Post by mazurzoo on Dec 16, 2007 11:48:30 GMT -5
Hey I want to tell you all that for the last 2 weeks of trying to milk Bella we have really struggled, tail swatting, kicking at the teat ups, kicking our hands when we stripped, pooping, peeing, ect...I was almost ready to change her name to dinner!
Anyway, after spending a long time searching this board, and reading the thread in The Tree of Knowledge, thread titled "Anti-kicking devises". We tried the rope trick this morning, and she was perfect!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;D She didnt kick, poop, or pee. She didnt even eat until the milking was almost done. It was like she was stunned. I wonder, if someone at the dairy had done this to her before?
Anyway for those of you that are like me and dont know how this works, this is what the "rope trick" is. You take a lead rope, or strap, something think, or wide, so you dont cut into her. You make a small loop at one end, throw it over her back just in front of the hips, pulll the end thru the loop, and cinch her up tight. You want the rope to be just in front of her udder. Some people warn to not go to tight or for more than 3-4 min, because it can cut the circulation to the udder, and make them fall. So what I did, is I just cinched her up snug ( you will need 2 people for this, one doing the rope then other milking) I only had to have it snug for less than a min, then I released the pressure, if I saw her get ready to be bad, I jerked it tight and held it for a moment, then released. So i really didnt need to hold it tight for very long at all. By the time the milking was done it was totally loose on her, its really like she has already had this training before, and knew that the rope means business!
The only thing it didnt full control was the tail wacking, so my new thing for that, which my 13 yr old son figured out, is you pinch her tail, not hard but firm, she'll suck her tail in and wont move it! I am not sure if others already know of this trick or if he made a discovery, but I would be interested to know if others do the tail thing! I will also post this seperate so others see it.
Anyway, after spending a long time searching this board, and reading the thread in The Tree of Knowledge, thread titled "Anti-kicking devises". We tried the rope trick this morning, and she was perfect!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;D She didnt kick, poop, or pee. She didnt even eat until the milking was almost done. It was like she was stunned. I wonder, if someone at the dairy had done this to her before?
Anyway for those of you that are like me and dont know how this works, this is what the "rope trick" is. You take a lead rope, or strap, something think, or wide, so you dont cut into her. You make a small loop at one end, throw it over her back just in front of the hips, pulll the end thru the loop, and cinch her up tight. You want the rope to be just in front of her udder. Some people warn to not go to tight or for more than 3-4 min, because it can cut the circulation to the udder, and make them fall. So what I did, is I just cinched her up snug ( you will need 2 people for this, one doing the rope then other milking) I only had to have it snug for less than a min, then I released the pressure, if I saw her get ready to be bad, I jerked it tight and held it for a moment, then released. So i really didnt need to hold it tight for very long at all. By the time the milking was done it was totally loose on her, its really like she has already had this training before, and knew that the rope means business!
The only thing it didnt full control was the tail wacking, so my new thing for that, which my 13 yr old son figured out, is you pinch her tail, not hard but firm, she'll suck her tail in and wont move it! I am not sure if others already know of this trick or if he made a discovery, but I would be interested to know if others do the tail thing! I will also post this seperate so others see it.