Post by valiantfarmer on Feb 14, 2019 4:31:45 GMT -5
Hi there,
Nearly 4 weeks ago we had a 3 year old very good condition (on a rate of 1-5 she is 7) Angus/Kiwi Cross heifer named Comfrey calve. She won't let her milk down for us, and it is getting to the point that we are wondering what to do.
Over a week before she calved, her udder looked like she would calve any day, and then she began dripping and pouring milk. We did not intervene, but brought her to a paddock close to the house so that we could keep a closer eye on her. (We raised all these heifers from calves, so they are used to having us around.)
Well, on January 19th, she gave birth to a beautiful bull calf (Diapason) that has been healthy to this day. We milked her that day, and as she had just calved, the milk was easy flowing. We also noticed right away that she had a severe problem with kicking.
But now, 4 weeks later, even though we milk her twice daily, wash her udder and teats with hot water, hold hot cloths on her udder, feed her molasses, magnesium, a multi mineral mix and garlic (garlic for a teat infection that has cleared up), and give her lots of love, pears, hay, (as we have low grass), water, attention, and just about everything we can think of to help her, she will only give 1-5 cups (5 being the most this week) of milk on one side, and hardly 3 strips per teat on the other side (her calf's side)!
Her udder is also the same size as it was 4 weeks ago when she calved, and there has been little improvement. It is not edema.
For the last week or so we have been separating her with her calf and 1 other (Bellow) that was born a week before hers so that we can milk his mother (Flossie), which we do by hand. Then seeing as Comfrey accepted Bellow, and a R3 Jersey heifer (Buttercup) had calved, after the new calf (Violet) was about 2 weeks old, we put her in with Comfrey, Diapason and Bellow over night, then milked Flossie and Buttercup in the morning, and gave them the calves back. Bellow has frequently been spotted feeding off Comfrey.
We have been aware of this problem from day one, and have been working with it to the best of our ability. We have been searching books and the internet to find natural ways to encourage her to let down her milk. It has been incredibly busy around here with 3 heifers calving within 3 weeks, and coping with exhaustion with everything else that is going on too! We would be extremely grateful for any input! We would like to do this as naturally as possible.
Thank you for your time!