Post by ketadog on Apr 15, 2011 23:37:35 GMT -5
I am a first time milker and i just got my cow back home! She was in a friends pasture being bred and seemed to like the company of the other cows so i left her for the winter BIG MISTAKE (will explain later)...she is my only cow a Jersey we bottle fed as a baby because the dairy didnt want her because she was allergic to the powdered soy formula....we ended up feeding her whole cow milk we bought at the store anyhow at 2 yrs my vet said "better breed her, she is getting old for a first baby" so i made a deal with the local Angus farmer up the road, breed my cow and you can have the baby if its a bull calf....we walker her down in July and she was soon at home:-) She had been a very well fed cow and rather fat! my intent was to leave her in for a few months and bring her home for winter...well the land she was on was 150 acres and the farmer assured me she would be fine and now that she had bonded with the herd to let her stay until spring....i was afraid of his 3 bulls and his herd of 50 cows none were tame like my cow....i could see her out in the pasture but not really see her close....so over the winter he fed hay all the cows looked good and so did mine from afar. So spring comes and i go to get her just 2 days ago in fact....i assume she is due any day as her udder is huge! EEKS when i got close to her she was so thin!!! hay was not enough for her this is why i wished i had her home earlier. Anyhow the farmer got her out for me and i walked her home with feed....I am throwing the feed to her but she sort of comes and goes from it?? She is on a grass pasture and i wormed her with 2lbs of Safegaurd fenbendizol pellets....so now i just wait for the baby!! My plan is to let her keep the calf and milk once a day just enough for the family....where do i start....not having done this before! she is sort of halter trained doesnt lead except for feed. i have no milking stall so i need to get a handi man out to build me one ASAP! I figure on leaving her with the calf for the first 3 days before milking is this OK? I dont really want to take the calf away from her so i was thinking to just milk what we need maybe a gallon or 2 per day....thoughts?? how do i teach her to milk or find an experienced person in my area to show me the ropes?? i need to learn cow prep and milk handling....anyhow i am in central GA near Macon