Post by tabitha on Sept 8, 2010 7:34:07 GMT -5
Hi! I thought I owed you all an update on Jocelyn. If anyone out there is waiting on a first calf heifer and wondering what she will be like to train to milk, I hope she is just like Joss.
Jocelyn calved Aug 30th, so 9 days ago. I had never even led her into the stanchion but I had trained her to lead fairly well. I also had given her baths with a hand brush and soap and was hoping she would be as well behaved for milking.
Well, she is! I am getting a little over 4 gallons a day. She is like a dream cow. I lay my head against her flank and milk, and she never lifts a foot or even shifts her weight. Imagine, my little heifer! Who would have ever thought!?
I started milking the evening after she calved, and three times a day thereafter for the first week. It is my opinion that 3x a day is a good way to get into a routine, build your own strength, and prevent issues with edema and mastitis. I may also be over-protective of Jocelyn, in fact I know I am.
The first milking was a wee bit dodgy, as to be expected. No kicking, but plenty of foot lifting. So I used my velcro hobbles and once she realized what they were, she stayed put. The next milking she pooped, but I caught it in a bucket and she was not amused. But already by the second milking she was standing still as a statue. The third milking, again she was going to poop but I put the bucket up and she thought better of it.
The most amazing facet of Jocelyn's training is what happened when we took her calf, River. Before River left for her new home Joss was just like any new Jersey mom. Attentive, low-mooing, licking. I was feeling really heartbroken that River was leaving. When the buyer came they took her away unceremoniously (I had left the two together for the day out of pity) and Jocelyn never mooed a single moo for her calf. Not once. Not a bellow, not a pace. She never once looked for the calf. It was like it had never happened. I have never heard of anything like it, but I was immensely grateful. I was prepared for days of bellowing.
She second milking after the calf left Jocelyn figured out how to let down for me, and simultaneously peed, which I caught in the ole bucket. One milking later, she acted like she needed to pee but when the bucket came up she held in until she was out of the stanchion.
I am writing all these little weird details because I think it is important that other folks here who are new to this know you really can train a cow to stop these behaviors. They are incredibly smart. When I was 'training' my first cow, also a heifer, Nimue, she had freshened with mastitis and I was doing anything to make her well- ignoring the concept that I was in charge and could command the day. I was so afraid and new, and by the time she was well again the bad behavior was there and I thought I couldn't change it. Now I know that not only could I have stopped it from the beginning, but I could have changed it later.
Jocelyn is so perfect, even though my hands ache, every time I milk I feel like she will disappear into mist like a dream. I am so pleased with her, so delighted. Thanks for reading, and for sticking with me these two years (Jocelyn will be 2yo September 13th!) and encouraging me. And again to all waiting on a heifer to calve, may be she as great as Joss!
Jocelyn calved Aug 30th, so 9 days ago. I had never even led her into the stanchion but I had trained her to lead fairly well. I also had given her baths with a hand brush and soap and was hoping she would be as well behaved for milking.
Well, she is! I am getting a little over 4 gallons a day. She is like a dream cow. I lay my head against her flank and milk, and she never lifts a foot or even shifts her weight. Imagine, my little heifer! Who would have ever thought!?
I started milking the evening after she calved, and three times a day thereafter for the first week. It is my opinion that 3x a day is a good way to get into a routine, build your own strength, and prevent issues with edema and mastitis. I may also be over-protective of Jocelyn, in fact I know I am.
The first milking was a wee bit dodgy, as to be expected. No kicking, but plenty of foot lifting. So I used my velcro hobbles and once she realized what they were, she stayed put. The next milking she pooped, but I caught it in a bucket and she was not amused. But already by the second milking she was standing still as a statue. The third milking, again she was going to poop but I put the bucket up and she thought better of it.
The most amazing facet of Jocelyn's training is what happened when we took her calf, River. Before River left for her new home Joss was just like any new Jersey mom. Attentive, low-mooing, licking. I was feeling really heartbroken that River was leaving. When the buyer came they took her away unceremoniously (I had left the two together for the day out of pity) and Jocelyn never mooed a single moo for her calf. Not once. Not a bellow, not a pace. She never once looked for the calf. It was like it had never happened. I have never heard of anything like it, but I was immensely grateful. I was prepared for days of bellowing.
She second milking after the calf left Jocelyn figured out how to let down for me, and simultaneously peed, which I caught in the ole bucket. One milking later, she acted like she needed to pee but when the bucket came up she held in until she was out of the stanchion.
I am writing all these little weird details because I think it is important that other folks here who are new to this know you really can train a cow to stop these behaviors. They are incredibly smart. When I was 'training' my first cow, also a heifer, Nimue, she had freshened with mastitis and I was doing anything to make her well- ignoring the concept that I was in charge and could command the day. I was so afraid and new, and by the time she was well again the bad behavior was there and I thought I couldn't change it. Now I know that not only could I have stopped it from the beginning, but I could have changed it later.
Jocelyn is so perfect, even though my hands ache, every time I milk I feel like she will disappear into mist like a dream. I am so pleased with her, so delighted. Thanks for reading, and for sticking with me these two years (Jocelyn will be 2yo September 13th!) and encouraging me. And again to all waiting on a heifer to calve, may be she as great as Joss!