Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2009 8:35:36 GMT -5
I had a bit of an unconventional sharemilking with Marigold and her calf Maggi almost 2 years ago. Not sure if I'll do it this way again or not, as it made for very little milk early on for us, but worked well for the cows and the workload. Marigold had never been milked before, and was difficult to teach as I had never milked before and had poor facilities. I also couldn't stand the thought of separating them for any length of time, as we didn't have any other cattle at the time, our fences weren't the greatest, and Marigold moo'd herself hoarse the 6 hours I had to separate her when Maggi was dehorned. I ended up leaving Maggi on her for (yikes!) 8 months due to a variety of factors, and started milking TAD the day Maggi was weaned. Marigold is still producing for me on that same lactation, and I was even able to drop down to OAD for the entire summer last year. She's about 4 months bred now and milking TAD, but has dropped from her original 1+ gallon per day to a measly 1.5 quarts per day. Not too bad for a Dexter 18 months into her lactation and finally bred back, and I'm confident that Maggi wouldn't have grown nearly so well as she did if she hadn't been nursing consistently. I was told by all the dairy farmers around here that Marigold would dry herself off immediately once the calf was weaned, but they were wrong!
This year, I'll have two or three other cattle hanging around when Marigold freshens, so it's possible that I'll be a little braver about separating for part of the day. I just don't want to get into using the calf as the cow's only trigger for letdown, as I know someone who has had problems with this when they wean the calf and the cow refuses to let down and dries off pretty quickly.
This year, I'll have two or three other cattle hanging around when Marigold freshens, so it's possible that I'll be a little braver about separating for part of the day. I just don't want to get into using the calf as the cow's only trigger for letdown, as I know someone who has had problems with this when they wean the calf and the cow refuses to let down and dries off pretty quickly.