milking once a day

[Christina R.]

The night before last, Corabelle only gave me about 1/3 of a gallon of milk. Her 5 1/2 week old baby must just be eating more. I decided at that time that it wasn't worth it to milk for just a little bit. I also decided that it was probably a good time to go to once a day milkings until the calf is weaned. Hence, I didn't milk her last night. She bawled for a while, but didn't look uncomfortable (she's a talker anyway). When I went out just after I got home from work, her bag looked pretty full. When I went out at milking time (6pm) her bag looked like there would be about the same amount as the night before. This morning I got a little under a gallon (the calf is nursing before I get out there at 6am). I don't mind letting the calf have all she wants until weaning, but I want to know if it was okay to drop the night milking so abruptly. All things milking wise are great. You guys were indispensible with the wealth of knowledge you gave me.

[Janene in TX]

Maybe you could separate them and milk twice daily & just bottlefeed the calf from what you have milked out. This way you'd be able to keep some milk for yourself. But, if you aren't needing/wanting the milk..just let the calf have it all until it is weaned.

[uncle Will in In.]

If you are going to let the calf suck around the clock, once a day milking is enough. It won't be long before you won't get enough milk for your post toasties when the calf gets a triffle bigger.
What are your plans for the calf? You don't want to wean a calf that you plan to keep when he is getting all that milk every day. If you plan on taking it to the sale at that time, it would be OK. If it's a heifer that you want to keep around for some time, it would be better to bottle feed her so you could let her be in the same pasture with her mother when she is older.

[pygmywombat]

I have never met a dairy breed of calf who is willing to wean on its own. I circumvent the calf taking all the milk by seperating mom and baby overnight (calf gets its out stall where it can still see and talk to mom) and I milk 1x a day in the morning. Cow and calf are then together all day. I get my manageable amount of milk, calf does half the milking for me, and life is good.

Claire

[Paula]

I agree with Claire. We've done that for years. You can even skip days if you want once the calf is big enough to take the extra milk.