How do I milk a cow?

[Andrew]

Hello,
I bought a bred baldie last Summer and it calved about a week ago and her bag is huge. Its bigger than any other beef cow I have or seen. I suspect she might be a cross with a milk breed.

I would like to try and milk her but never done it before. Has anyone ever milked a beef cow and, if so, how does one go about it? Should I even milked her?


Her udder looks a lot bigger than this one (which is a pic of a holstein):

Any advise would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Andrew

 

[cowspider]

Hey, Andrew. First you can milk a beef cow. it is done alot.
You will need a way to confine her head. way back when old farmers use to just tie the head to a post and start milking.
today most people have a milking stantion. you need quick reflexes to start milking an unbroke cow but it can be done.
just stick your head into her side - you can feel her move to get ready to kick with your head that way. grab the teats with your thumb and pointer finger and squeeze from the top moveing down the the end. Get Er Done and have some fun :cboy: :cboy:

 

[Andrew]

Thanks cowspider...

Should I try to tie her legs together so that she doesn't kick? Is tying her to a post still recommended or too dangerous? I've read somewhere that its also necessary to get the calf to suck in order for the cow to "let her milk down". Is this true?

Thanks for the help. I'll try not to get my head kicked in.

Andrew

 

[bigbull338]

yes you can milk a cow.but tieing her to a post an tieing her leggs isnt safe.she can still stomp you good an hurt you.the safest way is to put her in the chute an milk her.have someone hold her tail straight up.so she cant kick you while your milking her.scott

 

[milkmaid]

I've read somewhere that its also necessary to get the calf to suck in order for the cow to "let her milk down". Is this true?

Nope. Think of a dairy cow...I can guarantee you there are no calves getting a drink before the cows walk in the milking parlor. :lol: ;-) Either stripping a bit of milk out or simply massaging the udder will cause her to let her milk down. Perhaps not the first time - you'd be surprised how well a nervous cow can hold her milk - but once she gets used to you it won't be a problem.

Should I try to tie her legs together so that she doesn't kick?

I wouldn't mess with her hind legs any more than you have to. You could hobble her if she's extremely antsy or mean, but I wouldn't try it right off. A cow can get pretty stressed when she realizes her legs are tied - been there done that.

Is tying her to a post still recommended or too dangerous?

I've snubbed them before in a corner, and then put a panel up against them to make a temporary chute, then worked through the bars. You'll have to have her restrained some how, and if she's "just" tied I can guarantee she won't stand around for you. Once she's trained and tamed it would be different; I have one cow that I've put grain out for, and just went to work while she was eating. Didn't even need to tie her.

Lastly...ditto to what cowspider said about quick reflexes. ;-)

 

[dun]

If you don;t have a "kicker" i.e. anti-ckick device, the simplist way I've used is to bass a rope kind of like a lariat but soft only1/4-3/8 inch in diameter under the belly and over the back just in front of the uddder. Pull it as tight as you can and tie it to itself. While not impossible it makes it really hard for them to kick and they can;t kick very hard. I had to use it on one heifer that was out in the pasture and kept pushing her calf away cause her udder was so swollen when she calved. I tied her to a tree and attempted to strip some milk to relieve the pressure. She kicked the crap out of me. Put the rope around her, stripped a little to get the teats working and let the calf have at her. Took the rope off after 10 minutes and never had another problem. Back before they had the fancy kickers that all of the dairys use now, that was what was used.

dun

 

[cowspider]

I have milked several "wild" cows just dallied to a post in a round pen. I don't think it is too dangerous, if you know what you are doing. tying legs is dangerous. just go slow and easy :cboy: :cboy:
I have posted a pic. in the past showing me milk a longhorn cow dallied to a post. :cboy:

P.S. if I can do it so can you.

 

[Anonymous]

We have brahman cattle and my son has to milk them all the time when they first calf. He does this to help the calf learn to suck. For some reason brahman calves have a hard time learning to suck.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Allright Ruby are you ate up with dummy Bramer calfs of all the breeds never had problems getting a Bramer to nurse. Heck if the cow died calf would survive stealing from the other cows.

 

[cherokeeruby']

Wow what a great recommendation for Brahman cows. Not true that Brahman calves have to be taught to suck and not all cows have to milked. When we first got Brahmans 18 years ago we went through all that stuff. Learned real quick that if the cows that had bad bags and the calves that had to be taught went to the sale barn the next year the problems were greatly reduced. Now we never have a calf that doesn't know how to suck and the only cow we milk is 14 and had a good bag until she was 12.

Any bad trait can be bred out of any breed.

 

[cherokeeruby']

Glad to see you are back to posting, hope you got all your mess cleaned up after Rita.

:heart: :heart: :heart:

Allright Ruby are you ate up with dummy Bramer calfs of all the breeds never had problems getting a Bramer to nurse. Heck if the cow died calf would survive stealing from the other cows.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Glad to see you are back to posting, hope you got all your mess cleaned up after Rita.

:heart: :heart: :heart:

Allright Ruby are you ate up with dummy Bramer calfs of all the breeds never had problems getting a Bramer to nurse. Heck if the cow died calf would survive stealing from the other cows.

Thanks Ruby everything is getting back to normal. Fema truck cleaning up debris off the side of county road tore up the hay field fence just drove off and left it. This is the second time them city boys workin the cleanup trucks have tore up fence.
I am going to have a come to Jesus meeting with the County Commisioner in the morning.

 

[Beef11]

You have to be about half stupid to milk a beef cow.
the way i do it is to rope her tie her head to a post then rope one foot and tie it back so she cant kick after the first or second milking its not needed to tie the hind leg back. I guess you might have a good reason for milking a beef cow.

 

[Anonymous]

I didn't mean all brahman calves. We had a few calves this year that had a little problem. They would have eventually Sucked alright by themselves if we would have left them alone. We just don't take ant chances. We are doing this for fun not for a living. Maybe I didn't explain myself to good. I was just trying to let the guy know you could milk a beef cow. Ruby we are not all as DUMB as you think we are. Sorry I hit a nerve, next time I will stay out of it. Bobby

 

[dun]

Fema truck cleaning up debris off the side of county road tore up the hay field fence just drove off and left it. This is the second time them city boys workin the cleanup trucks have tore up fence.
I am going to have a come to Jesus meeting with the County Commisioner in the morning.

Maybe they think your fences look like debris. Not that yours do, but I've sure seen some fences around here that aren;t even good enough to pass as debris.

dun

 

[cowspider]

Beef11

You have to be about half stupid to milk a beef cow.

Watch who you call stupid, Some good ole boy may show you "what for". You must not milk much. :x :?:

 

[Beef11]

If you read my post you will see i never called anybody "stupid" and if you read the whole post and not just the out of context quote. You will see that i was merely illustrating a point. For the one of you that will come show me what for... Please Do i welcome the encounter. I have milked range cows but for a reason. They are not made to milked and they don't terribly enjoy it. If you want a milk cow go buy a milk cow for less money you can buy an aged milk cow that will out milk a beef cow for less money and she won't kick the snot out of you. Milking beef cows isn't a dude sport. I've been to the left coast, lots of dudes, talk tough little bite

 

[cowspider]

Please come to the left coast and see what a"dude" can do.

Pick your words careful!! :cboy:

 

[dun]

Hasn't this gone on long enough?

dun

 

[Beef11]

i thought it just started. I'll be going to the left coast on thursday, friday i'll be in corvallis saturday i'll be in Chehallis the rest of the time i'll be in the willamette until new years i'll be up around Pendleton.