Milked ol' floppy

[Tod Dague]

Well we finally tried milking her. All went well. We called her out of the field with the calf just finishing up. Washed her bag with a mild chlorine water solution. We pulled 900 cc out of two quarters. She had plenty left over from the rear quarter. We filtered it and let stand in the fridge over night. After separating it had 280 cc of cream and 620 of milk.

We mixed it and tasted. It tasted fine with just a tint of after taste. She may have been eating some weeds since there isn't much grazing left at the home place and they're only getting 2 lbs of whole cotton seed per head every 3 - 4 days.

 

[dun]

We mixed it and tasted.

You mean people actually drink that liquide calf feed?

dun

 

[Tod Dague]

We mixed it and tasted.

You mean people actually drink that liquide calf feed?

dun

Yea, I know, no Nobel prize for me. :lol: Most people that I had talked to about this had advised me to get a dairy cow.

I'm just thinking but she may be able to provide our milk for a while. We use about 2 gal./wk. Don't know if this will turn out to be a long term thing but the kids are enjoying it immensely. I think the next time I may pen her and the calf separately late in the evening then milk her first thing in the AM and try for a gallon.

If we do decide to do this long term we should be able to do it year around since we have two seasons now.

 

[Gale Seddon]

Tod, I think this is great...did you have to put ol Floppy in the chute or what? Think what you can save on cream, butter, cheese! We've got a couple of cows that have actually been milked but we don't milk them...we should (I'm afraid to take on another time-consuming responsibility). My guess (wild) is that there might be fewer problems milking a beef cow than a milk cow. But I may be crazy. Would really be interested in hearing your full story!

 

[Tod Dague]

We did put her in the chute, but we didn't catch her head or squeeze her down. We also gave her a couple pounds of cotton seed while we milked her. She stood very well and didn't seem to have any problems with us milking her. For the little bit that we milked her it only took us about 15 min from setup to letting her out.

We only plan to milk 2 gallons per week and let the calf have the rest. I may be wrong but I don't think it will make a whole lot of difference in the calf's wean wt. We will not be registering or indexing any of the calves that she will produce. Her calves will be fed up for butcher.

I don't know how long this will last but for now the girls are enjoying it and the cow doesn't seem to mind much.

 

[dun]

Maybe you could start a Red Angus dairy.

dun

 

[rkm]

Have a neighbor who milks a herd of herefords. About 40 to 50 cows.

 

[Tod Dague]

Maybe you could start a Red Angus dairy.

dun

Maybe we could call it Certified Angus Milk. :lol:

 

[Gale Seddon]

Any photos of this new enterprise, Tod? Would like to see!

 

[MikeC]

Tod, Put her in a pasture with some wild onions this fall.

The milk will be great for gravies and such and will replace the need for onions in them. :lol:

Seriously, grazing in clover will give the milk a peculiar taste and smell also.

 

[certherfbeef]

You only use 2 gal a week?
5 of us here go thru a gallon a day. Would be more if I'd let them.

Glad it is working out for ya Tod...great experience for ya!

 

[Tod Dague]

Tod, Put her in a pasture with some wild onions this fall.

The milk will be great for gravies and such and will replace the need for onions in them. :lol:

Seriously, grazing in clover will give the milk a peculiar taste and smell also.

Thanks for the heads up on the clover. I may not do any milking in the Spring then.

 

[Tod Dague]

You only use 2 gal a week?
5 of us here go thru a gallon a day. Would be more if I'd let them.

Glad it is working out for ya Tod...great experience for ya!

I don't drink milk like I used to and the wife was never very big on milk. Maybe that is why she's such a little thing.


Gale
I may be able to steal a pic of the wife milking this week but you wont get a pic of me. ;-) A pic of me on here is liable to fry the circuits.

 

[msscamp]

Well we finally tried milking her. All went well.

Every milk cow we ever had while I was growing up was a beef cow - mighty good milk, cream, and ice cream! ;-)

 

[Tod Dague]

Well we finally tried milking her. All went well.

Every milk cow we ever had while I was growing up was a beef cow - mighty good milk, cream, and ice cream! ;-)

I'm looking forward to the ice cream!

Just a question, did ya'll skim all of the cream off or did you leave some?

 

[ollie']

Well we finally tried milking her. All went well. We called her out of the field with the calf just finishing up. Washed her bag with a mild chlorine water solution. We pulled 900 cc out of two quarters. She had plenty left over from the rear quarter. We filtered it and let stand in the fridge over night. After separating it had 280 cc of cream and 620 of milk.

We mixed it and tasted. It tasted fine with just a tint of after taste. She may have been eating some weeds since there isn't much grazing left at the home place and they're only getting 2 lbs of whole cotton seed per head every 3 - 4 days.

You sound like a frenchman milking CCs and such. How much milk was it? 1/2pint, quart, etc. You know Tod, we get along just fine without all that metric system. :lol:

 

[dun]

Well we finally tried milking her. All went well. We called her out of the field with the calf just finishing up. Washed her bag with a mild chlorine water solution. We pulled 900 cc out of two quarters. She had plenty left over from the rear quarter. We filtered it and let stand in the fridge over night. After separating it had 280 cc of cream and 620 of milk.

We mixed it and tasted. It tasted fine with just a tint of after taste. She may have been eating some weeds since there isn't much grazing left at the home place and they're only getting 2 lbs of whole cotton seed per head every 3 - 4 days.

You sound like a frenchman milking CCs and such. How much milk was it? 1/2pint, quart, etc. You know Tod, we get along just fine without all that metric system. :lol:

HOORAY, another metric hater!

dun

 

[ollie']

Well we finally tried milking her. All went well. We called her out of the field with the calf just finishing up. Washed her bag with a mild chlorine water solution. We pulled 900 cc out of two quarters. She had plenty left over from the rear quarter. We filtered it and let stand in the fridge over night. After separating it had 280 cc of cream and 620 of milk.

We mixed it and tasted. It tasted fine with just a tint of after taste. She may have been eating some weeds since there isn't much grazing left at the home place and they're only getting 2 lbs of whole cotton seed per head every 3 - 4 days.

You sound like a frenchman milking CCs and such. How much milk was it? 1/2pint, quart, etc. You know Tod, we get along just fine without all that metric system. :lol:

HOORAY, another metric hater!

dun

Hello brother. We hate horses and the metric system. We could be kin.

 

[dun]

HOORAY, another metric hater!

dun

Hello brother. We hate horses and the metric system. We could be kin.

I don;t hate horses. They have there place, on a plate, rigth next to a big pile of beans after being slow cooked in a hole in the gorund

dun

 

[ollie']

Never ate one. I had them as a kid but I'm too old for pets. Every year while A.I'n cows though they would be handy to get them up with. I'd lease a real smart , gentle, easy caught , horse that doesn't get in wire, crib, kick, etc. I wonder why I don't have one. :lol: Foundering rascals.