Post by Selden on Jul 30, 2005 5:58:47 GMT -5
Well, my hands are still attached at the wrist and my fingers still move, barely!
I haven't been able to write after posting the photos of Spanky because Katika's calving coincided with a board meeting for my husband's work, and I had to put my shoulder to the wheel to get the house and giant perennial garden ready for a party for 75 last night (paid for by the school. As wife of the head, I'm just the dogsbody who hosts, does all the work, and makes it happen). However, it's done, yahoo! And now I can concentrate on the important things, like cows.
I read back over old posts trying to figure out how much I should milk out how soon, with a first freshener. Joann seemed to say that she milked out a gallon. So that was my goal the first night after calving.
Due to space constraints Katika's stanchion is in her stall and I've always fed her in it, so she went right in. I washed her udder with warm wash cloths and dried her and then went to work. I have never milked a cow before. Well, my discovery is that while the concepts are the same, it's different from milking a goat!
Katika's teats are far shorter, for one thing, so I can't wrap my fingers around them. I seem to be milking mostly with my thumbs. Instead of a rhythmic squeezing motion of sequential fingers (the way I have done with goats) I am using more of a stripping motion, squeezing my thumb closed against my index finger and then sliding my thumb down the teat to express the milk. I worry that this sliding might become abrasive or irritating but I've kept my hands dry and so far Katika seems fine.
Actually Katika's behavior has been great. Thinking of Helen as a young heifer I have been dreading it, as Katika's another strong-minded female, but stood like a rock for most of the time and seemed quite pleased with the whole enterprise. The first milking stimulated her hormones and during it she passed the afterbirth, which earlier had been poking out and then receding.
The first day I was quite inept, and the teat openings seemed a little eccentric -- sort of not quite fully open, so that milk from several teats sprayed in a shower rather than a stream and by the end of the session I had milk all over the bedding, my shoes, down my wrists, etc. The first day it took me 45 minutes to get one gallon and only at the end did Katika get a bit impatient and start to dance. Yesterday I got a bit over a gallon AM and PM in 30 minutes.
When she starts to shift I have roared at her and spanked her near leg hard. I hate to be mean but am steeling myself to start as I intend to go on. I know it will be awful if she gets kicky or obnoxious. I have found both days that milking her (smaller) back teats causes her to pee or poop. I have talked in a displeased growly voice but have not been tough with her about this yet.
I have not been milking her out, partly due to ignorance of what's best and partly due to lack of time. There is also the creakiness factor. My hands are very sore, which feels like the arthritis I sometimes get after doing a lot of physical work with them, but I've decided I'm going to stick with it and hope they get fit, and re-evaluate in a couple of weeks. However, I find myself thinking about a used bucket milker...
(What do people with one cow feel about the difference between a full-sized milking machine and a bucket milker? Is the latter a viable option? I can see that I will improve in my milking time, as I've already shaved it, but I can also imagine that a lengthy process at 30 below zero will be less exciting. However for me there is also the issue that I have to carry or drive everything the half-mile to my barn. So it is a multi-faceted question.)
In terms of other equipment, I had thought I could get by with stainless steel stock pots, rather than an expensive milking bucket, and/or a milk can, but trying to climb the slope from the barn to the truck with a tippy stock pot full of milk, and then trying to drive it home without sloshing, has got me perusing my Lehman's catalog greedily.
I have also been rereading my elderly, falling-to-tatters copy of KFC and thinking about simply not feeding Katika for high production. She has been getting about 5 lbs of 16% Blue Seal sweet feed a day. I've upped it to 6, a #10 can morning and evening. This is much less than Joann recommends (and it's not from stinginess, and it's not anything I would do if it's not healthy) but I was thinking that I really don't NEED as much milk as it seems I could feed her to produce...? Is this a fallacy?
Eager for any and all tips from you milking experts! THANKS!
I haven't been able to write after posting the photos of Spanky because Katika's calving coincided with a board meeting for my husband's work, and I had to put my shoulder to the wheel to get the house and giant perennial garden ready for a party for 75 last night (paid for by the school. As wife of the head, I'm just the dogsbody who hosts, does all the work, and makes it happen). However, it's done, yahoo! And now I can concentrate on the important things, like cows.
I read back over old posts trying to figure out how much I should milk out how soon, with a first freshener. Joann seemed to say that she milked out a gallon. So that was my goal the first night after calving.
Due to space constraints Katika's stanchion is in her stall and I've always fed her in it, so she went right in. I washed her udder with warm wash cloths and dried her and then went to work. I have never milked a cow before. Well, my discovery is that while the concepts are the same, it's different from milking a goat!
Katika's teats are far shorter, for one thing, so I can't wrap my fingers around them. I seem to be milking mostly with my thumbs. Instead of a rhythmic squeezing motion of sequential fingers (the way I have done with goats) I am using more of a stripping motion, squeezing my thumb closed against my index finger and then sliding my thumb down the teat to express the milk. I worry that this sliding might become abrasive or irritating but I've kept my hands dry and so far Katika seems fine.
Actually Katika's behavior has been great. Thinking of Helen as a young heifer I have been dreading it, as Katika's another strong-minded female, but stood like a rock for most of the time and seemed quite pleased with the whole enterprise. The first milking stimulated her hormones and during it she passed the afterbirth, which earlier had been poking out and then receding.
The first day I was quite inept, and the teat openings seemed a little eccentric -- sort of not quite fully open, so that milk from several teats sprayed in a shower rather than a stream and by the end of the session I had milk all over the bedding, my shoes, down my wrists, etc. The first day it took me 45 minutes to get one gallon and only at the end did Katika get a bit impatient and start to dance. Yesterday I got a bit over a gallon AM and PM in 30 minutes.
When she starts to shift I have roared at her and spanked her near leg hard. I hate to be mean but am steeling myself to start as I intend to go on. I know it will be awful if she gets kicky or obnoxious. I have found both days that milking her (smaller) back teats causes her to pee or poop. I have talked in a displeased growly voice but have not been tough with her about this yet.
I have not been milking her out, partly due to ignorance of what's best and partly due to lack of time. There is also the creakiness factor. My hands are very sore, which feels like the arthritis I sometimes get after doing a lot of physical work with them, but I've decided I'm going to stick with it and hope they get fit, and re-evaluate in a couple of weeks. However, I find myself thinking about a used bucket milker...
(What do people with one cow feel about the difference between a full-sized milking machine and a bucket milker? Is the latter a viable option? I can see that I will improve in my milking time, as I've already shaved it, but I can also imagine that a lengthy process at 30 below zero will be less exciting. However for me there is also the issue that I have to carry or drive everything the half-mile to my barn. So it is a multi-faceted question.)
In terms of other equipment, I had thought I could get by with stainless steel stock pots, rather than an expensive milking bucket, and/or a milk can, but trying to climb the slope from the barn to the truck with a tippy stock pot full of milk, and then trying to drive it home without sloshing, has got me perusing my Lehman's catalog greedily.
I have also been rereading my elderly, falling-to-tatters copy of KFC and thinking about simply not feeding Katika for high production. She has been getting about 5 lbs of 16% Blue Seal sweet feed a day. I've upped it to 6, a #10 can morning and evening. This is much less than Joann recommends (and it's not from stinginess, and it's not anything I would do if it's not healthy) but I was thinking that I really don't NEED as much milk as it seems I could feed her to produce...? Is this a fallacy?
Eager for any and all tips from you milking experts! THANKS!