Nancy Baracker

Thanks for the update, Wes. My Jersey cow calved on April 20, so we've had some time to work things out. Everything I had read involved separating the calf after one week or so, but I decided to just let him stay on 24/7 until I wasn't getting enough milk to suit my needs. She produces a LOT at the beginning of lactation, so I knew production wouldn't be an issue.

For the first couple of months after freshening, I pretty consistently got 3 to 3 1/2 gallons, milking once a day (besides the first week, when I milked twice a day). If there is a disadvantage to leaving the calf on 24/7 for an extended time, I'd love to hear it, but it has worked for me. Just recently, the calf started to take a lot more milk, so about 6 days ago, I started separating him at night. I milk out three quarters fully in the morning, then let him out to empty the fourth one. He can then nurse as desired for the rest of the day. I rotate which quarter I leave full so that I know they're all getting emptied completely 3 out of four days -- although I'm certain he's emptying his quarter!  I'm not getting a lot, but just enough for my use -- about 2 gallons per day.

I think I may wean him from her soon (maybe at the 3-month mark) while still giving him milk as I don't have great pasture to put him on.

One thing I wonder about: For about the first week and a half after the calf was born, I was putting a halter on him and tying him at the front of the stanchion. However, after one week he was starting to catch on and was difficult to catch, and he could run underneath my fences so it was just about impossible to herd him into the barn. I didn't think it would behoove me to chase him around, so I just decided to try putting the cow in the stanchion while he wandered around outside. Neither of them seemed to mind this setup, so that's what we've done up to this point. However, now I have a pretty wild calf that I have to herd into the barn at night... I think we'll be able to tame him up, but I was hoping to have a halter-broken calf from day one... that didn't work out too well. Any advice about a way to do that differently? It doesn't matter SO much in this case as we're going to eat him, but I don't want it to be an issue in the future -- and I would prefer for him to be friendly/comfortable with us as well.

Thanks!
Nancy

Wes,

Thanks again, and sorry for all my questions... This is so valuable to me, having these guidelines to work from! One thing I forgot to ask... When, a week or so after freshening, I go to once-a-day milking, would I transition to that slowly, or does it matter at that stage? Just go from milking twice a day with the calf on 24 hours a day to milking once a day with the calf separated at night?

(And don't worry; I'm not following your advice blindly, but just want to make sure I understand correctly. I'll adjust as needed according to the needs of my cow, I promise! )

Nancy

Thanks for your helpful and thoughtful responses!!

My cow has calved since I posted this. All seems to be going pretty well for now, besides the norm of dealing with a hormonal cow for a few days.

Wes, I have a couple questions for you. What quantity of alfalfa pellets do you feed? And sorry if I'm really clueless, but do you buy the molasses pre-mixed with the alfalfa, or add it as a top dressing? Is it liquid or dry? How much of it? I think my cow would love that combination.

I have no argument about the 3 or 4 gallons a day. Much more doable than seven. I wonder though, do you mean 3 to 4 gallons total production (including what the calf takes) or 3 to 4 gallons in my bucket? I'm just wondering what I should be expecting as fairly normal.

And one more question: Did you have any suggestions regarding the prevention of milk fever? It came on very suddenly last time -- from the time I knew something was wrong until the time she was lying on the ground nearly unconscious was only about an hour. Kind of scary. :/ I decided to just go the safe route this time and injected subcutaneous calcium gluconate, but I'd really like to not have to do that every time. Not pleasant for the cow or me...

Thanks again,
Nancy

Hi, everyone,

I'm new here, although I've benefited from the information on the permies forums many times through various Google searches!

I have been researching quite a bit in hopes of trying calf sharing with my Jersey cow. This will be her fourth lactation (due anytime). I have a few concerns, and am hoping some farmers with more experience with this method can help me fill in the blanks.

Firstly, last year Chesnea (my Jersey) came down with milk fever. I thought I had done everything right in terms of prevention, but so it goes... A vet was called and IV calcium brought her back to earth. I'm concerned about a replay of the milk fever this time, and I wonder if anyone has an opinion regarding whether once-a-day milking might have a negative influence on her chances of avoiding milk fever. Any suggestions for what methods I could use to avoid such a catastrophe this time would be much appreciated.

That leads to my second question: She tends to be a very (TOO much for her own good) heavy producer in the beginning of lactation. At last freshening, she was producing very close to 7 gallons a day. Funny thing is, even with very punctual milking, she drops off fairly significantly around the three-month mark to around three gallons. I want to go the no-grain route, but I'm a bit apprehensive about it. First, because I don't know how that will affect her condition when her body is trying to make seven gallons of milk a day, and second because she is in her fourth lactation and is mentally accustomed to having grain... My plan/hope is to just give her a handful each milking, just to get her in the stanchion, and then feed alfalfa hay for the duration of milking.

My third question is this: Although I would like to do once-a-day milking, I wonder if, at the beginning, I'm going to have to milk twice a day, just for Chesnea's health and comfort. And for how long?

I know that in so many ways, calf sharing and once-a-day milking are beneficial to cow, calf, and farmer, but I'm just not sure how this transition will go! I don't want to damage my cow's health by bumbling around blindly. I also understand that I'm going to have a harder time because I do have a cow that was bred for major production, but replacing her with a different milk cow is not an option right now; I just have to make do with what I've got!

Looking forward to hearing any advice and/or experiences you can share. Thanks in advance!

Nancy