Post by camasjune on Apr 29, 2010 4:06:20 GMT -5
Is there a possibility, even a remote possibility, that milking my cow by hand in the evening while DH uses the machine for morning milking will "cause mastitis" in our cow? Am I missing something?
Let me explain. Part of the purchase agreement for our cow, who came with a milking machine, was milk for her former owners for a year, a young couple and an older couple.
Well, machines and I do not get along and a milking machine is no different. Rather than mess with hauling the extra weight and equipment to the barn, the noise and messing with a machine, I'd rather focus on the cow, tiny teats and all, and milk by hand. The cow is happy with the arrangement, she enjoys being hand milked, at least by those who know what they're doing. When the compressor quit, DH noticed how much she enjoyed hand milking, too. Both of us have milked cows before this one.
Anyway, the first time I mentioned to the younger couple I was milking by hand in the evenings, the was lady kinda upset and said I was going to "give her mastitis!"
HUH? Doesn't that only happen if somebody doesn't KNOW how to care for an udder and doesn't KNOW how to milk a cow by hand?
So after weeks of warm oil rubs to soften all the lumpiness in the udders, we find fist-size lumps that DH massages that turn out to be abcesses, which require antibiotics, which brings out a lot of history about the cow from her fan club about chronic mastitis and long term antibiotic use that we didn't know about.
Life has changed for the cow!
So the problem is cleared up, the cow is way healthy and giving over a gallon a day more milk than she was before treatment, and it flows through the filters like it never has since we got her. I am thrilled that problems are so easily solved!
Every time I speak with the former owners, though, they claim my hand milking is causing the cow mastitis problems. I politely ask them to explain how hand milking causes mastitis and I get a mumbled incoherent answer.
So if anyone can explain to me any possible reason hand milking in the evening would be a cause of mastitis, please explain it to me. Especially doing both hand milking and machine milking like we do. I've always believed animals milked exclusively by machines had higher incidences of inflammations and infections because they received less personal attention.
Let me explain. Part of the purchase agreement for our cow, who came with a milking machine, was milk for her former owners for a year, a young couple and an older couple.
Well, machines and I do not get along and a milking machine is no different. Rather than mess with hauling the extra weight and equipment to the barn, the noise and messing with a machine, I'd rather focus on the cow, tiny teats and all, and milk by hand. The cow is happy with the arrangement, she enjoys being hand milked, at least by those who know what they're doing. When the compressor quit, DH noticed how much she enjoyed hand milking, too. Both of us have milked cows before this one.
Anyway, the first time I mentioned to the younger couple I was milking by hand in the evenings, the was lady kinda upset and said I was going to "give her mastitis!"
HUH? Doesn't that only happen if somebody doesn't KNOW how to care for an udder and doesn't KNOW how to milk a cow by hand?
So after weeks of warm oil rubs to soften all the lumpiness in the udders, we find fist-size lumps that DH massages that turn out to be abcesses, which require antibiotics, which brings out a lot of history about the cow from her fan club about chronic mastitis and long term antibiotic use that we didn't know about.
Life has changed for the cow!
So the problem is cleared up, the cow is way healthy and giving over a gallon a day more milk than she was before treatment, and it flows through the filters like it never has since we got her. I am thrilled that problems are so easily solved!
Every time I speak with the former owners, though, they claim my hand milking is causing the cow mastitis problems. I politely ask them to explain how hand milking causes mastitis and I get a mumbled incoherent answer.
So if anyone can explain to me any possible reason hand milking in the evening would be a cause of mastitis, please explain it to me. Especially doing both hand milking and machine milking like we do. I've always believed animals milked exclusively by machines had higher incidences of inflammations and infections because they received less personal attention.