We have had Molly since she was about 4-5 weeks old, she came here with Bella nearly two years ago now, they are both pure Jersey cows. At first Molly was a crazy, flighty calf, that ran from us every afternoon when we wanted to lock her away from Bella, so that we could milk Bella in the morning. Eventually she got to know and enjoy the afternoon bucket of grain and would follow me into her calf yard. We used that opportunity to get her used to being handled by us. Its certainly been worth all those afternoons stroking her as she ate her grain, she is quite tame, but not as tame as Bella, who was bottle raised. Some cow books advise you to bottle raise your house cow, to make sure she's tame, but that is a lot of work, and I think Molly has grown up big and strong because she was nursed by Bella for over a year. We wouldn't have kept it up for that long if we were bottle feeding her!
When Molly started to come on heat at around 9 months old, she used to ignore Bella for a couple days and we had to milk instead. After a few times we decided to just let Molly wean herself, she was about 14 months old when we let her go with Donald the Dexter bull. The plan was that because Donald is very small, we are guaranteed very small calves, which is good for our small Jersey cows. Since then, Molly has been just one of the herd and hasn't had so much attention from us, so she was getting a bit wild again.
About 2 months before we expected Molly to calve, we started to train her to eat her grain in the milking bales. We got her to come up to the yard with Bella. Bella would go in first and have her grain, and then it was Molly's turn. Molly was quite comfortable in the bales and I was able to stroke her all over, including her udder. She wasn't so impressed when we put the chain across the back of the bales so she couldn't just back out at any time she pleased, but she got used to it eventually. Even with all this training, we were worried that Molly would be difficult to milk.
A few days before Molly’s due date, we put her in a small paddock close to the house, so we could keep an eye on her. I wonder if she knew what all the fuss was about, we were checking her several times a day! Finally on the 282nd day of her pregnancy, Pete went to check on Molly early in the morning and came back to say she might be in labour. We had breakfast, and by the time we went back out, there was a little calf on the ground. Molly was very pleased with herself and mooing gently to the calf and licking him all over. She let me get close enough to confirm that he was a “him”. As she licked him he made several attempts to stand, getting stronger each time. It is amazing to see how strong and capable they are only 15 minutes after birth.
Everything was going well, except that Molly refused to give him a drink. He was looking everywhere for her teat, but every time he got close to her udder, she would move away or give him a gentle kick. We tried putting her in the milking bales and moving him in behind, but still no success. Finally we decided to give him some of the colostrum that we froze from Bella and just leave the two of them to figure it out. I felt better knowing that he had a little bit in his belly to keep him going until Molly figured out that her role as Mumma Cow is to provide the milk!
The next morning I went out with the bottle again, and the little calf was not interested, he also had a suspiciously round belly. That’s when we knew that Molly had let him have a drink.
The next job was to persuade Molly to let us milk her. The worst part was getting her into the milking bales as she didn’t want to leave her calf. Lucky he was tiny at first and we could carry him up to the front of the bales to be near her. She also did not particularly appreciate the milking machine, but didn't try very hard to kick it off and actually was more cooperative than Bella was at first. She kept trying to climb out the front of the bales, so we had to put up a barrier (she is a bit taller than Bella and can stick her head over the grain trough). We managed to milk her on the afternoon after she gave birth. We got about 5 L of colostrum from her, which we froze for future calves. She is still getting used to the idea of leaving her calf and coming into the milking bales, we will get there eventually, we just have to be more stubborn than the cow!
Bella has never been terribly cooperative about the milking machine, even though she came from a commercial dairy and was milked twice a day for several years, so she should be used to it, its a bit easier when the cows are all wedged in next to each other! The best method we found is to have two people put the cups on so you can hold them up until the vacuum establishes. Then you have one person at the back of the bales with the machine, ready to rescue the teat cups if she starts kicking them off, and one person on the side, where the cow can see them (this is usually me), trying to calm the cow by talking gently and stroking her back. If she does try to kick at the machine, the person at the side can put pressure on her back and hips, so that it is physically difficult for her to kick. Bella only gives us trouble when she first has her calf, after a while we just get a little kick at the end to help us off with the cups.
Lots of people suggested to us to tie the cow’s leg. Trying to put a strap around Bella’s leg only resulted in more ferocious kicking and she nearly fell over in the bales. We find its best to leave the cow’s leg alone, but it obviously works for some people!
If you want to know more, this is an excellent article on milking a house cow. Also read more about our house cow experiences here.
Do you have a house cow? Any tips for training? And what to do in the early days after the calf is born?
You might also be interested in my series on getting started with homestead dairy
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| Baby Molly with Bella |
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| Bella with one-year-old Molly (still with shaggy calf coat) |
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| Molly a coupe of days before she gave birth |
Everything was going well, except that Molly refused to give him a drink. He was looking everywhere for her teat, but every time he got close to her udder, she would move away or give him a gentle kick. We tried putting her in the milking bales and moving him in behind, but still no success. Finally we decided to give him some of the colostrum that we froze from Bella and just leave the two of them to figure it out. I felt better knowing that he had a little bit in his belly to keep him going until Molly figured out that her role as Mumma Cow is to provide the milk!
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| Molly with newborn Monty |
The next job was to persuade Molly to let us milk her. The worst part was getting her into the milking bales as she didn’t want to leave her calf. Lucky he was tiny at first and we could carry him up to the front of the bales to be near her. She also did not particularly appreciate the milking machine, but didn't try very hard to kick it off and actually was more cooperative than Bella was at first. She kept trying to climb out the front of the bales, so we had to put up a barrier (she is a bit taller than Bella and can stick her head over the grain trough). We managed to milk her on the afternoon after she gave birth. We got about 5 L of colostrum from her, which we froze for future calves. She is still getting used to the idea of leaving her calf and coming into the milking bales, we will get there eventually, we just have to be more stubborn than the cow!
Bella has never been terribly cooperative about the milking machine, even though she came from a commercial dairy and was milked twice a day for several years, so she should be used to it, its a bit easier when the cows are all wedged in next to each other! The best method we found is to have two people put the cups on so you can hold them up until the vacuum establishes. Then you have one person at the back of the bales with the machine, ready to rescue the teat cups if she starts kicking them off, and one person on the side, where the cow can see them (this is usually me), trying to calm the cow by talking gently and stroking her back. If she does try to kick at the machine, the person at the side can put pressure on her back and hips, so that it is physically difficult for her to kick. Bella only gives us trouble when she first has her calf, after a while we just get a little kick at the end to help us off with the cups.
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| Monty at two-days-old |
If you want to know more, this is an excellent article on milking a house cow. Also read more about our house cow experiences here.
Do you have a house cow? Any tips for training? And what to do in the early days after the calf is born?
You might also be interested in my series on getting started with homestead dairy
Interview with myself
Interview with Mark and Kate from Purple Pear Permaculture
Interview with Kim from the Little Black Cow
Interview with Rose Petal
Interview with Marie from Go Milk the Cow
Interview with Ohio Farmgirl
Interview with Mark and Kate from Purple Pear Permaculture
Interview with Kim from the Little Black Cow
Interview with Rose Petal
Interview with Marie from Go Milk the Cow
Interview with Ohio Farmgirl
Buy my ebook "Our Experience with House Cows" on Etsy, Lulu and Amazon, or email on eight.acres.liz at gmail.com to arrange delivery. More information on my house cow ebook blog.
Reviews of "Our Experience with House Cows"
Gavin from Little Green Cheese (and The Greening of Gavin)
Gosh this is all much more complicated than I thought.
ReplyDeleteWow, I don't think I could do this . I think this is why I chose an animal smaller than me to milk . But still some of the things you mentioned are similiar, we find that when a goat has just kidded they are really afraid of leaving their babies , but we are lucky because the little goats are fairly agile quickly and just trot over and play near mum (even jump in my lap while I am milking!) .We hand milk though - do you find the milking machine makes the process quicker and easier?
ReplyDeleteI haven't done much hand-milking to compare, but both cows have very short teats, and the only time we have tried to hand-milk Bella (when the milking machine was making her very angry) it took an hour to get a couple of litres. It might just be inexperience, but I just don't think our girls are built for hand milking!
DeleteThis is a timely post for us. We are considering getting a Jersey cow for a house cow and don't know where to start with getting one that has been treated well and that will be an easy milker for us beginners who will hand milk. Any tips on actually sourcing your cow?
ReplyDeleteHi Louise, try http://farmstock.com.au/ but be aware that you get what you pay for, cheap or free cows are usually that way for a good reason. You can also try dairy farms, but the cows are not as tame. And you need to decide if you want lots of milk (a fresian or Ayrshire) or only a little milk (small jersey or dexter will do). Its not easy to find the right cow, you have to keep looking and asking people and eventually she will find you :) Try also my previous post http://eight-acres.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/perfect-house-cow.html
DeleteAwww. How cute is that? Thanks again for sharing at the HomeAcre Hop! http://blackfoxhomestead.com/the-homeacre-hop/
ReplyDeleteWe're featuring this post over on The HomeAcre Hop! Congrats!
ReplyDeleteyay! thanks for that!
DeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI'm really enjoying reading your blog. We also have a jersey, her 7mth old calf was recently sent to the freezer. Next spring I think we will just separate the calf and cow after a few days. It will be easier for us all as she hates being milked when she has a calf and it just causes attitude.
Just a quick question about the milking machine. Why does it take two people to hold the clusters onto the the cow until suction gets strong enough? The inflation's should just suck up the teats one by one. There might be a problem with your vacuum pressure, if the pressure isn't strong enough he will be sore/uncomfortable and causes a cow to kick the inflation's off .
You have a great blog.
www.oursmallfamilyholding.blogspot.ie
Thanks Marie, its just a design prob with our machine that the vacuum chamber isn't large enough and if Bella "helps" by kicking off the cups before you've finished putting them all on, you can run out of vacuum. We just find it less upsetting for everyone if we both help to get the cups on quickly, and milking goes smoothly from there. Molly is much better, no kicking so far!
DeleteI thinks its lovely that you have an 'excuse' for company/help at milking time. Milking is something I mostly do on my own, which wasn't in the pre-cow planning agreement ;-)
Deletewww.oursmallfamilyholding.blogspot.ie