Lannie
Well-known member
Just wanted to put something here to tell all the people that said Molly was a bad cow that they were in fact mistaken. In case you had ever wondered, I now have two back-pocket cows. Sweet Pea (now named Stinky) is like a lap dog. She lives to be scratched or brushed. If I would sit down on the ground, Stinky would put her head in my lap and go to sleep. Molly is the same way. All it took was some calm but firm interaction, and for Stinky to realize that I was not a monster gonna eat her face off. Once she calmed down, Molly did, too.
Molly and I have been working on stanchion practice for the past month or so, since the bad weather finally cleared up, and she's ready to go. She has a halter on, for the time being, anyway, and I can touch it, and her face, and she comes in to the headlock every morning to have her milking treats. She really looks forward to them, so she comes running when I call, if she's not already waiting in the barn. If I haven't got them ready yet when she gets in, she'll bump the stanchion bar with her nose and make it clunk so I know she's waiting. As soon as I take the bar down, she goes right in, tips her head to fit her horns in, and I shut the headlock on her. Next comes a nice, full body brushing, then I put the surcingle on her and turn on the pump, while I sit next to her with my head in her flank, pulling down on the surcingle belt to simulate the weight of a milker bucket hanging there. The only thing left to do is to attach the inflations when it comes time to actually milk her.
She obviously didn't settle that first day she ran off to join the neighbor's herd, because she's not close to calving yet, but if she got pregnant 3 weeks later, I could see that. Her udder is getting bigger by the day. This was a week ago, and it's bigger than that now. I expect her to calve by the end of May (probably sometime between the 20th and the 25th).
And in case any of you (that would be you, TJM) need proof that she's not "fighting the headlock," or otherwise injuring herself and others by "rushing backward," here she is locked securely in, and not caring a bit. It's totally a normal thing for her now, each and every morning. Not that she ever "fought" the headlock, ever. She just pulled back the first couple times, then stopped and continued eating. She doesn't pull back at all now, because it's not a scary thing.
She's just as sweet as pie right now, and I can do anything with her that I could do with my faithful old girl, Cricket. I can touch any place on her body, including her head, and her horns, and she's fine.
Here are the two of them together:
I'll post more pictures later, with the milker on, after she calves.
Molly and I have been working on stanchion practice for the past month or so, since the bad weather finally cleared up, and she's ready to go. She has a halter on, for the time being, anyway, and I can touch it, and her face, and she comes in to the headlock every morning to have her milking treats. She really looks forward to them, so she comes running when I call, if she's not already waiting in the barn. If I haven't got them ready yet when she gets in, she'll bump the stanchion bar with her nose and make it clunk so I know she's waiting. As soon as I take the bar down, she goes right in, tips her head to fit her horns in, and I shut the headlock on her. Next comes a nice, full body brushing, then I put the surcingle on her and turn on the pump, while I sit next to her with my head in her flank, pulling down on the surcingle belt to simulate the weight of a milker bucket hanging there. The only thing left to do is to attach the inflations when it comes time to actually milk her.
She obviously didn't settle that first day she ran off to join the neighbor's herd, because she's not close to calving yet, but if she got pregnant 3 weeks later, I could see that. Her udder is getting bigger by the day. This was a week ago, and it's bigger than that now. I expect her to calve by the end of May (probably sometime between the 20th and the 25th).
And in case any of you (that would be you, TJM) need proof that she's not "fighting the headlock," or otherwise injuring herself and others by "rushing backward," here she is locked securely in, and not caring a bit. It's totally a normal thing for her now, each and every morning. Not that she ever "fought" the headlock, ever. She just pulled back the first couple times, then stopped and continued eating. She doesn't pull back at all now, because it's not a scary thing.
She's just as sweet as pie right now, and I can do anything with her that I could do with my faithful old girl, Cricket. I can touch any place on her body, including her head, and her horns, and she's fine.
Here are the two of them together:
I'll post more pictures later, with the milker on, after she calves.