Post by nekmama on Jun 15, 2010 8:40:56 GMT -5
Lastnight, Dh managed to get in the barn with her and feed her a carrot and stroke her udder. She was not too tight, not warm, so we decided to call it a success.
This morning, we actually drove her into the barn, hooked the chain on and milked her some onto the ground. My goal was not to milk her out, but to establish our routine and check her udder more thoroughly. I milked all four quarters until they had softened some and the teats were longer again.
Mistakes we made- 1. We did not tie up the calf and she slipped out of the barn and Violet went mildly bananas. We drove Clover the calf back into the barn and milked some more. 2. We left the Violet's chain pretty long and she moved around more than made me completely comfortable.
So, before afternoon chores, we'll shorten Violet's chain, "trap" everyone in the barn with the eletric fence gate we installed for that purpose, have a collar and chain ready to go for Clover.
Any advice on other things we should do to make the afternoon chores more of a success? I hope to actually milk out at least two quarters and pretty well soften up the other two. Or should I leave just one for Clover? I already know which one she drinks from the most often.
I know it's not much, but we were awfully pleased with ourselves. The advice helped, and the thread on milking Cricket gave me some perspective on how long cooperation could take as well as a range of possible behaviors. It also made this cow that has intimidated me seem kind of mild because she only got upset when Clover wandered away and calmed down (just like you said) as soon as Clover was close again.
Thank you!
Rachael
PS- whoever asked, yes, were in the Northeast Kingdom in Vermont.
This morning, we actually drove her into the barn, hooked the chain on and milked her some onto the ground. My goal was not to milk her out, but to establish our routine and check her udder more thoroughly. I milked all four quarters until they had softened some and the teats were longer again.
Mistakes we made- 1. We did not tie up the calf and she slipped out of the barn and Violet went mildly bananas. We drove Clover the calf back into the barn and milked some more. 2. We left the Violet's chain pretty long and she moved around more than made me completely comfortable.
So, before afternoon chores, we'll shorten Violet's chain, "trap" everyone in the barn with the eletric fence gate we installed for that purpose, have a collar and chain ready to go for Clover.
Any advice on other things we should do to make the afternoon chores more of a success? I hope to actually milk out at least two quarters and pretty well soften up the other two. Or should I leave just one for Clover? I already know which one she drinks from the most often.
I know it's not much, but we were awfully pleased with ourselves. The advice helped, and the thread on milking Cricket gave me some perspective on how long cooperation could take as well as a range of possible behaviors. It also made this cow that has intimidated me seem kind of mild because she only got upset when Clover wandered away and calmed down (just like you said) as soon as Clover was close again.
Thank you!
Rachael
PS- whoever asked, yes, were in the Northeast Kingdom in Vermont.