Anyway to increase milk production?

[Leimana]

As a lot of you know from reading the story of Pua, the dexter/jersey milk cow in her 7th week of lactation who is woefully producing only cups of milk per day, we have undergone much milking trials with this little girl. I am afraid that she is trying to dry herself up. We have gone to OAD, but I am very nervous now that she is going down instead of up like we hoped. She is getting lots of food. Soaked oats, barley, BOSS, beet pulp, and alfalfa pellets, topped with ACV and DE. This is fed at milking time. Then 2x a day we harvest grass for the 2 cows. We have major grass though! I am talking fat, luscious, 4 ft tall grass, typical of a tropical zone. She also gets different kinds of nitrogen fixing trees that are high in protein. Our cow twice her size is very healthy and Pua does not seem like she is needing any extra. I am hoping someone might know how to increase milk production. Does she need more food than that? I have tomention too, that she has shelter to go in and out as she pleases and about a 1/2 acre of lot to move freely. It does not have grass, because its out winter lot, and since it has not stopped raining in months we cannot move them to where the ground will get damaged. The lot is nice, lots of trees and shade and sun, whichever they desire and most of the ground is not mud about 3/4 is firm dry ground. There is mud but its a winter lot All in all I feel like its not an uncomfortable place. Our dog leaves the cows alone, its quiet and peaceful and we keep milking time the same. I am at a lost and would really like to see her milk production go up. Is it a possibility?

[Leimana]

This is the grass we get everyday! It is tied on tight because we travel the highway with it and it would blow everywhere if we didnt! ;D My dh carries it up and he says one feeding for the 2 cows is about a hundred pounds plus some. This is only a portion of the food they get. they also get what i said above in my original post. Plus bananas and their leaves, breadfruit vegetable scraps and more.

[Janene]

I say to up the grass....since its the main milk maker. Maybe go back to TAD milking, too.
Janene

[wyomama]

Definitely milk TAD - milk is a supply and demand process. OAD will usually cause a decrease in production on its own.

Is she letting down for you? Continual holding up will also decrease production.

[hafnhaf]

Jul 15, 2009 9:04:37 GMT -5 wyomama said:

Continual holding up will also decrease production.

Exactly. How do we stop the continual holding up? I am having the same issues.

Laurie

[moocow]

When I increased the alfalfa for our cow the milk production definately went up. I notice that one batch of alfalfa was very stemmy and she didn't eat it very well and the production went down. Thanks for the mini jersey info.

[moomaine]

Go back to twice a day and perservere. I am having the reverse problem drying up a cow on once a day and she will not reduce her production to under 2 gallons. ugh!! she is due sept. 1st

[tcbo]

I would milk every 2 hrs..... Thats how babies increase milk supply. It's a pain, but it should work.

[Leimana]

thanks for all the good info!

[wyomama]

Jul 15, 2009 9:59:44 GMT -5 hafnhaf said:

Jul 15, 2009 9:04:37 GMT -5 wyomama said:

Continual holding up will also decrease production.

Exactly. How do we stop the continual holding up? I am having the same issues.

Laurie

That's the $64,000 question, isn't it?

The answer is different for each cow, and it's usually a matter of taking what we know about lactation and let down and applying it with consistency.

First of all, let down lasts about 10 minutes. One thought I had about your's and Leimana's situations, is maybe you are taking too long to prepare for milking. When you see / feel the teats start to fill, or the bottom of the bag firms up a little, you need to be milking. Maybe try getting going faster, and then save the massaging for when the let down stops to try and get another one. Focus on milking as fast and completely as you can. If you aren't already, push up with your hand opened fairly hard, feel the milk come down, and tug a little while you are squeezing it out. Be sure that your milking is stimulating the whole udder, and is a little "demanding".

Also, watch them closely for signs of stress. Tight tail, maybe switching tail, tight jaw, bracing against the stanchion. They don't always think that the things we are doing to relax them are relaxing. With my cows, I give them half their ration when they go into the stanchion, and the other half mid-way through. On some, brushing and petting before or during milking (I use a machine now) blisses them out. On others, they don't want to be touched more than necessary until they are done.

I know you don't want to, but I would, in your shoes, reconsider using a dose of oxytocin so that you know how much you should be getting, and what the cream line should look like.

I feel for you.

For what it's worth, I have milked two Dexter/Jersey crosses, and once I got past the let down issues that they had on their first calvings for me, have been very satisfied with them.

[Lesli]

I was raising 2 growing jersey bull calves (fostered) on Daisy and getting 2 gallons of milk. She was getting plenty of feed, perhaps a little more than you are feeding, but she is jersey and larger. She has never before been such a large producer but the next lactation, she really had a very large udder (not compared to the 6-9 gal/per day producers)but for her-- and I had to work to decrease her production. I didn't need nor could I manage more than about 2.5 gallons a day. One way I decreased in the beginning was to only let her feed her calf for 9 days per the vet. She also suffered Ketosis at that time and I could not tolerate the milk, and it did straighten her out letting her adjust to just the calf's needs. Then I separated the calf during the day and milked evenings. She held up badly her first lactation with us, but the second go around she automatically gave us 2 gallons then held the rest for her calf. Which was fine with me, perfect arrangement. We still got a couple of inches of cream, which is plenty or the milk is far too rich. Her skim is rich. (like homogenized)

Right now I am needing to take about 6-8 inches of cream off her milk as their is no calf and she is 23.5 months into her last lactation and only about 3.5 months pregnant so we will continue to milk another 3 or 4 months every other day. We get about 2 gallons from both Daisy and Loretta together every other day. We will drop off now for Loretta as I saw her baby moving last night. ;D

So what I am saying with all this rambling is perhaps get her a foster calf and bump her feed (only because it was unlimited before) after a few months pull the calf and maybe you will get a bump in your milk supply- if you are milking by penning the calf periodically. Next lactation will be much more.

[hafnhaf]

Jul 16, 2009 8:05:08 GMT -5 wyomama said:

I know you don't want to, but I would, in your shoes, reconsider using a dose of oxytocin so that you know how much you should be getting, and what the cream line should look like.

Hi Lee Anne,
I am ready to try one shot of oxytocin, but here his my question. Mookie just got bred a week ago (AI). I am not sure if it took or not yet, but will the oxytocin interfere if she is pregnant?
I am so frustrated. I called a vet who supposedly works on dairy cows (we are in a real beef area) and he didn't even seem to know what the oxytocin was for, besides as a clean out shot after birth. Once I explained what I was wanting to do he said he thinks the oxytocin would only work about the first week after calving to help with letdown, and he didn't think it should be used on a pregnant cow. He had no idea they use it in dairies, some on a daily basis, for let down. So I am guessing he NEVER works on dairy cows.

I would like to know if anyone has experience using oxytocin on a bred cow? In theory it seems ok, since their bodies are already producing it.

Laurie

[Leimana]

I upped Pua meals, adding about 2 pounds more of alfalfa pellets, doubled the grass amount and I think I am seeing an increase. She leaves a bit of her breakfast behind, only about 2 cups and the same in the evening. She gave 8 cups yesterday A.M and the same last night and then gave 10 cps this morning. I will know tonite if it has been an overall increase. My routine is to give a handful of food to bring her in, which she does nicely! Then I lock the headgate, spray her with flyspray and give a quick brushing. I then wash her feet off, give her the remaining amount of food and wash her udder. I start from the top wash down and around and then dry. The whole washing time only takes a minute or so even if she is muddy. She is letting down fine now. Stands as still as a statue and eats very peaceflly. This morning her bag had a mild firmness on one side, but very minor. I think the increase in grass is my key. Even though we were feeding her what seemed a lot I guess it wasnt enough, although neither cow has lost any weight and in fact are very sleek and shiny. The way her little bag is madeI cant help but be stimulating when i milk her, it takes movement on my part to bring the milk into the teat, to make it good and fat to get healthy abundant squirts. I dont have any problem with let down as much as I would just like to stop measuring the milk in cups

[Liz]

She has improved in so many ways!! Standing and being a good girl, and letting down!! Woohoo!!

Yes, her next lactation will bring more, and the grass/alfalfa will help too. Congrats!!

About the only thing I had left to mention was the old "stand on your head and wiggle your ears" trick that my dad swore would do many wondrous things! I suspect, you have already employed this time honored measure as you are having good results! ;D

[Leimana]

I am in favor of the stand on your head and wiggle your ears, it is a wondrous method! ;D ;D

[missy]

Jul 16, 2009 14:33:14 GMT -5 Leimana said:

I dont have any problem with let down as much as I would just like to stop measuring the milk in cups

tee hee, it's all perspective. Measure in Aussie units - 4 cups is 1 litre therefore 10 cups is 2.5 litres and entirely respectable ;D