Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2010 0:00:27 GMT -5
Our cow is a 5 yr old Dexter. We started milking her 2 or 3 days after she calved. This is her second calf but she had never been milked before. The 9th day of milking she swung her hind end around and pulled the milker off of 2 teats. When I put it back on she was fine until i was almost done then kickedme into the doorway. The next day I put the milker on one of those teats first and she just stood there as usual but when I put it on the second she kicked me into the wall. Hubby took over at that point and she started kicking and jumping around so bad that we decided to not actually finish milking. We had a friend who is familiar with cows come over the next day and while she let us lead her into the barn there was no way she was letting us near her bag. She kicked hubby twice very fast and it got worse from there. She started kicking everything in sight including her calf! They were gonna try putting hobbles on her and had one foot in the air when she jumped off the other kicked twice, fell and repeated the move when she got up. She kicked forward, backwards, sideways with one foot and two! We have never seen a cow kick in the manner she was doing it! We couldnt even untie her from the wall and had to unbolt it from the outside and leave the rope and eyebolt hanging from her halter for 5 days until I was finally able to get it off! She was never a terribly friendly cow but never mean. Now when we try to go near her she paws the ground and wont let us near her at all. I am heatbroken! We havent milked her since the 4th of July. We have considered making a squeeze panel to keep her still but that wouldnt keep her from kicking, besides I would rather not terrorize her *sigh* We do have a bull in the next pasture but I do not know how long after giving birth they go into heat and with her we could never see any signs of heat. When we took her to breed the only sign she gave was that she stood for the bull. I am at a total loss as to what I should do. If I can ever safely milk her that would be my first choice but its not worth someone getting really injured! The only other option is to leave her calf on her until September or October and butcher her. Do you have any ideas?? Thank you so much for replying! Peace Connie in Alaska