Post by dwellandramble on Jan 8, 2019 1:04:34 GMT -5
Ok, so it's been the hardest week of my life, besides the first week postpartum with both of my own babies Going from milking two goats to suddenly having two fresh, high-producing Jerseys is so much more than I bargained for!
Lucy and Maudie calved on the 2nd and the 4th, and I very quickly realized I'd need a machine to have any hope of keeping up with their milk supplies, as they both have teeny tiny back teats and with the swelling and overwhelming amount of milk, and me having never milked a cow before, there was no way I was going to be able to manage. We got a machine on the 3rd, but between working out kinks with the machine and dealing with cows that haven't been milked in nearly two years, nobody really got milked out until the 5th. I milked as much as I could off of Lucy twice each day after she calved (on the 2nd), but she is honestly very scary to milk and I had to call it quits before I really should have each time due to her stress levels and kicking. When I got my first thoroughly clean milk from her, on the 6th, it was oh so salty. Her udder was very firm and full, but not hot and no clumpy milk or lumps in her udder, at least I don't think. It's just so hard for me to tell if her udder is normal for a fresh cow, or if it ought to be much looser after milking. So today I milked them both three times and got as much as I possibly could with the machine. Maudie's udder looked pretty good to me after milking the third time. Her quarters were saggy, not just wrinkly teats. With Lucy it's hard to tell. They each gave me 2 to 2 1/2 gallons every milking today, and the teats and close to the teats is all saggy, but higher up things still feel very firm. Is she just not letting down for me? Or is this edema? Beginnings of Mastitis? I'm wondering if I ought to give Oxytocin to get them to let down better?
This is before milking yesterday (Lucy is on the left, looking at the camera):
IMG_2036 by Sarah Withers, on Flickr
And this is after my first milking of the day:
IMG_2055 by Sarah Withers, on Flickr
IMG_2057 by Sarah Withers, on Flickr
IMG_2058 by Sarah Withers, on Flickr
Her udder was certainly far more wrinkled and loose than yesterday, but it's hard for me to tell if I'm milking her out. And I can't really massage the udder to bring anything else down. Milking her has been so incredibly stressful. She kicks like a mule. Not the "I'm uncomfortable" shifting or slight kick when stressed. True sideways "I'm trying to kill you" kind of kicking. She got me today on my thumb and split it open at the fingernail. It's been four days of milking and it's gotten worse, not better. She goes in the stanchion pretty easily now, but whether hand milking or machine, she kicks and rages and will not stop. I'm completely inexperienced and milking her is something I'm not just dreading anymore, I'm actually afraid.
So I'm wondering - what would you do? She's a beautiful cow. Purebred Jersey, dam from the local dairy, so she's a high producer. She is an excellent mother too, and so sweet to her calf. But her previous owner wasn't very honest with me, and it was clear from day one that she was never truly halter trained or learned to respect humans, and now it's very apparent she was never really milked either. A neighbor confirmed it. Lucy has always been an awful cow, and very untrustworthy. I want her gone ASAP, but I have no idea how I could sell a cow that is so untrained to milk, especially since I'm concerned about mastitis. Thoughts?
Lucy and Maudie calved on the 2nd and the 4th, and I very quickly realized I'd need a machine to have any hope of keeping up with their milk supplies, as they both have teeny tiny back teats and with the swelling and overwhelming amount of milk, and me having never milked a cow before, there was no way I was going to be able to manage. We got a machine on the 3rd, but between working out kinks with the machine and dealing with cows that haven't been milked in nearly two years, nobody really got milked out until the 5th. I milked as much as I could off of Lucy twice each day after she calved (on the 2nd), but she is honestly very scary to milk and I had to call it quits before I really should have each time due to her stress levels and kicking. When I got my first thoroughly clean milk from her, on the 6th, it was oh so salty. Her udder was very firm and full, but not hot and no clumpy milk or lumps in her udder, at least I don't think. It's just so hard for me to tell if her udder is normal for a fresh cow, or if it ought to be much looser after milking. So today I milked them both three times and got as much as I possibly could with the machine. Maudie's udder looked pretty good to me after milking the third time. Her quarters were saggy, not just wrinkly teats. With Lucy it's hard to tell. They each gave me 2 to 2 1/2 gallons every milking today, and the teats and close to the teats is all saggy, but higher up things still feel very firm. Is she just not letting down for me? Or is this edema? Beginnings of Mastitis? I'm wondering if I ought to give Oxytocin to get them to let down better?
This is before milking yesterday (Lucy is on the left, looking at the camera):
IMG_2036 by Sarah Withers, on Flickr
And this is after my first milking of the day:
IMG_2055 by Sarah Withers, on Flickr
IMG_2057 by Sarah Withers, on Flickr
IMG_2058 by Sarah Withers, on Flickr
Her udder was certainly far more wrinkled and loose than yesterday, but it's hard for me to tell if I'm milking her out. And I can't really massage the udder to bring anything else down. Milking her has been so incredibly stressful. She kicks like a mule. Not the "I'm uncomfortable" shifting or slight kick when stressed. True sideways "I'm trying to kill you" kind of kicking. She got me today on my thumb and split it open at the fingernail. It's been four days of milking and it's gotten worse, not better. She goes in the stanchion pretty easily now, but whether hand milking or machine, she kicks and rages and will not stop. I'm completely inexperienced and milking her is something I'm not just dreading anymore, I'm actually afraid.
So I'm wondering - what would you do? She's a beautiful cow. Purebred Jersey, dam from the local dairy, so she's a high producer. She is an excellent mother too, and so sweet to her calf. But her previous owner wasn't very honest with me, and it was clear from day one that she was never truly halter trained or learned to respect humans, and now it's very apparent she was never really milked either. A neighbor confirmed it. Lucy has always been an awful cow, and very untrustworthy. I want her gone ASAP, but I have no idea how I could sell a cow that is so untrained to milk, especially since I'm concerned about mastitis. Thoughts?