Help! My holstein heifer calved THurs. AM. (she's a big ole pet..I raised her on a bottle.)I called the local dairy and asked if I needed to milk her out that day. Their advice was to wait until the next day. I waited. When I tried to milk her yesterday, she was so sore that she'd lift her hind legs and brush my hands away or turn the bucket over. I finally managed to get the left front quarter milked out. It was FULL of colostrum. I couldn't get the other quarters cleaned out because of her leg dances. This morning, I finally managed to milk out the two left quarters, and part of the right back quarter. The right back quarter's milk looked clear, with maybe a touch of colostrum left in it. However, the left front quarter was still filled with colostrum and the left back quarter started out clear, but turned brownish red toward the end of the milking. (I had almost 3 gallons of milk, by the way.) I've been leaving the calf with her all day and night, putting them in the barn at night to prevent the calf from going thru my 2-strand electric fence..she's adventurous! (fence was unplugged due to lightening and "belle" decided to explore two nights in a row!) My questions are these: 1. am I doing this right? 2. Is there any way I can prevent her from lifting that leg without hurting or scaring her 3. Since I managed to clear those three quarters today, how long will it be before the soreness goes away? and 4. is there anything I should be putting on her udder to help with the soreness? I have one other question unrelated to this. My holstein has a twin sister. She has not bred yet, but was in heat a couple days ago. Since I have sold my bull, I have no way to breed her back right now and to be honest, I have NO idea what I'll do with all this milk. To make matters worse, my jersey is due to calve in July! About how much could I expect to get for the unbred holstein heifer if I decide to sell her? She's gentle and I think a nice looking heifer. ONly problem is-she, like her sister, has not been dehorned. Thanks for the help! Tim

-- Tim Duckworth (tsduck@bellsouth.net), June 09, 2001

Answers

It would probably be helpful to put a very warm (almost hot)wet towel on the cow's udder for a minute just before you milk her out. I would milk her out completely at least once a day, maybe twice. It sounds like her udder is "congested" which is common with breeds who give large amounts of milk, more than their off-spring can possibly consume. You want to observe the calf to be sure it is getting plenty of colostrum/milk, because they can sometimes have trouble sucking when the cow is too tight and sore. Have you ever "hobbled" her? If not, try looping a rope around her hind leg and have a helper hold onto it, to discourage kicking, and you should have her head tied up as well. Sorry, I don't really know the going rate of cows right now. If she has been handled a lot, and would be suitable to be hand milked then be sure and advertise her that way, you would probably get more money for her that way.

-- Homesteadma (idlewild@multipro.com), June 09, 2001.

When we had touchy heifers and needed to medicate or strip the udders, we used to put a tail jack on them. This basically is akin to twitching a horse only you do it on the opposite end for a cow. One person grabs her tail as she is standing in the stanchion and placeing the hands close to the base lifts it straight up applying a little pressure. Be careful, you can break her tail if you get violent and lose your temper. Bounce the tailhead a little by leaning into it a little. Basically she gets more worried about what you might be doing and forgets about the udder or the cut or the vaccination you're trying to give her. The other person accomplishes the deed, milking her out and greasing her udder or whatever, and then when they're clear out of the way, you let go of her tail and give her a little pat with words of praise. As the soreness goes out of the udder you should be able to milk her without restraining her. This doesn't work on all cows, but it does on the majority of them. The tail jacker may want to wear leather gloves if the tail area is greasy with the remains of her lush pasture as that can make the tail quite slippery. It is not cruel or mean, any more than twitching is, and a little appropriate restraint can keep her from becoming hamburger at the hands of a disgusted owner. Lotsa luck.

-- Sandra Nelson (Magin@starband .net), June 09, 2001.

If you have more milk than you and the calf can use, consider buying another calf for beef or resale later. I would guess her value locally at between $200 and $400 as there just isn't a market for milking cows. The Amish and Mennonites raise their own replacements. If you can get her to where she will accept any calf, then her value as an experienced nurse cow might be higher. However, your timing is bad in that most beef ranchers have already ended their calving season. A calving for this purpose in January or February would have been better so, for this, you might want to wait for a rebreeding between April 1st and May 1st.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), June 09, 2001.