Producing milk in new mom

[alafrisco]

I have cow that just had her first calf she does not seem to have a whole lot of milk. Is there anything to make her milk come in better? The calf is 6 days old.

 

[dun]

By not a whole lot are you basing that on the udder appearence or the calfs behaviour? Unless there is something wrong with the udder, i.e. edema, mastitis, you can;t judge the milk by appearance. If the calf acts hungry and hunts form teat to teat for long periods, then there is likely a milk shortage. If there is a lack of milk about all you can do is start graining her. But that an lead to scour problems with the calf. If she is milking all she is geneticly capable of there is no way you'll increase the milk but grain will make her fat

 

[alisonb]

Is this a dairy or beef animal? If dairy and you are milking her she may just be holding back her milk for her calf otherwise i agree with Dun.

 

[msscamp]

I have cow that just had her first calf she does not seem to have a whole lot of milk.

Udder size does not necessarily correlate to milk production. How does the calf look? Is he/she sunk in in front of the hip bones? If not, the heifer is probably producing enough milk. How does the calf act? Is he/she running around and playing? Is he/she alert and bright eyed? If so, the heifer is probably producing enough milk. Is the calf laying around, lethargic, wanting to sleep alot, or going from tit to tit to tit every time when he/she nurses? If so, the heifer is not producing enough milk.

Is there anything to make her milk come in better? The calf is 6 days old.

Not really. Assuming her body condition is what it should be, a cow/heifer can only produce as much as her body/genetics allows. Grain will help her reach her potential if the feed is poor/low quality, but it will not make her produce beyond her capability.

 

[S&WSigma40VEShooter]

I have cow that just had her first calf she does not seem to have a whole lot of milk.

Udder size does not necessarily correlate to milk production. How does the calf look? Is he/she sunk in in front of the hip bones? If not, the heifer is probably producing enough milk. How does the calf act? Is he/she running around and playing? Is he/she alert and bright eyed? If so, the heifer is probably producing enough milk. Is the calf laying around, lethargic, wanting to sleep alot, or going from tit to tit to tit every time when he/she nurses? If so, the heifer is not producing enough milk.

Is there anything to make her milk come in better? The calf is 6 days old.

Not really. Assuming her body condition is what it should be, a cow/heifer can only produce as much as her body/genetics allows. Grain will help her reach her potential if the feed is poor/low quality, but it will not make her produce beyond her capability.

Good post

 

[alafrisco]

She is a Maine Anjou Beef cow. One of the teats does not seem to have much milk and the other 3 seem fine.

 

[Stocker Steve]

I have cow that just had her first calf she does not seem to have a whole lot of milk. Is there anything to make her milk come in better? The calf is 6 days old.

First calvers give less milk than a mature cow - - 15 to 20% less on average.
Three tits give less milk than four...
Sounds like you may end up with a smaller calf and need to make a decision about this heifer in a couple months. Not much you can do right now.