iowa52
Member
Hey, Newbie here. I would like to find out how to train a dairy cow to let me milk her. How do you do it?
training milk cows
- Thread starter iowa52
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regolith
Well-known member
The bigger question is: what facilities have you got to milk her in/with?
Start from there.
If the cow has never been milked before some sort of restraint will be needed until she is used to the procedure. In most dairies all it means is bringing her into the row because the cows either side won't tolerate misbehaviour. Bringing her in a few times before calving so that she is familiar with the surrounds and routine is a good idea too.
Start from there.
If the cow has never been milked before some sort of restraint will be needed until she is used to the procedure. In most dairies all it means is bringing her into the row because the cows either side won't tolerate misbehaviour. Bringing her in a few times before calving so that she is familiar with the surrounds and routine is a good idea too.
bigbull338
Well-known member
you have to have a place to milk an feed her in.an you need a set of kickers if she has never been milked before.an you have to have the temperment because milk cows can test you.an you needtobe able to handmilk pretty fast.
Nite Hawk
Well-known member
Some of it depends on how much this heifer has been handled and of course her temperment too.
We try to handle ours a fair amount so they are used to being brushed and scratched.
We use a stanchion to restrain the cow, there is a solid wall on the other side of her so she can't swing away from you.
Offer her something to eat. Brush her a bit and brush down around the belly and towards the udder, and see how she reacts.
A good sized helper lifts the tail up
STRAIGHT over the back, as that tends to paralyse the hind end, and allows the milker to do his/ her job, whether by hand or machine.
Alot of heifers usually will try to kick, at least a bit when you try to milk her the first time, however most heifers discouver that a very full bag hurts and it is relief to get rid of the milk, and usually they settle down after while.Afterwards they get a bit of grain and are scratched and brushed so they tend to associate being milked with a reasonably pleasent experiance.
On a commercial farm they are put in the line up, kickers put on, or tail pulled over their back, machine put on and left to figure it out.
Or at least that is what they did where I worked.
I have ran onto a few that were total "bags" to put it mildly and weeks and months later you were still taking your life into your hands to milk the beast. They would jump on the cow in front of them in the line up,
which of course upset everything, and kick like a mule, and machines would come flying off as cows were thrashing around. It was a nightmare to say the least.
If it would have been my cow she would have gone to the butcher, as she was nuts to put it mildly. Most are not that bad, but the nut cases do exist..
Nite Hawk
We try to handle ours a fair amount so they are used to being brushed and scratched.
We use a stanchion to restrain the cow, there is a solid wall on the other side of her so she can't swing away from you.
Offer her something to eat. Brush her a bit and brush down around the belly and towards the udder, and see how she reacts.
A good sized helper lifts the tail up
STRAIGHT over the back, as that tends to paralyse the hind end, and allows the milker to do his/ her job, whether by hand or machine.
Alot of heifers usually will try to kick, at least a bit when you try to milk her the first time, however most heifers discouver that a very full bag hurts and it is relief to get rid of the milk, and usually they settle down after while.Afterwards they get a bit of grain and are scratched and brushed so they tend to associate being milked with a reasonably pleasent experiance.
On a commercial farm they are put in the line up, kickers put on, or tail pulled over their back, machine put on and left to figure it out.
Or at least that is what they did where I worked.
I have ran onto a few that were total "bags" to put it mildly and weeks and months later you were still taking your life into your hands to milk the beast. They would jump on the cow in front of them in the line up,
which of course upset everything, and kick like a mule, and machines would come flying off as cows were thrashing around. It was a nightmare to say the least.
If it would have been my cow she would have gone to the butcher, as she was nuts to put it mildly. Most are not that bad, but the nut cases do exist..
Nite Hawk
