Post by Lannie on May 3, 2011 12:52:33 GMT -5
Many of you might be familiar with my troubles (I hesitate to even call it that) with milking Bandit. Just her attitude in general, she holds her milk up for her baby, she whacks me with her tail at the least little inconvenience to her (in her mind, anyway ), and that when I started milking Cricket, she was such a good girl that I would have chosen Cricket over Bandit if I had to choose only one to keep. Bandit's a good girl, don't get me wrong, it's just that she had her own ideas about who to give her milk to, and when. I was having to use the calf twice while milking her each time in order to get all the milk.
Since I've been using this belly milker, though, all that has changed. Now that I have the correct size of vacuum hose on the pulsator so they don't pop off in the middle of milking, everything is totally serene and smooth. Cricket, of course, is good all the time, well, except for that two days after calving. LOL! But now Bandit is good, too! I think she likes the milker, and she's not holding up her milk like she used to. I'm actually getting a good amount of cream on her milk now. Because she was letting most of her milk down for the machine, I've started milking three quarters only, leaving one for her little guy, and everyone is happy. It only takes a little more than 5 minutes to milk her out, I'm getting plenty of milk with cream, and Taz is getting one whole quarter for himself, plus the last of the cream in the other ones.
Even though there's grass in the pasture now, the pellets and hay that I put in the stanchion feeder are somehow "better," so when I go out to milk, I just call them and they come running. At sundown, I call them in again (they still come running) so I can lock up Bandit's baby for the night, and he's usually the first one in the barn, go figure. Getting him in the stall can sometimes be a little tricky if he still wants to play, but at least he comes in to the barn on his own. Then I bring Bandit in the stanchion for a few minutes to put some udder balm on her teats, and both girls get an extra flake or a few pellets as a treat.
Life is good.
~Lannie
Since I've been using this belly milker, though, all that has changed. Now that I have the correct size of vacuum hose on the pulsator so they don't pop off in the middle of milking, everything is totally serene and smooth. Cricket, of course, is good all the time, well, except for that two days after calving. LOL! But now Bandit is good, too! I think she likes the milker, and she's not holding up her milk like she used to. I'm actually getting a good amount of cream on her milk now. Because she was letting most of her milk down for the machine, I've started milking three quarters only, leaving one for her little guy, and everyone is happy. It only takes a little more than 5 minutes to milk her out, I'm getting plenty of milk with cream, and Taz is getting one whole quarter for himself, plus the last of the cream in the other ones.
Even though there's grass in the pasture now, the pellets and hay that I put in the stanchion feeder are somehow "better," so when I go out to milk, I just call them and they come running. At sundown, I call them in again (they still come running) so I can lock up Bandit's baby for the night, and he's usually the first one in the barn, go figure. Getting him in the stall can sometimes be a little tricky if he still wants to play, but at least he comes in to the barn on his own. Then I bring Bandit in the stanchion for a few minutes to put some udder balm on her teats, and both girls get an extra flake or a few pellets as a treat.
Life is good.
~Lannie