Post by justonecow on May 2, 2015 18:16:04 GMT -5
Tonight was the last straw w/our cow Betsie. She calved last Tuesday, a bull calf. We got her last Aug and she was pretty well behaved but we learned quickly that she only stands still as long as there is feed. Well, after 4 months of not milking, and her having more milk than before, she is winning the eating/milking race. We have a "chute" that she goes in to milk. Last night she would not stand still and kept kicking at my sons hands to get him to stop milking. (he has been milking her since we got her and he is a big 16yo, not a little tyke) So, we decided to try to hit back when she kicked, and the war was on then! Needless to say she won. We fixed up the chute so that she could not pull back or swing around so much, but after last nights war, she was not interested in going in. We finally got her in and then she kept sorta acting up more so we thought we would try tying her leg back. That didn't work, the rope kept slipping off. Then she just kicked all the more, and she came aim like a sharp shooter, and she is trying to hurt someone!!! She won the battle again tonight. No devil cow, just people killer! We only got about a quart out of her. We are at our wits end, we just don't know how to get over the hump w/her. Nothing we try helps. We thought about doing the rope around her belly, but we're not sure how to do that w/out getting kicked. We would like to try hobbles, but have to order them, and then not sure we can get them on w/out being kicked! She has only had one or two good milkings since she calved so I fear she is going to get mastitis but our lives are more precious than her udder. So, we are going to get rid of her and buy our dairy products. It saddens me to give up but she is just not worth the risk.
Thanks for letting me vent, and thanks for the help I have gotten on this board the last week or so. Guess my name will be "justnocow" now .
Thanks for letting me vent, and thanks for the help I have gotten on this board the last week or so. Guess my name will be "justnocow" now .