Post by Mitra on May 2, 2010 7:53:12 GMT -5
I decided I would go the "cold turkey" route since I was able to bring Nellie's production down (slowly) to 2.5 gallons/day OAD.
Thursday 4/29 I milked 2.5 gallons in the morning and decided that would be the last time I was going to milk her.
Friday 4/30 was opening day of our Farmers' Market and not milking Nellie and Helen would mean I'd be on time to set up and be ready to open at 9:00 am. I did all the chores except milking and was indeed on time for the market. I had this horrible feeling though in the pit of my stomache...this oh no, what have I done feeling of dread. I was gone from the house for 6 hours. When I got home Nellie was YELLING at me from the fence. I ran into the house, put the milking machine together and got my wash buckets and Helen's milking pail ready and went to the barn. Nellie's udder looked full but not as tight as I've seen it before, like when she had 4+ gallons in there on OAD milking. She WAS full though after not being milked for 32 hours. I decided I needed to take some pressure off. I put the machine on her for 3.5 minutes (she usually has it on for around 7 minutes) and I milked out 2.5 gallons (which alarmed me).
Saturday 5/1 Another Farmers' Market opeing day and even earlier than the previous one. Again, it was great to get all the chores done and be able to leave so early from the house because there was no milking/post milking tasks to deal with. I got home around 1:30 and we had a big family BBQ with Joann and sisters and brothers in law. Nellie was full again but not looking as full as the day before. She was bawling a lot from the fence. I decided I wasn't going to milk her and see how she looked this morning. Again the whole pit in the stomache thing and anxiety dreams during the night.
So I have checked her this morning and she is VERY full (it's been 40 hours since I last milked her). There's is no redness and she isn't as tight as she could be but I bet there's a good 3 gallons sitting in there. Here's my question finally! Should I sit tight or should I relieve some of the pressure? This is driving me crazy. She is due to calve on June 23rd.
Thursday 4/29 I milked 2.5 gallons in the morning and decided that would be the last time I was going to milk her.
Friday 4/30 was opening day of our Farmers' Market and not milking Nellie and Helen would mean I'd be on time to set up and be ready to open at 9:00 am. I did all the chores except milking and was indeed on time for the market. I had this horrible feeling though in the pit of my stomache...this oh no, what have I done feeling of dread. I was gone from the house for 6 hours. When I got home Nellie was YELLING at me from the fence. I ran into the house, put the milking machine together and got my wash buckets and Helen's milking pail ready and went to the barn. Nellie's udder looked full but not as tight as I've seen it before, like when she had 4+ gallons in there on OAD milking. She WAS full though after not being milked for 32 hours. I decided I needed to take some pressure off. I put the machine on her for 3.5 minutes (she usually has it on for around 7 minutes) and I milked out 2.5 gallons (which alarmed me).
Saturday 5/1 Another Farmers' Market opeing day and even earlier than the previous one. Again, it was great to get all the chores done and be able to leave so early from the house because there was no milking/post milking tasks to deal with. I got home around 1:30 and we had a big family BBQ with Joann and sisters and brothers in law. Nellie was full again but not looking as full as the day before. She was bawling a lot from the fence. I decided I wasn't going to milk her and see how she looked this morning. Again the whole pit in the stomache thing and anxiety dreams during the night.
So I have checked her this morning and she is VERY full (it's been 40 hours since I last milked her). There's is no redness and she isn't as tight as she could be but I bet there's a good 3 gallons sitting in there. Here's my question finally! Should I sit tight or should I relieve some of the pressure? This is driving me crazy. She is due to calve on June 23rd.