Maintaining Routine After Drying Off
Mar 29, 2024 10:37:39 GMT -5
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simplynaturalfarm likes this
Post by jennym on Mar 29, 2024 10:37:39 GMT -5
Hi all.
I still consider myself new to milking cows.
Little background before we start. I have mini zebus. Yes I milk them, I get a quart a day per girl which is more than plenty for my extremely small household. I even have enough surplus to make cheese (1 gallon batches) once or twice a week.
Yes, they are hard milkers with letdown issues. They have small teats. They’re very calf-centric. No, I don’t want an actual dairy breed cow. But they’re perfect for my needs: small and easy (for my aging body) to handle, easy keepers, hardy, super heat tolerant, and they’re tamed down so much they’re almost “pets”.
I was doing OAD calf sharing and we’re at around 6 months in the process. We have a set routine: Mulligan, then Bonus, then Doozybots.
Mulligan (first freshener, bred back, due in November) and Bonus (first freshener, bred back, due in August) are both in milk and Doozybots is due in April. She’s 6 years old and has had calves before but was never milked. I’ve got her in the rotation just to come in to the stanchion, get brushed and a small treat sized serving of grain so she’s familiar with the process. I handle her (avoiding her udder) as part of the pre-prep for training.
I’m a little nervous about training Doozybots since she’s very skittish and flighty and I expect a battle. (She’s a former show cow and I suspect she suffered some abuse somewhere along the way, probably in the pens at events; her prior owner says she just kept getting more and more flakey after every show. I don’t suspect the prior owner, I just think she was harassed in the holding pens...kind of how people will tap a fish tank to get a response y’know?)
Anyhow. I sold off the calves last week and my cows are drying up. I expected and am perfectly okay with this. Like I said, I’m thinking Doozybots will need extra attention and my personal ability/time levels would appreciate the ability to focus.
Here’s my question:
Should I continue the routine? Into the stanchion, reduced size “treat” (grain or alfalfa pellets), handle, next, or should I just stop all together except for Doozy?
On one hand, I don’t want them associating the stanchion with not letting down. I also don’t want to upset the “good” girls by breaking routine or Doozy backsliding into twitchy neurosis.
I’d love to hear thoughts on this.
I still consider myself new to milking cows.
Little background before we start. I have mini zebus. Yes I milk them, I get a quart a day per girl which is more than plenty for my extremely small household. I even have enough surplus to make cheese (1 gallon batches) once or twice a week.
Yes, they are hard milkers with letdown issues. They have small teats. They’re very calf-centric. No, I don’t want an actual dairy breed cow. But they’re perfect for my needs: small and easy (for my aging body) to handle, easy keepers, hardy, super heat tolerant, and they’re tamed down so much they’re almost “pets”.
I was doing OAD calf sharing and we’re at around 6 months in the process. We have a set routine: Mulligan, then Bonus, then Doozybots.
Mulligan (first freshener, bred back, due in November) and Bonus (first freshener, bred back, due in August) are both in milk and Doozybots is due in April. She’s 6 years old and has had calves before but was never milked. I’ve got her in the rotation just to come in to the stanchion, get brushed and a small treat sized serving of grain so she’s familiar with the process. I handle her (avoiding her udder) as part of the pre-prep for training.
I’m a little nervous about training Doozybots since she’s very skittish and flighty and I expect a battle. (She’s a former show cow and I suspect she suffered some abuse somewhere along the way, probably in the pens at events; her prior owner says she just kept getting more and more flakey after every show. I don’t suspect the prior owner, I just think she was harassed in the holding pens...kind of how people will tap a fish tank to get a response y’know?)
Anyhow. I sold off the calves last week and my cows are drying up. I expected and am perfectly okay with this. Like I said, I’m thinking Doozybots will need extra attention and my personal ability/time levels would appreciate the ability to focus.
Here’s my question:
Should I continue the routine? Into the stanchion, reduced size “treat” (grain or alfalfa pellets), handle, next, or should I just stop all together except for Doozy?
On one hand, I don’t want them associating the stanchion with not letting down. I also don’t want to upset the “good” girls by breaking routine or Doozy backsliding into twitchy neurosis.
I’d love to hear thoughts on this.