once a day milking

CollieFlowerWV · #1 11/16/12, 05:35 PM

I have a Jersey that just freshened. I wanted to start out with once a day milking. Has anyone tried this with good results? And how is it going now. Have milked a cow before but it was twice a day. I don't have the time to milk at night these days.

Thanks, collieflower/wv

carellama · #2 11/16/12, 06:02 PM

Is there a calf on her? My cow freshened a week ago and am milking twice a day to work out the edema and get her milk flowing properly with a calf by her side. I would be afraid of mastitis or infection to start out once a day milking. I went to once a day milking with this same cow last lactation at about 4 or 5 months after freshening.

My two cents worth. I wonder what others think

janij · #3 11/16/12, 06:09 PM

Hi Collieflower,
I have been milking for only 1 1/2 yrs. So I know there are people here with way more experience than I have but I will tell you my experience.
When I started milking I milked 2 x a day for a long time. This last spring when I had one freshen I posted basically the same question on here. Cliff told me basically start as you mean to go. If you want to milk once a day then start with once a day milking. She may look uncomfortable the fist few days but it will be okay unless they are just huge producers. Are you keeping the calf with the baby? It really doesn't matter, but it will help. Just don't feed the cow twice a day and you should be fine. The cow will not top out at it's max production if you only milk once a day, but I doubt you are needing max production. I really like milking only once a day. It makes my life less complicated.
Good luck. And as I said there are lots of people here with more experience.

arnie · #4 11/16/12, 06:09 PM

Will your cow take another calf? Perhaps you can figger out a milk shareing system i'v read about this here. As my calf got bigger i'd often just let him have all the milk in the evening while busy haying ect all the other milking I tak my side and he takes his no problem with this in the past 4 years .plus I have a fresser filled with great baby beef that has grown to its maximum potental .the people l bought the cow from the father milked in the evening and the son (both had seprate familys) shareing milking chores may work .I think some people only milk once a day and do fine I think without much rich feed and a cow not geared up for super production it may be doable every cow is differint.

CollieFlowerWV · #5 11/16/12, 06:22 PM

We are all grass-fed animals here. I was going to keep her calf with her. I was planning on milking in the morning. There is not much info put here on the internet.

janij · #6 11/16/12, 07:33 PM

If you are only feeding her grass, keeping the calf on her you should be A OK! If she looks totally engorged at night in the beginning milk just enough to give her some relief, but the calf should keep her comfortable. You just don't want to start push feeding her to up the milk. You should be fine if you are just grass feeding. I have 2 that freshened mid Oct. I pulled the calves because we had problems with one momma and I felt bad locking up just one baby. I have milked in the morning only ever since, except the first night to get enough colostrum for the baby whose momma had problems. I have had no problems.

CollieFlowerWV · #7 11/16/12, 08:01 PM

I hope so, I can do twice for a little while if I have to, but I'm taking some farming classes at note that I really don't want to miss.

Jersey/guernsey · #8 11/16/12, 08:18 PM

I’ve only milked once a day for years and had no problems
Just pen the calf at night and let it run with momma all day the cow is happy the calf is happy and you are happy but be sure to get her all the way empty when you milk so she’s not to full all day, in a week or two you only have to milk when you need to fill your milk jugs and baby will take the rest and grow like a weed. I milk every other day after the cow is fresh a month and it has always worked well
good luck and have fun

:

Miss Kay · #9 11/17/12, 05:54 AM

I understand they regularly do that in Australia. We do not calf share so we milk twice a day at first but transition over to OAD Once the calf is weaned at 4 months since we don't need as much milk then.

loli · #10 11/17/12, 07:26 AM

My grandfather always left the calf on the cow and milked once a day. Got all the milk we needed and never hurt the cow

Double H Ranch · #11 11/17/12, 02:14 PM

After the first week I lock the calf up at night, milk in the morning and then let the calf on her all day. Calf and momma do fine. Just like anything else ~ you just have to watch and make adjustments if need be. It works good for us.

CollieFlowerWV · #12 11/17/12, 02:54 PM

So does that mean that you wait a week before youj start milking?

janij · #13 11/17/12, 05:51 PM

I start milking the next morning. I had one calf in the middle of the night I milked her the next morning. No I did not strip her, just enough to get everything going and get her udder size down. Others that calf in the afternoon, I wait til the next morning and run them thru.
I think what Double H meant was he give the calf one week free reign with the momma, then locks the calf up at night. Or maybe not.
You can make it work anyway you want. Just keep in mind you want a regular schedule.

Valmai · #14 11/18/12, 02:40 AM

Some dairy farms over here do once a day milking from the start of lactation and the cows do not have a calf on them. Jerseys have a reputation of being the breed best able to handle the OAD system. High SCC can be a problem though.

Double H Ranch · #15 11/18/12, 04:10 PM

I milk her starting on day one.. not to get milk but to make sure that the teats are good, calves can cause sores in a hurry and they are no fun to milk around. Plus giving her a bit of grain and checking her out lets momma know I am still around. I take very little milk unless she is full, then on day seven I milk for our needs. sorry I wasn't clear. You'll do great.

CollieFlowerWV · #16 12/17/12, 07:43 PM

I waited the week and then started to milk her. The first two weeks were a learning experience for both of us. I haven't milked in 35 years-I'm so glad it came back. This was her first calf and she is doing great. I don't have a stanchon to use-I just milk her in the hallway of the barn. I have her tied to her calf's stall with a bucket of alfalfa pellets since she and the rest of the livestock is grassfed. I milk her in the morning and I get a little over a half gallon a day. It's good for us. Just not sure about the amount. I'm taking some night classes and thought that once a day would be best for this year.

DJ in WA · #17 12/17/12, 08:26 PM

I'm assuming your cow doesn't have a problem like chronic mastitis that limits production.

Are you separating the calf at night? A jersey should be giving several gallons a day, so can't imagine a little calf taking most of that.

Possible she is not letting her milk down for you, because she is attached to a nursing calf. Might need to let the calf suck for half a minute to stimulate letdown, then pull the calf away and start milking. And of course, for the calf to want to suck, it needs to be alittle hungry after being separated.

CollieFlowerWV · #18 12/17/12, 08:30 PM

No, our Jersey doesn' have mastitis. She seems to be healthy. Have not noticed anything wrong with her.

haypoint · #19 12/17/12, 08:38 PM

The cure for Mastitis is frequent milking. Less frequent milking will exaserbate it.

Milk the cow the same time each morning. Then put the calf on her. Lock up the calf 12 hours after you have milked her. Then go do your evening farm class.

Do not make the cow hold her milk 24 hours.

CollieFlowerWV · #20 12/17/12, 09:08 PM

The calf is only seperated at night. I do my chores the same time in the morning as well as night. I do know animals need the same routine all the time. I might only be off by minutes.