Post by Kelsey on May 10, 2005 21:19:42 GMT -5
Hello everyone!
I'm back! For those of you who didn't see the other post (a month ago), my family and I traveled around the country for a month in our RV. We went along the southern route and came back through the northern states. In UT, we saw Zion Nat'l Park, the Grand Canyon in AZ, the AQHA museum in Amarillo, TX, a gamefowl breeder in OK, Lafayette, LA (for the food!), the Kentucky Horse Park, our family in PA, Niagara Falls and Northland Sheep Dairy in NY, a modern game bantam breeder in Ontario, a crane (bird) preserve in WI, the Badlands and Black Hills of SD, and a Dutch bantam breeder in MT. The trip was wonderful!! Our animals are all doing really well, and Iris is in perfect condition and giving lots of milk (thank you, Charlene!).
I said I would post the details about OAD milking, as I wrote them before the trip and forgot to post it before we left. Here they are (I wrote this at the beginning of April):
I thought you all would like to hear how the once-a-day milking is going for Iris. Previously, Iris was being milked 2x per day and she was eating about 3-4lbs of alfalfa and beet pulp pellets (which were then soaked) per milking. At 14 months into her lactation, she was giving 4.5-5 gallons per day (she is not bred). About three weeks ago I started the transition to OAD. For four days, she was milked at 18 hour intervals and her feed was reduced to 1/3 the normal amount, at each milking. Then we switched completely over to OAD. She is getting only 1/3 the feed that she previously got, and she is giving 3.5 gallons per day!
Back to the present:
Now, on OAD milking (and less food, although there is more grass), Iris is giving almost as much milk as with 2x day milking. The past two days I got 4 gallons!
Kelsey
I'm back! For those of you who didn't see the other post (a month ago), my family and I traveled around the country for a month in our RV. We went along the southern route and came back through the northern states. In UT, we saw Zion Nat'l Park, the Grand Canyon in AZ, the AQHA museum in Amarillo, TX, a gamefowl breeder in OK, Lafayette, LA (for the food!), the Kentucky Horse Park, our family in PA, Niagara Falls and Northland Sheep Dairy in NY, a modern game bantam breeder in Ontario, a crane (bird) preserve in WI, the Badlands and Black Hills of SD, and a Dutch bantam breeder in MT. The trip was wonderful!! Our animals are all doing really well, and Iris is in perfect condition and giving lots of milk (thank you, Charlene!).
I said I would post the details about OAD milking, as I wrote them before the trip and forgot to post it before we left. Here they are (I wrote this at the beginning of April):
I thought you all would like to hear how the once-a-day milking is going for Iris. Previously, Iris was being milked 2x per day and she was eating about 3-4lbs of alfalfa and beet pulp pellets (which were then soaked) per milking. At 14 months into her lactation, she was giving 4.5-5 gallons per day (she is not bred). About three weeks ago I started the transition to OAD. For four days, she was milked at 18 hour intervals and her feed was reduced to 1/3 the normal amount, at each milking. Then we switched completely over to OAD. She is getting only 1/3 the feed that she previously got, and she is giving 3.5 gallons per day!
Back to the present:
Now, on OAD milking (and less food, although there is more grass), Iris is giving almost as much milk as with 2x day milking. The past two days I got 4 gallons!
Kelsey