Post by woodprairie on Jun 3, 2010 13:44:30 GMT -5
All of our bovines are out on lovely clover pasture together now. The littlest one is Bossy's calf, about a month old. I am share milking - never done that before, and didn't think Bossy would allow it, by my experience with her last calf. I bought her most of the way through her previous lactation and she wouldn't give me any milk - waiting for her calf. This time she is letting it down no problem, and the calf is respecting the single electric wire, even though he is a tiny little fellow, short enough to walk under it in most places. Both cows are Dexters. Bossy, at only 38" tall, is giving me 2 gallons a day and probably a gallon or more to the calf. She's getting clover pasture and about 10-20 pounds of chopped potatoes a day, or a couple of pounds of milling waste grain, probably pretty low protein.
Elsie, also a Dexter, is giving me one gallon a day. I cut her back to once a day when Bossy calved, figuring on drying her off. But she is so easy to milk I just keep on. I probably will dry her off when we go camping to be easy on the person doing chores. Until then, all the more butter for us and skim for the piglets. She is a confident cow, not afraid of much, and even tempered. She never kicks.
The other 2 are steers for beef - a holstein, capable of stepping over any fence we own, but not inclined to do so too often, and a dexter born to Elsie in October. She didn't recognize him as offspring so he doesnt steal milk from her.
When my son has time to help me I am going to get video of the last calving on youtube.
Elsie, also a Dexter, is giving me one gallon a day. I cut her back to once a day when Bossy calved, figuring on drying her off. But she is so easy to milk I just keep on. I probably will dry her off when we go camping to be easy on the person doing chores. Until then, all the more butter for us and skim for the piglets. She is a confident cow, not afraid of much, and even tempered. She never kicks.
The other 2 are steers for beef - a holstein, capable of stepping over any fence we own, but not inclined to do so too often, and a dexter born to Elsie in October. She didn't recognize him as offspring so he doesnt steal milk from her.
When my son has time to help me I am going to get video of the last calving on youtube.