Lesson Learned

[I luv herfrds]

Don't let my hubby take care of my milk cow.

I had an EMS training course this weekend. I had run out of the feed she was getting, so he was feeding her just ground barley.

Went from 3+ gallons a day to 2 gallons a day.
I'm picking up more feed tomorrow along with another lick tub for her.
He also did not bother to put out a hay bale for her.

I think I'm turning more gray and bald pulling my hair out.

 

[bigbull338]

unless you train them an pound it in their head they aint gonna do it your way.hope you can get her production back up.

 

[I luv herfrds]

Got 6 bags of the bull developer and cob w/ mollasses today. Boy will she be happy tomorrow morning.

Got a bale out for her so that is taken care of.

 

[regolith]

Heck, I won't even get an experienced relief milker in if I can help it, for this exact reason (and others).

But sooner or later, you do have to take time off or do something else. I've just decided for me it's going to be mid-December, when AI is finished. Got a heifer with a broken tail that I never noticed broken before the day I had a relief milker - not saying it happened then, but that plus forgetting to pull the feed trailer into the yard for the cows...
It was almost a relief that he didn't turn up when scheduled since I'd just treated a cow for mastitis - the penalty for supplying antibiotic milk if he made a mistake would cost me tens of thousands.

 

[GMN]

a relief milker has to be close family, anyone else is just working for money and doesn't give a hoot if they screw up-My time for some time off is coming, my eldest son is 17, i think soon he will be ready so I can take a lil trip up to WI for a visit. :wave: :wave:

 

[hillsdown]

I think I have shared most of our horror stories involving the dairy and hired hands or relief milkers . Will take too long to type them all out again but there is a reason why you don't go anywhere when you have a dairy herd .

A few years ago during calving season I had to go to town to get supplies. I asked my husband to check on the girls when I was gone. Told him ear tags and exact descriptions of which heifers I thought were close to calving. When I got home (was only gone for maybe 4 hours) I asked if anyone had calved and he said no he has been watching that one heifer and she hasn't done anything . Went out and she was laying in the calving shed with a dead calf beside her. When I told him he went out to look as of course I am the stupid one . Here is was watching a flippen cow that had already calved earlier that week.

Now I don't go anywhere during calving unless I really need to, if I need something he goes for supplies if home ,not me .

I just can't believe they are that dumb. I think it has more to do with some type of resentment or ignorance on their part . Nice to know that they care about how hard we bust our @sses to get everything where it should be and then can destroy it all in the blink of an eye.

 

[regolith]

Part of the 'cost' of taking ten days off in Dec 09 was getting the vet to do a whole herd scan and date every pregnancy in Feb 2010.
That was ten days in which not a single mating had been observed or recorded. Normally I only need to pd and date 15% of the herd, to check that the cycling cows are open and cows with long returns are holding to the later date.

 

[I luv herfrds]

Must be a husband thing HD.
Common sense does not exsist. :roll: :roll:

I could have just about killed him on Friday. I had 3 gallons of milk going to friends. So what does he do? takes in 4 gallons and leaves them with the same person. He missed a delivery.
Even worse? 1 gallon was our families milk jar. I hadn't bothered to bleach it because it was our jar. I had cleaned it though.