Post by Lannie on Feb 21, 2010 13:47:28 GMT -5
I know Janene does this successfully. And yesterday I was talking to Karen on the phone (thanks, Karen!) and she told me how she did it with Buttercup. So I'm trying it on Bandit, but I don't know if I'm doing the right thing or not.
HOW does the cow know that you want them to let down just because you leave them in the stanchion? What if she doesn't let down? I can't leave her in there all day. And frankly, I'm beginning to wonder if she IS holding up now. I still feel firmness when I'm finished, and I know the cream should be more than it is, but if she's decided not to let any more down, how does keeping her locked in the stanchion convince her to change her mind? Do I have to keep doing this until she might one day accidentally let down and then let her out? And how will she know the difference between that, and when I let her out because she's been in there a long time already? Unless I leave her in there all day, and I really don't think that would be right.
I really don't understand why I'm having such a problem this time around. When I weaned Cricket, Bandit held up for a week, then let it go and never looked back. This time, she just seems unwilling to completely let down.
It always SEEMS like she is - when I'm washing her up, her udder swells and gets hard and the milk just pours out, but when it comes to an end, there's still milk in there (I think). The problem is she's outsmarting me, and I hate to admit that my cow is smarter than I am, but I guess that's a fact.
I'm concerned that because she's holding up all the time, she's going to end up drying herself off, and I need to keep her in milk because she's not bred. I won't be able to try breeding her again until June, so I have to milk her through this summer, at least. After Cricket calves, I'll have her milk (I hope), so I could let her dry off for the winter and have no problem with that, but I can't let her dry off just yet.
She was at 6 gallons a day at her peak, after I weaned Seven she started out at 3 to 3.5 gallons a day, and now I'm down to 2 gallons a day, if I'm lucky. Some days I only get 1. And that's milking twice a day.
Now, to be honest, I've only tried leaving her in the stanchion twice so far, last night and this morning. Last night she was confused and bewildered, and this morning she was PO'd to the max. She was perfectly behaved until she was finished giving milk, but I thought there was more, so I left her in there and went back in the house for 30 minutes, then came back and washed her up and tried again. When I came back out, she expressed her disapproval in many ways (peeing, pooping, peeing again, tail whacking my face, foot lifting, stepping away, etc.). I don't want to make the stanchion an unpleasant experience for either one of us, but I DO want to get over this hump. It seems like a battle of wills, and I'm not sure who will win in the end.
I guess my biggest problem is I'm NOT SURE if she's still holding up. Sometimes I know, but other times, like this morning, it seems like she gives it all up. But there's still that firmness that I perceive as milk still in her udder. Could I be misreading that? The only way I can tell for sure how well she let down is to see how much cream there is, and that's something I won't know for 12 to 14 hours (that's usually how long it takes to separate).
I really wish one of you lived close enough to me to come over and tell me if I'm getting her empty or not. Argh... I should know... but I'm second guessing myself now.
~Lannie
HOW does the cow know that you want them to let down just because you leave them in the stanchion? What if she doesn't let down? I can't leave her in there all day. And frankly, I'm beginning to wonder if she IS holding up now. I still feel firmness when I'm finished, and I know the cream should be more than it is, but if she's decided not to let any more down, how does keeping her locked in the stanchion convince her to change her mind? Do I have to keep doing this until she might one day accidentally let down and then let her out? And how will she know the difference between that, and when I let her out because she's been in there a long time already? Unless I leave her in there all day, and I really don't think that would be right.
I really don't understand why I'm having such a problem this time around. When I weaned Cricket, Bandit held up for a week, then let it go and never looked back. This time, she just seems unwilling to completely let down.
It always SEEMS like she is - when I'm washing her up, her udder swells and gets hard and the milk just pours out, but when it comes to an end, there's still milk in there (I think). The problem is she's outsmarting me, and I hate to admit that my cow is smarter than I am, but I guess that's a fact.
I'm concerned that because she's holding up all the time, she's going to end up drying herself off, and I need to keep her in milk because she's not bred. I won't be able to try breeding her again until June, so I have to milk her through this summer, at least. After Cricket calves, I'll have her milk (I hope), so I could let her dry off for the winter and have no problem with that, but I can't let her dry off just yet.
She was at 6 gallons a day at her peak, after I weaned Seven she started out at 3 to 3.5 gallons a day, and now I'm down to 2 gallons a day, if I'm lucky. Some days I only get 1. And that's milking twice a day.
Now, to be honest, I've only tried leaving her in the stanchion twice so far, last night and this morning. Last night she was confused and bewildered, and this morning she was PO'd to the max. She was perfectly behaved until she was finished giving milk, but I thought there was more, so I left her in there and went back in the house for 30 minutes, then came back and washed her up and tried again. When I came back out, she expressed her disapproval in many ways (peeing, pooping, peeing again, tail whacking my face, foot lifting, stepping away, etc.). I don't want to make the stanchion an unpleasant experience for either one of us, but I DO want to get over this hump. It seems like a battle of wills, and I'm not sure who will win in the end.
I guess my biggest problem is I'm NOT SURE if she's still holding up. Sometimes I know, but other times, like this morning, it seems like she gives it all up. But there's still that firmness that I perceive as milk still in her udder. Could I be misreading that? The only way I can tell for sure how well she let down is to see how much cream there is, and that's something I won't know for 12 to 14 hours (that's usually how long it takes to separate).
I really wish one of you lived close enough to me to come over and tell me if I'm getting her empty or not. Argh... I should know... but I'm second guessing myself now.
~Lannie