Post by jerseylovinliz on Apr 30, 2011 18:14:53 GMT -5
My new cow, Dolly, is a ~&*(#$^&@#$ bear to milk. I go out every single time knowing this milking will be better. I stop at the gate & pray for peace every single time. I am not stressed. I am not thinking in my head I hate her, I hate her. I am nice & sweet. Dolly is not sweet. I am at my wits end with her.
She kicks & kicks & kicks & then kicks more. She will not let you milk more than one teat at a time if you manage to hold on to a teat through all her kicking. She will not let you milk fast (even mediocre speed causes a freak out). I tie her legs up & she still does this hoppy jumpy kick thing. She's very accurate (must be all the stinkin practice she gets). I tied each leg to a different post from two directions so she couldn't move a stinkin centimeter & she just kept whipping me with her tail, pooping & peeing & moving around.
She doesn't have any sores or cuts. She doesn't have mastitis. I can't see any reason whatsoever it would be hurting her. I have had her 2 wks I think now. It's always the same routine, same time. I don't change things around, except for the knots I've been trying to tie her up so she can't kick me. She lets down wonderfully. She gives TONS of cream (unbelievable amounts).
How do I make things better? I'll do ANYTHING. Can you turn a machine milked cow into a hand milked cow? I don't have the $ to get a machine right now but am trying to scrape it together. Do you think that'd help? Meanwhile I have a bruised hip (can hardly put weight on right leg), 3 broken fingers, a chunk missing from the bone in my shin, HUGE bruises all down my shins, thighs & arms, etc etc etc from all the kicking. I'm really quick but man she's accurate & quick too. She's dislocated 4 of my fingers in the past 5 days b/c she gets the bucket trapping my fingers in the handle when I try to grab it real quick. I have even started milking with a HEAVY duty piece of paneling in front of my shins so she'll at least hit that & get a direct hit on my bones.
Liz
She kicks & kicks & kicks & then kicks more. She will not let you milk more than one teat at a time if you manage to hold on to a teat through all her kicking. She will not let you milk fast (even mediocre speed causes a freak out). I tie her legs up & she still does this hoppy jumpy kick thing. She's very accurate (must be all the stinkin practice she gets). I tied each leg to a different post from two directions so she couldn't move a stinkin centimeter & she just kept whipping me with her tail, pooping & peeing & moving around.
She doesn't have any sores or cuts. She doesn't have mastitis. I can't see any reason whatsoever it would be hurting her. I have had her 2 wks I think now. It's always the same routine, same time. I don't change things around, except for the knots I've been trying to tie her up so she can't kick me. She lets down wonderfully. She gives TONS of cream (unbelievable amounts).
How do I make things better? I'll do ANYTHING. Can you turn a machine milked cow into a hand milked cow? I don't have the $ to get a machine right now but am trying to scrape it together. Do you think that'd help? Meanwhile I have a bruised hip (can hardly put weight on right leg), 3 broken fingers, a chunk missing from the bone in my shin, HUGE bruises all down my shins, thighs & arms, etc etc etc from all the kicking. I'm really quick but man she's accurate & quick too. She's dislocated 4 of my fingers in the past 5 days b/c she gets the bucket trapping my fingers in the handle when I try to grab it real quick. I have even started milking with a HEAVY duty piece of paneling in front of my shins so she'll at least hit that & get a direct hit on my bones.
Liz