Post by jneail on May 11, 2011 9:33:55 GMT -5
I picked up my first cows on Good Friday- 4 Dexters- a 12 year old and her 5 month old heifer calf, and 2-3 year olds. The 3 year olds are dry, but the 12 year old is currently in milk and has been hand milked sporadically in the past, I think.
Ellie (the 12 yr old) has a wonderful temperament and even though I've just been milking her in the field on a tether, she usually stands pretty well for me, even if the grain is gone.
That's the good part. The bad part is even though I've been at this for a week and a half, my hands/ arms are Soooo sore. If I was milking a Jersey or a Holstein, or something higher production, I could understand. I'm only milking once a day and I'm only making it to about 2 cups worth before I can't do any more! I hand milked every once in a while when I was growing up and could easily make it to a couple quarts- even though I didn't milk very often.
She does hold up on me some. I've tried leaving her and coming back to milk again and not letting her have the calf till' she gives me more. I also tried tying the calf close to her one morning and that made the hold up worse.
Her front teats are a nice size for me to milk. The back are shorter and harder to milk, but I haven't even been trying much with them, since I'm nowhere near emptying the front!
Is there something else I'm missing?
So thankful I've got that calf to share with, until I can get my hands and arms into shape! Guess I can't worry about her holding back milk for the calf until I've got endurance enough to get more out of her!
Any tips for me? Do I need to try to milk slowly? Or do I just need to suck it up and keep going for a while longer before I'll be able to get more milk?
Ellie (the 12 yr old) has a wonderful temperament and even though I've just been milking her in the field on a tether, she usually stands pretty well for me, even if the grain is gone.
That's the good part. The bad part is even though I've been at this for a week and a half, my hands/ arms are Soooo sore. If I was milking a Jersey or a Holstein, or something higher production, I could understand. I'm only milking once a day and I'm only making it to about 2 cups worth before I can't do any more! I hand milked every once in a while when I was growing up and could easily make it to a couple quarts- even though I didn't milk very often.
She does hold up on me some. I've tried leaving her and coming back to milk again and not letting her have the calf till' she gives me more. I also tried tying the calf close to her one morning and that made the hold up worse.
Her front teats are a nice size for me to milk. The back are shorter and harder to milk, but I haven't even been trying much with them, since I'm nowhere near emptying the front!
Is there something else I'm missing?
So thankful I've got that calf to share with, until I can get my hands and arms into shape! Guess I can't worry about her holding back milk for the calf until I've got endurance enough to get more out of her!
Any tips for me? Do I need to try to milk slowly? Or do I just need to suck it up and keep going for a while longer before I'll be able to get more milk?