Post by clifftrina on Mar 26, 2008 17:15:57 GMT -5
I'm an amateur but trying to do my best. Having a dairy animal has been my dream for so long and it finally happened. Our first cow we sold because she was more beef than dairy cow and thus produced little milk.
So we got a full sized jersey on thursday night. She used to be a show cow. She is tame and gentle and sweet. She leads and easily goes into the stanchion. She was machine milked by her previous owner and now i'm handmilking until my surge comes. It was taking me forever to milk her out and then I don't know that I even fully got her completely milked out. Last night she was bucking in the barn, which I posted about in another thread. And then today she had to be *forced* into her stanchion at both milkings. I put a lead on her and pulled her into it. She has not eaten all day.
She was AIed 9 days ago. Not sure how that affects anything.
Her previous owner guessed that she gave 40# a day. I got a gallon 2x today! Her bag does not feel tight and firm when I go to milk her. Did I cause her to lose her milk supply? Can it happen that quickly, in less than a week?
(She is not nursing a calf either - we have a calf, not hers, that I am bucket feeding)
Honestly I just feel like such a failure. Here is a fullsized jersey and I work and work and work and get only 2 gallons a day??? If my milker comes on Friday will it be enough time to help her supply situation? She calved about 2 months ago.
Also, she is in the barn until my DH can fix a fence post that was loosened due to heavy rain/snow. We keep the barn door open with the big red metal gate shut and we see her lookingly longingly at the pasture, unless I'm just reading way too much into it. I think she might be.. depressed?? But would that affect milk supply?
Edited to add that DH change hay on Sunday night from 3rd cutting alfalfa/grass hay to the 2nd cutting. Could that explain the softer/emptier bag? That's when I noticed it on Monday morning!
What is going on?
So we got a full sized jersey on thursday night. She used to be a show cow. She is tame and gentle and sweet. She leads and easily goes into the stanchion. She was machine milked by her previous owner and now i'm handmilking until my surge comes. It was taking me forever to milk her out and then I don't know that I even fully got her completely milked out. Last night she was bucking in the barn, which I posted about in another thread. And then today she had to be *forced* into her stanchion at both milkings. I put a lead on her and pulled her into it. She has not eaten all day.
She was AIed 9 days ago. Not sure how that affects anything.
Her previous owner guessed that she gave 40# a day. I got a gallon 2x today! Her bag does not feel tight and firm when I go to milk her. Did I cause her to lose her milk supply? Can it happen that quickly, in less than a week?
(She is not nursing a calf either - we have a calf, not hers, that I am bucket feeding)
Honestly I just feel like such a failure. Here is a fullsized jersey and I work and work and work and get only 2 gallons a day??? If my milker comes on Friday will it be enough time to help her supply situation? She calved about 2 months ago.
Also, she is in the barn until my DH can fix a fence post that was loosened due to heavy rain/snow. We keep the barn door open with the big red metal gate shut and we see her lookingly longingly at the pasture, unless I'm just reading way too much into it. I think she might be.. depressed?? But would that affect milk supply?
Edited to add that DH change hay on Sunday night from 3rd cutting alfalfa/grass hay to the 2nd cutting. Could that explain the softer/emptier bag? That's when I noticed it on Monday morning!
What is going on?