the cow can help teach her that humans are kind and should be respected

francismilker · #20 03/13/11, 09:15 PM

I'm not advocating total separation or total sharemilking between cow and calf. I'm saying it's my preference to leave the calf on the cow for the first few days until it gets it's feet on the ground. Then, I do whatever is needed to utilize the cow's milk to suit my current needs.

If you're share milking with the calf or doing total separation, the calf is getting handled by you twice daily which gives it exposure to you. I've even seen my daughter put a halter on a calf and pen it to where it has to be "led" to the cow for milk. This makes handling them as adults a lot easier.