Post by peppermintwindfarm on Aug 18, 2015 19:56:33 GMT -5
Okay, perhaps not a "house on fire" sort of emergency but I've been searching this site and googling and even tried calling an acquaintance who milks cows also.
My Jersey, Lucy, calved on July 2nd. All going well. I milk only mornings- always milk out and leave calf with her all the time. Been milking Lucy coming on 3 years- thought I had mastitis once but it seemed to resolve after a little extra attention.
Today the milk would not go through the filter. Tried changing filter. My milk ALWAYS runs through the filter pretty quick.
I can see NO visible clumps, strings, nothing. I emptied the milk left unfiltered and removed the filter and it does have a "film" that I don't usually see. Milk does seem yellower. Now that I think about it milk didn't foam up like it usually does-I hand milk. I usually have lots of froth on top to dump into the cat dish. No froth today.
Is the milk okay to use? and if so how do I get it through the filter?
Few observations:
Yesterday we had some issues milking. She seemed irritated, moved around in other words behaved a wee bit unusually. Calf was being a pest and some other external barn goings on were bothering me so I chalked her behavior up to those issues. Milk was perfectly normal yesterday. I sort of thought the passenger side front quarter seemed really full and I commented to myself that even after milking it seemed taut.
Today normal milking DID NOT happen. She was clearly irritated. Calf was trying to nurse- a little desperately I thought-while I was doing my normal premilking routine, and he's never done that before. By the time I was ready to sit down and start actually milking she was really bitchy, then pooped and peed- which she KNOWS is a no-no. I'm sorry to say I freaked out! I DID NOT milk then as I normally would- bucket got kicked over, everything splattered with poo and I had to rewash everything anyway. My daughter (adult!) has puppies in the next stall (long story but they were moving and thus puppies are here) said puppies were obnoxiously loud and yipping, shrieking really and so loud that I was going to lose my mind. Sooooo, I again attributed above behavior to external irritants and calf naughtiness and decided to give her a lesson in standing still. I normally milk without tying or confining- I give her hay and/or grain and she stands still while I milk, works like a charm and has for several years. I do tie her occasionally if she gets to be too antsy, moving back and forth, as a reminder. Today I tied her and left her to stand for awhile- and went to lower my anxiety level and call daughter and have her remind me why it was a good idea to leave puppies with me, etc. etc.
What with this and that after several hours I got back out and pretty much redid the normal routine, left her tied though and I milked without any response from Lucy cow. Calf was pestering me a bit but I think he's getting older and some routines will need to be tweaked.
Came inside and then discovered milk would not filter. So DUH! does she have some low level mastitis? Is it progressive-i.e. this is the beginning and it gets worse? Was the calf behaving oddly because milk is off? I got milk out of all quarters but could mastitis cause him to get less milk so that he was hungry when he's normally not?
WHAT DO I DO NOW, like literally RIGHT NOW? Run to fleet farm for a mastitis treatment? Like I said I've never had mastitis in 3 years so don't know how to deal with it. Should I go to "mastitis" mode and milk her 4-5 times a day? If so how will the calf get any milk?
Oh please someone tell me what to do! Please don't laugh or grumble that in the grand scheme of life this is hardly an emergency- I've got a few things going on in my life, pressures that is, and after searching for an hour for an answer my eyes filled up with tears(and are again just thinking about it) and well, that constitutes an emergency for me. I don't normally lose my cool, get irrational or complain overmuch about anything . . . cry about milk? Absolutely never!
Can I post my phone # and have someone call with advice and proper steps to put into action?
My Jersey, Lucy, calved on July 2nd. All going well. I milk only mornings- always milk out and leave calf with her all the time. Been milking Lucy coming on 3 years- thought I had mastitis once but it seemed to resolve after a little extra attention.
Today the milk would not go through the filter. Tried changing filter. My milk ALWAYS runs through the filter pretty quick.
I can see NO visible clumps, strings, nothing. I emptied the milk left unfiltered and removed the filter and it does have a "film" that I don't usually see. Milk does seem yellower. Now that I think about it milk didn't foam up like it usually does-I hand milk. I usually have lots of froth on top to dump into the cat dish. No froth today.
Is the milk okay to use? and if so how do I get it through the filter?
Few observations:
Yesterday we had some issues milking. She seemed irritated, moved around in other words behaved a wee bit unusually. Calf was being a pest and some other external barn goings on were bothering me so I chalked her behavior up to those issues. Milk was perfectly normal yesterday. I sort of thought the passenger side front quarter seemed really full and I commented to myself that even after milking it seemed taut.
Today normal milking DID NOT happen. She was clearly irritated. Calf was trying to nurse- a little desperately I thought-while I was doing my normal premilking routine, and he's never done that before. By the time I was ready to sit down and start actually milking she was really bitchy, then pooped and peed- which she KNOWS is a no-no. I'm sorry to say I freaked out! I DID NOT milk then as I normally would- bucket got kicked over, everything splattered with poo and I had to rewash everything anyway. My daughter (adult!) has puppies in the next stall (long story but they were moving and thus puppies are here) said puppies were obnoxiously loud and yipping, shrieking really and so loud that I was going to lose my mind. Sooooo, I again attributed above behavior to external irritants and calf naughtiness and decided to give her a lesson in standing still. I normally milk without tying or confining- I give her hay and/or grain and she stands still while I milk, works like a charm and has for several years. I do tie her occasionally if she gets to be too antsy, moving back and forth, as a reminder. Today I tied her and left her to stand for awhile- and went to lower my anxiety level and call daughter and have her remind me why it was a good idea to leave puppies with me, etc. etc.
What with this and that after several hours I got back out and pretty much redid the normal routine, left her tied though and I milked without any response from Lucy cow. Calf was pestering me a bit but I think he's getting older and some routines will need to be tweaked.
Came inside and then discovered milk would not filter. So DUH! does she have some low level mastitis? Is it progressive-i.e. this is the beginning and it gets worse? Was the calf behaving oddly because milk is off? I got milk out of all quarters but could mastitis cause him to get less milk so that he was hungry when he's normally not?
WHAT DO I DO NOW, like literally RIGHT NOW? Run to fleet farm for a mastitis treatment? Like I said I've never had mastitis in 3 years so don't know how to deal with it. Should I go to "mastitis" mode and milk her 4-5 times a day? If so how will the calf get any milk?
Oh please someone tell me what to do! Please don't laugh or grumble that in the grand scheme of life this is hardly an emergency- I've got a few things going on in my life, pressures that is, and after searching for an hour for an answer my eyes filled up with tears(and are again just thinking about it) and well, that constitutes an emergency for me. I don't normally lose my cool, get irrational or complain overmuch about anything . . . cry about milk? Absolutely never!
Can I post my phone # and have someone call with advice and proper steps to put into action?