Post by mommyto6 on Jun 27, 2015 22:33:53 GMT -5
I some how did not see your last message (from 2 hours ago talking about the kicking)
You can use a belly rope, you can hobble her back legs or tie her leg back also. Are you just milking while she stands tied? A headgate/stanchion will make YOUR life drastically easier. I mean hugely. It means safety for you and sides that restrict her side to side movement. I built my own the last 3 times out of 2x4 and 2x6's and it is not that expensive nor hard. And then i bought a used one which was easier to move around. Kicking makes me really upset. Flying around, flailing, etc needs to be restrained because she is always bigger than you and you can't restrict the kicking or shifting if she is not in a stanchion.
I can understand your husbands upset. My husband takes kicks very personally. ME, I deal with it and I let a swipe or two go and then a belly rope or some more training with glove on a stick and a rake handle to whack the leg if they move it when they are not supposed to. THey are some big mean critters - they have no problems bashing each other into tomorrow just to get the food they want etc, so they are not animals that have to be handled with kid gloves when THEY are throwing attitude around. So I would say if you can't get a headgate built, at least tie her in the corner of a wooden or metal fence so she can't go forward or sideways one way, push a gate up against her on the other side and then that will stop her from going side to side and then put a kick stop, belly rope, hobbles or tie back her kicking leg. I try my best to not let go if they kick/swipe at me, but it is stressful so prefer to simply show them I am "bigger" with equipment . Now if they shift/wiggle I give an "EH!" and they know to stop or they will have a rope or hobble put on.
A few sessions of that and you might be surprised at how she calms down. Some JErseys are also not the greatest share milkers (or I should have said some COWS) and they can get attitude when you try to share milk. I owned one Jersey who could not share milk because she became a witch to work with and I got tired of her attitude.
I got my nupulse from Hamby and it took 5 days to arrive. I don't think you could "drive" somewhere unless it was to SE Minnesota - there is a nupulse dealer some where there that a friend of mine from Rochester buys stuff from, but I also know he has to get them to order things at times too. And they would not carry pumps in stock.
Most of us hand milked and have hand milked higher producing cows so it is done all the time. You will get faster, you will get better at it and she will calm down - I can't remember if you said how long you have had her, or when she calved?
I was so hoping we'd be able to get something sooner than that... ugh. I liked milking until the kicking started... and I'm sure these hour or more long milkings are driving her nuts too, especially since we seem to hardly put a dent in her supply.
I got her late Thursday night, so our first milking was Friday morning. I understand everything is new to her, though I am pretty sure she's testing her limits and that's why the kicking has gotten so bad... because I can't stop it, when she kicks I feel helpless and just move my arm before she comes down. She calved not long ago... I want to say around a month maybe but I can't remember if she gave us a date, the calf we got is about a week and not hers... which is ANOTHER new adjustment for her. I'm dreading tomorrow mornings milking, at this point I don't know where to tie her to restrict her more. I read earlier today that tying their back legs can sometimes cause them to fall.... thoughts?