first milk cow
Another farmer sent us the following questions:
The move last month went well for the most part. As time goes on here I am in the process of designing and building a mobile shelter/milking stanchion. I have built a standard shelter for them just for them to get out of the elements and for them to get comfortable with a structure in the paddock. So my questions are: what is the best way to train them to a milking stanchion once it's built? What is a good tool kit to have on hand for impending birth? Most importantly, what tips and tricks do you have Shawn have on raising an infant on a farmstead? As always thank you so much for guiding us on this journey! The information has been priceless!
So good to hear from you. Congratulations on the baby-to-come! Babies are the best.
Mobile stanchion -- we have one, but use it as a stationary stanchion in the barn. It turned out to be more work to move the mobile shelter than to lead the cows back to the barn. Also, even though the stanchion was pretty heavy, a cow could pull it over on herself/the milker -- not a great situation! So we fasten it to the wall when it's in the dairy. In reality, leading cows back to the barn works fine for us, even when it's a couple of hundred yards -- or more -- to the dairy.
Our tool kit for calving:
Calcium paste or Cal/Mag/Cobalt paste. Comes in tubes like caulk. Farm store or online. First milking after calving we give one tube, and maybe another a week later. This is a proactive measure to protect against milk fever (Ca deficiency).
Also, four 500 ml bottles of calcium gluconate solution, and an IV flex and some 14/16 ga. needles (check TSC, or order online). Watch some videos of how to run a jugular IV on a cow. A jugular IV of Ca solution is the therapy for acute Ca deficiency -- it acts faster than the paste, and when a cow is down you don't want to be putting stuff down her throat, in case of choking.
Better yet, get to know your large animal vet before your cow calves -- even just a phone call is good -- and let him/her do this job once while you watch. In any case, don't get worried about this one -- grass cows don't often get milk fever.
Calving: cows don't usually need any help calving, and in 20 years I've only pulled a couple of calves.
You can train a cow to be comfortable with a stanchion by putting her in with treats for several weeks before she calves. Just put the treat in the manger and leave her to get accustomed to putting her head in the stanchion. Confession: we seldom or never do this -- but then sometimes we have to wrestle with heifers a few times.
We actually have a $5 e-book online (Lulu ebooks, Shawn and Beth Dougherty), Milking for Beginners, that covers all this in detail.
Babies -- I shove them in a sling (I like the two-ring, over-the-shoulder kind) and take them with me wherever. Dirt is good for babies. But rest is good for mamas, so you have to hit a balance.
Let us know how things go!