when your cow calves
A query from folks who bought a bred first-calf heifer from us last summer:
Hello! Merry (early) Christmas!
Sandy (the heifer) seems healthy and in good condition. I did have a few questions I’ve been wondering about and so thought I’d reach out to you real quick.
First - when she does calve, should I bring the calf in with her for those first few milkings? Or every milking? Or just leave it out in the pasture? Think she’ll object to leaving it?
And what should I feed her during a milking? I was thinking a leaf or two of alfalfa hay, but so many people talk about feeding a grain ration at milking - do you guys do that? Or just keep her only on grass/hay? I have pumpkins and apples too that I’ve heard can be a good treat for milking. Any advice?
I’ve read too that milking times can be adjusted and aren’t necessarily required to be 12 hours apart. 9am and 6pm, for example. With school schedules and a newborn, that could be helpful, but I’m also concerned about mastitis or other problems. What are your thoughts?
Do you have any experience feeding silage while milking? I’ve read it can give the milk an off taste but don’t know.
It's good to hear from you! I'm glad things are going well for you and for Sandy. I'll say a prayer that everything goes well for both of you.
So, calving and milking: Sandy shouldn't have any trouble calving, she did very well the first time, but of course if you check on her a couple of times during the day and once before bed you'll be there in case she needs any help. She'll bag up -- to the point where she's swinging her legs wide around her bag -- a week or two before she calves, so you'll have warning. Before she calves you don't want her on very rich feed -- grass, moderately good hay, but no grain or alfalfa. This is old farming wisdom, but the veterinary world is coming around to this viewpoint as well. It seems that a cow eating high will commence lactating so hugely that she's much more likely to get milk fever (calcium deficiency). At any rate, don't feed concentrates before calving. I keep some oral Ca gel, and some calcium gluconate, on hand in case I do see milk fever. Oral gel at the first milking after calving is a painless way to guard against milk fever, and it's easy.
The calf may or may not come up with its mama at the first milking. Calves under a week or two of age mostly sleep between nursings. They'll get tanked up and then find someplace nearby to hide and sleep, and they won't get up until they're hungry, often not even if their mama is calling them. We used to get worried a calf had wandered off, but not any more. Calves don't wander away from their mamas. After a few days, though, the calf spends a lot more time awake, and will probably come up to the barn when its mama does. This gives you a great opportunity for putting a halter on it and teaching it to stand when tied, if you like; tie it near its mama, and after a few times it learns there's no point in fighting the rope.
We don't supplement milk cows with concentrates. If we need to induce a new heifer to put her head in the stanchion, we'll use hay, but we don't usually need to. Grass produces the best milk, in quantities that don't strain the udder, so after the first week or two, when the milk is coming in, mastitis isn't much of a worry. Mostly if you see it it's probably either that the calf is too rough, you're not milking her out, or you are milking sloppily letting milk shoot up out of the teats as you milk.
For the first few weeks she'll produce lots more than the calf uses, and you'll want to milk twice a day to make sure she doesn't get impacted. Then pretty soon the calf will take most or all of what she's making, and you can either share with the calf, full time or half time, or you can wean him to a bucket or bottle, giving him about a gallon and a half a day. This works fine if the calf is born in spring and the grass is tender and high-protein, but if he's on summer or winter grass you'll get better results if you do a half-and-half time share with him. Mama-raised calves are always the best and strongest. And, of course, if you milk share with the calf, you only have to milk once a day (and when you want to travel, you can just leave the calf on full time). And, yes, milking doesn't have to be every twelve hours, you could do, say, ten and fourteen, but be consistent.
Regarding wet supplements like pumpkins or apples, they're great treats, but cut them small to avoid choking hazard. Silage can flavor milk, for sure, and so can things like turnips, rutabagas, and any alliums. When in doubt, offer the supplement right after milking, so there's time for the strong flavors to pass off. But the take-home is, cows on pasture and decent hay can hold their condition just fine while lactating over the winter. It can take a year or two, or three, for a cow that has been accustomed to supplements to adjust to all grass, but in our experience, they get there. Teenage mothers -- first calf heifers -- tend, in our experience, to be on the thin side in winter, just as you would expect a young human mother to do. Sandy, however, held her condition just great last winter while lactating at a more than useful level, and I think you'll be very satisfied.
Best of blessings, and a Merry Christmas!