I'm just curious to know if the size of a cows bag has anything to do with her milk production? I just ask this because I see cows with calves that seem like they don't hardly have milk in their bag at all but their calves grow up to bigger than others. Just caught up with boredom so I decided to see what yall have to say about this.
Milk Production?
- Thread starter sewall
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Really? Do some cattle have the ability to store milk above the udder to the degree that they can contain as much above as other cattle contain within and above the udder?
I realize that some cattle can do this to some degree ~ but overall, is it not safe to state that a cow with a larger udder can be counted on to produce more milk than a cow with a small udder?
Even a cow with a large bag will release more as she is being nursed.
Then maybe the calves ability to perform as well on less is genetic. That would make sense, I think.
Not challenging the gurus ~ just thinking out loud.
I realize that some cattle can do this to some degree ~ but overall, is it not safe to state that a cow with a larger udder can be counted on to produce more milk than a cow with a small udder?
Even a cow with a large bag will release more as she is being nursed.
Then maybe the calves ability to perform as well on less is genetic. That would make sense, I think.
Not challenging the gurus ~ just thinking out loud.
We had a Herfeord heifer that when she calved had no udder at all to speak off. Her first calf would nurse adnd there would be milk dripping and pouring all over the place. Calf only nursed as long as any of the others did and weaned at just shy of 600 pounds. The next year the same cows udder looked like an old wore out set of glaoves, no milk at all. That claf weaned at well over 700 pounds. Her udder looked exactly the same after she was nursed then before except it was wet and slobbery after nursing. At the dairy there was one cow that came in and I asked if she was ready to be dried off since she didn;t look to have any milk. HThe look of her udder never changed much from start to finish, she's milking over 80 pounds a day.
I asked the vet about this phenomonon once and he just laughed and said he's never figured out where some of these cows store the stuff.
I've seen other cows with big udders that didn;t milk diddly and the udder looked pretty much the same after milking. Meaty udders like that will fool you. The proff is in the pudding, how does the calf grow or in the case of a dairy, how do the DHIA records look.
I asked the vet about this phenomonon once and he just laughed and said he's never figured out where some of these cows store the stuff.
I've seen other cows with big udders that didn;t milk diddly and the udder looked pretty much the same after milking. Meaty udders like that will fool you. The proff is in the pudding, how does the calf grow or in the case of a dairy, how do the DHIA records look.
novatech
Well-known member
I just weaned a calf of a cow that was the same way. If you look at the bag you would swear the calf would have to be starving. Average daily gain at 205 day was 2.86.dun":129i0xc2 said:
Like the vet, where do they store it?
novatech
Well-known member
I had one that dripped.hgfarmer":x88z5k6t said:
Jeanne - Simme Valley
Well-known member
I've seen freshly calved cows, have milk pouring out one quarter that the calf had started on & switched to another teat. Or, calf opened up a couple of quarters but not quite getting the hang of it, as soon as calf gets close to teats, milk/colostrum just streams out.
Size is absolutely no indication of milk production. And, QUALITY of milk varies tremendously from cow to cow.
Size is absolutely no indication of milk production. And, QUALITY of milk varies tremendously from cow to cow.
