Post by Leimana on Jun 12, 2010 19:23:22 GMT -5
Aloha all you lovely cow people!! Well I finally have a computer again, so guess where the first place is that I came too!!! I love this forum! Anyways I have a new cow. She came to me on Tuesday. Her calf was kept back as he was at the age to be weaned. Well my cow had never been milked before, but she is by far the sweetest cow I have ever been around! She really is just plain nice! Well the first time we milked her was at the ranch were we got her. We got a half gallon before she realized we were taking her milk. She didnt exactly throw a tantrum but was obvious that she was saving that milk for baby. The next morning the original owner said she would milk her for me. She milks goats so she is not entirely new to milking. She milked her and got 3 quarts( and then the cow kicked her in the stomach That evening after she came to me she also gave 3 quarts ( and really holding up her milk though!) she was kicky so we tied her leg. As the week has gone on she has warmed up to us milking and is easy to handle and milk, but she is still stopping her letdown. We really lavish the love on her and baby her to pieces, we really want her to adopt us as her baby! She let down a bit this morning, but for most of the week she gives us 1 quart AM and PM. She let down for a moment then she just shut it off.She doesnt even kick about it anymore. Do any of you think she will come back up in production? She fasted for 2 solid days after she came, she was really sad about her baby. Now she is like a puppy with us and follows us everywhere and is eating very well. She seems to really enjoy the routine. She also came from a very drought wrecked area, pure desert right now, to our farm of thick grass and abundant water. She is in excellent health. Any recommendations? We wont feed her grain, but she gets as much grazing as she wants and lots of alfalfa pellets and cubes at milking time. For the first few days just to entice her to eat I gave her alfalfa all day. After I added molasses to the alfalfa she got her appetite back fast! Now she eats well.