Post by BlackWillowFarm on Sept 30, 2008 15:41:46 GMT -5
:-/I'm such an amateur. I must be terrible at hand milking. I've only had my cow for 6 days and she's got mastitis already! I know it's mastitis because she has clumps when I milked her. I only got clumps from one milking and it was only about a tablespoons worth. I hope and pray that means I caught it early.
I called two vets and they both gave me the same advice. Get a mammary infusion. I treated her yesterday with Today. This morning after the stuff had been in there for 12 hours, per directions, she let me milk her out without the dancing and pushing with her foot. I say pushing, because she's so sweet she doesn't really kick, more like pushes you away with her foot.
I have a couple of questions I hope you more experienced milkers can help me with but first I'll tell you my routine. I always wash her teats with hot water mixed with a couple drops of dish soap and a tiny splash of Clorox. Then I dry them with paper towel. I make sure my hands have been rinsed in the wash water after I wash her off, then I dry my hands and start milking. She lets down good. I have a half gallon jar in the fridge that is 1/2 full of cream! Most of them have 2-3 inches of cream on top. Doesn't that mean she's letting down pretty good?
When I'm done milking, I strip and dip her teats in iodine teat dip then turn her out to pasture. I was milking her at 12 hour intervals, give or take a 1/2 hour. Now I'm milking her 3 times a day until she clears of the mastitis.
One of the problems I think is that in my inexperience. I wasn't getting all the milk out before I stopped milking. I only discovered that when my son helped me milk and he got those teats so flat and wrinkly there was only teensy tiny bits of milk coming out when he finished. I'd never gotten her so empty before that. He taught me something about milking and he'd never milked a cow in his life! Stronger hands, I guess. So that was a valuable lesson for me and now I make sure she's down to itsy bitsy little squirts of milk before I stop. I hope I'm doing it correctly now. Does that sound like the right way to end milking?
My other question is will the quarter that's affected ever go back down to normal size? It's her right hind quarter and it's bulging compared to her left hind. Even after I milk her the quarter stays larger than the other. Will it go back to normal size or have I scarred her for life? It does get soft and I spend probably 15-20 minutes massaging it after I milk it out. I massage, squeeze, get a squirt, massage, squeeze, squirt and so on until she swishes me with her tail and I thinks she's telling me to stop, that she's done. I feel pretty confident that there isn't any milk left when I stop. If she's holding back, I can't tell. Another reason I'm doubting myself now.
Have I ruined my lovely cow?
I called two vets and they both gave me the same advice. Get a mammary infusion. I treated her yesterday with Today. This morning after the stuff had been in there for 12 hours, per directions, she let me milk her out without the dancing and pushing with her foot. I say pushing, because she's so sweet she doesn't really kick, more like pushes you away with her foot.
I have a couple of questions I hope you more experienced milkers can help me with but first I'll tell you my routine. I always wash her teats with hot water mixed with a couple drops of dish soap and a tiny splash of Clorox. Then I dry them with paper towel. I make sure my hands have been rinsed in the wash water after I wash her off, then I dry my hands and start milking. She lets down good. I have a half gallon jar in the fridge that is 1/2 full of cream! Most of them have 2-3 inches of cream on top. Doesn't that mean she's letting down pretty good?
When I'm done milking, I strip and dip her teats in iodine teat dip then turn her out to pasture. I was milking her at 12 hour intervals, give or take a 1/2 hour. Now I'm milking her 3 times a day until she clears of the mastitis.
One of the problems I think is that in my inexperience. I wasn't getting all the milk out before I stopped milking. I only discovered that when my son helped me milk and he got those teats so flat and wrinkly there was only teensy tiny bits of milk coming out when he finished. I'd never gotten her so empty before that. He taught me something about milking and he'd never milked a cow in his life! Stronger hands, I guess. So that was a valuable lesson for me and now I make sure she's down to itsy bitsy little squirts of milk before I stop. I hope I'm doing it correctly now. Does that sound like the right way to end milking?
My other question is will the quarter that's affected ever go back down to normal size? It's her right hind quarter and it's bulging compared to her left hind. Even after I milk her the quarter stays larger than the other. Will it go back to normal size or have I scarred her for life? It does get soft and I spend probably 15-20 minutes massaging it after I milk it out. I massage, squeeze, get a squirt, massage, squeeze, squirt and so on until she swishes me with her tail and I thinks she's telling me to stop, that she's done. I feel pretty confident that there isn't any milk left when I stop. If she's holding back, I can't tell. Another reason I'm doubting myself now.
Have I ruined my lovely cow?