Post by Lannie on Sept 13, 2008 13:16:35 GMT -5
NEVER TAKE YOUR EYES OFF THE COW WHEN YOU'RE MILKING.
And it all started out so well, too. Cricket was napping, so we led Bandit out of her pen and into the barn (Aiesha was locked in her stall eating, so she wouldn't make trouble, and I fed Wind out in the corral so she wouldn't bother us, either). Bandit drug me the last few feet in her eagerness to jump into the stanchion and have her candy and sweet hay (the alfalfa stuff), I pushed her butt the rest of the way in, and Rich locked the headlock on her. It fits now! She started munching and I washed her udder, dried it, and sat down to milk. She's letting her milk down for me, I think, at least it comes out really easily, so I assume that's letdown?
So I'm zing-zinging into my nice clean bucket, her udder is clean and nothing has fallen in the milk, and I'm on Cloud 9. But because my hands are so big, I can't use any more than 1 finger on her back teats and 2 fingers on her fronts (plus my thumb, of course). This causes severe cramping after only a few minutes. When I try to use my whole hand, the milk comes out in my hand and runs down my arm, so I don't know what the fix is for that. I was back to using fingers only, but it was working, even if only for a short time. Finally, the cramping became severe and I had to stop for a minute. That's when I looked away.
I looked up at Rich and shook my hands and was saying something about the cramping, and when I looked back - I swear it was only a SECOND! - her foot was sloooowwwllly descending squarely into the center of the bucket. Plop. And she stood there. I kept thinking, "How the heck did THAT happen? Didn't I SEE that coming? Did I look way THAT long?" It seemed to have happened in slow motion, you know, like when you're having a car accident and it seems to take forever for the hood to wrinkle all the way up to the windshield. And all the while that foot was coming down I just sat there like a lump and watched it happen. I know now it was only a second, but it seemed longer, you know?
Then I figured, "Well, sometimes cows step in the bucket. Happens all the time. My fault for not watching." My next thought, and something I've never heard anyone mention here, was, "How the heck am I going to get her foot OUT of the bucket?" She was just standing in it, and seemed quite content to leave it there. I looked back at Rich and I must have had "that look" on my face, and he said, "Why not just pick up her foot?" Well, that was a fair question, I guess, however, I've never been able to pick up one of Bandit's feet. I've tried, but I've never managed to do it. So I thought. And I thought. And then she picked her foot back up of her own accord and I quickly grabbed the bucket, which now had "crappy" milk in it. I had managed to get about a quart out of her by that point and I was really looking forward to DRINKING it later! HA! Well, maybe next time.
So tonight I'm going to milk into a quart jar, one finger, one teat, at a time. If I can fill the quart jar, I'll dump it in the bucket and see if I can fill the jar again. At least I can comfortably hold the jar with one hand and there'll be no danger of her sticking her poopy foot in it!
Other than the foot in the bucket thing, I think it went really well yesterday. Rich and I had a few giggles about the slow-mo-foot, but hey, these things happen, and this is how we learn, right? Now I know to NEVER TAKE MY EYES OFF THE COW! LOL!
~Lannie
And it all started out so well, too. Cricket was napping, so we led Bandit out of her pen and into the barn (Aiesha was locked in her stall eating, so she wouldn't make trouble, and I fed Wind out in the corral so she wouldn't bother us, either). Bandit drug me the last few feet in her eagerness to jump into the stanchion and have her candy and sweet hay (the alfalfa stuff), I pushed her butt the rest of the way in, and Rich locked the headlock on her. It fits now! She started munching and I washed her udder, dried it, and sat down to milk. She's letting her milk down for me, I think, at least it comes out really easily, so I assume that's letdown?
So I'm zing-zinging into my nice clean bucket, her udder is clean and nothing has fallen in the milk, and I'm on Cloud 9. But because my hands are so big, I can't use any more than 1 finger on her back teats and 2 fingers on her fronts (plus my thumb, of course). This causes severe cramping after only a few minutes. When I try to use my whole hand, the milk comes out in my hand and runs down my arm, so I don't know what the fix is for that. I was back to using fingers only, but it was working, even if only for a short time. Finally, the cramping became severe and I had to stop for a minute. That's when I looked away.
I looked up at Rich and shook my hands and was saying something about the cramping, and when I looked back - I swear it was only a SECOND! - her foot was sloooowwwllly descending squarely into the center of the bucket. Plop. And she stood there. I kept thinking, "How the heck did THAT happen? Didn't I SEE that coming? Did I look way THAT long?" It seemed to have happened in slow motion, you know, like when you're having a car accident and it seems to take forever for the hood to wrinkle all the way up to the windshield. And all the while that foot was coming down I just sat there like a lump and watched it happen. I know now it was only a second, but it seemed longer, you know?
Then I figured, "Well, sometimes cows step in the bucket. Happens all the time. My fault for not watching." My next thought, and something I've never heard anyone mention here, was, "How the heck am I going to get her foot OUT of the bucket?" She was just standing in it, and seemed quite content to leave it there. I looked back at Rich and I must have had "that look" on my face, and he said, "Why not just pick up her foot?" Well, that was a fair question, I guess, however, I've never been able to pick up one of Bandit's feet. I've tried, but I've never managed to do it. So I thought. And I thought. And then she picked her foot back up of her own accord and I quickly grabbed the bucket, which now had "crappy" milk in it. I had managed to get about a quart out of her by that point and I was really looking forward to DRINKING it later! HA! Well, maybe next time.
So tonight I'm going to milk into a quart jar, one finger, one teat, at a time. If I can fill the quart jar, I'll dump it in the bucket and see if I can fill the jar again. At least I can comfortably hold the jar with one hand and there'll be no danger of her sticking her poopy foot in it!
Other than the foot in the bucket thing, I think it went really well yesterday. Rich and I had a few giggles about the slow-mo-foot, but hey, these things happen, and this is how we learn, right? Now I know to NEVER TAKE MY EYES OFF THE COW! LOL!
~Lannie