Post by sora on Aug 3, 2006 13:55:43 GMT -5
Well, I tried to milk again when my baby went down for a nap in the middle of the day, because she looked so full and I knew I hadn't gotten as much as I should have in the morning. It was a disaster. She was perfectly willing to be led to the stanchion and munch on some hay, but appears to have decided that the bucket is the cause of all her woes. Having sucessfully stuck her foot in it and/or knocked it over three times in the morning, she is now trying to put her foot in it constantly! I evaded it five or six times, had a couple of cups of milk out, when she managed to plant her foot in the bucket.
So I decided to try Midge's leg tie from the Tree of Knowledge to stop her. That didn't work too well. It did keep her from planting her foot in the bucket, but not from dancing frantically around trying to get the rope off her leg, kicking up lots of dirt and grass as she did. Then she pooped, got her foot in that, and sent little bits of manure flying around. At that point I gave up and took her back to her pasture.
There's a milking machine belonging to a neighbor that is not available to borrow, but they'd sell it for $800 (which they say is what it cost them). They're not milking any cows right now, just have the machine. If it were $400, I'd buy it right now. My husband wants me to stick it out a few more days hand-milking... and I am definitely able to get milk out, but there is so much of it, and I am slow. And the new leg-in-the-bucket habit is very frustrating.
I don't mean to whine and complain. I am thrilled with almost everything about this cow. But I need all the encouragement and suggestions you good folks can give me while we figure everything out.
So I decided to try Midge's leg tie from the Tree of Knowledge to stop her. That didn't work too well. It did keep her from planting her foot in the bucket, but not from dancing frantically around trying to get the rope off her leg, kicking up lots of dirt and grass as she did. Then she pooped, got her foot in that, and sent little bits of manure flying around. At that point I gave up and took her back to her pasture.
There's a milking machine belonging to a neighbor that is not available to borrow, but they'd sell it for $800 (which they say is what it cost them). They're not milking any cows right now, just have the machine. If it were $400, I'd buy it right now. My husband wants me to stick it out a few more days hand-milking... and I am definitely able to get milk out, but there is so much of it, and I am slow. And the new leg-in-the-bucket habit is very frustrating.
I don't mean to whine and complain. I am thrilled with almost everything about this cow. But I need all the encouragement and suggestions you good folks can give me while we figure everything out.