Ixy
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Milking ButtercupI'm making a valiant attempt to like the dexters better. 'Buttercup' (one of alison's) delivered a heifer the day before yesterday and her first instinct seemed not to be gouging any humans closeby into the ground so she seemed to me to be one of the better candidates for a housecow. You could tell the calf was pure dexter as it was under the electric fence and where it wasn't meant to be within hours of birth 
We managed to get her back to the yard, albeit via the orchard, her having jumped the fence. Once back and penned she set about bullying poor Angus who ended up jumping out of his own pen to escape her. Today has been a bit calmer - she eats silage which I put in for her quite happily and she let me scratch her shoulder. I'm trying to get her into the habit of eating and liking molassed sugar beet shreds so I can reward/bribe her for the milk...the next step will be haltering and then I can separate the calf and actually milk by the time the colostrum's gone. The plan is to hold a handled receptacle in one hand and milk with the other at first - so she doesn't have a bucket to kick over and be alarmed by.
I'm looking forward to trying this lovely dexter milk everyone tells me about...
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bodger
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Reminds of the 'Detectives' episode with Jasper Carrot, where Briggs and Louis went to Jersey under cover as horse AI ers. 
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Rob R
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I must have missed that one
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Ixy
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never heard of it
One good thing about them I spose is that the calves are that teeny you can carry them easily. My ayrshire is less than a month old but you'd have no hope of carrying him any distance, especially if he struggled!
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bodger
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Jasper is under cover trying to catch a high class horse thief. He's backed into a corner where in order to maintain his cover he has to attempt to AI a race horse. You see him rather nervously enter the horses stable armed with his rubber glove and a white coat. The next thing that you hear is a snort from the horse and the beast is out and running with Jasper being dragged by his inserted hand.
Unfortunately the humour is very visual and my resume hardly gives it justice. 
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Chez
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I suspect that going to watch Mochyn AI Heulog might give one a better idea ...
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Rob R
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I can just imagine it- a 'Wiggy' style moment
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bodger
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It was brilliant. Its repeated every other week, so keep a weather eye open.
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Rob R
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Doubt it, my only forms of entertainment at the moment are the radio and watching Ixy milk a cow, I might be able to find it on You Tube or something when I'm next on broadband...
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Jamanda
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| Rob R wrote: | | Doubt it, my only forms of entertainment at the moment are the radio and watching Ixy milk a cow, I might be able to find it on You Tube or something when I'm next on broadband... |
Ixy milking Buttercup sounds like something it might be worth putting on Utube
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woodsprite
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I do miss milking, it's such a peaceful and relaxing thing. I miss my dexter Clover too. Lovely memories.
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Ixy
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Ooo it's going good - we're at the stroking and scratching stage now...
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bodger
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and when are you and Rob going to start milking ?
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Ixy
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 You mean the cow, of course? 
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dpack
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be nice to my cow please ,she has just spawned a superdoopermoo, not a pet a worker
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Ixy
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Dunno what you mean - we don't haveany pet cows here, she'll just be working that bit harder now
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The.Grange
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Re: Milking Buttercup | Ixy wrote: | | I'm trying to get her into the habit of eating and liking molassed sugar beet shreds so I can reward/bribe her for the milk... |
My mothers favourite pet cow (she had a few over the years) was fond of a bucket of cold tea, and preferably with teabags left in. She'd often escape out of the paddock and be found in the summerhouse eating sugar from the bowl... my mother originally acquired her from Bakewell market and took her back to the suburbs of Sheffield, before moving … I recall sleeping with her on the driveway with my sister for three nights before the move!
not suggesting the sleeping arrangements but the tea might work .. she'd be a self-tanned cow by Christmas
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Ixy
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defra would hate it but i'll bear it in mind
we got the halter on no bother today - she seems *very* good natured. Tonight I think I'll separate the calf (don't worry he has another for company and can see his mum!) and go for it in the morning!
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Ixy
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Woohoo we have milk off! Amidst flying hooves I managed to get a pint and called it a day before we all got too stressed out  She was very tolerant really, it was only when the calf went up the head-end to complain about the monkey nicking it's milk back there that the hooves came into play - but I managed to avoid getting kicked or spilling all the milk!
Not bad to say I've only milked via a parlour before and we don't have any way to restrain her other than a halter.
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Pel
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Sounds like you two are coming along nicely
Its quite enjoyable milking by hand. Will you just be doing mornings for now (first few days), or put in an afternoon milking as well? I'm guessing the halter is tied on to something though?
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dpack
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dont get hurt and dont stress the moo or jemima please
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Ixy
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| Pel wrote: | | Will you just be doing mornings for now (first few days), or put in an afternoon milking as well? I'm guessing the halter is tied on to something though? |
No once a day is plenty for me, plus the calf needs it's share.
dpack - I can't pretend that cows who havent been milked before adore being milked, but no harm comes to them or the calf and they get used to it. Plus, I'm jiggered if I'm spending my days running around as butler to a fieldfull of cattle only to buy inferior milk from a shop!!??!!
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dpack
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i dont care about your cuppa
i do care about my valuable bloodstock
phone me please
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Ixy
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Don't be daft the calf is half ours and am I seriously likely to cause them harm, in reality? Bearing in mind that whether I eat or starve rests with the stock. You could have said this in pm aswell.
For housecowcentric folks:
1ltr today from just one quarter and I think we can do away with the halter Never imagined she'd be so good!
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Nick
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What a cow.
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Mary-Jane
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Indeed.
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Ixy
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Thank you Judge.
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