permaculture

[Barbara Meyer <brbhums@gmail.com>]

Hi Folks,
Any of you with experience with a dairy cow: We have a single mother with a
3 month old calf who is with her and nursing. She was giving us 2-4 gallons
twice a day but has slowed up to barely a gallon in two milkings.
So... the questions:
Is this something we should expect?
What is the best way to wean?
Could we cut back to one milking a day if we wean?

We would really like to keep calf with mother, keep mother grass-fed, and
keep getting milk for us.

Any advice welcome,
Amy

Hi Amy,

If the calf is still with the mom, then it is drinking the 2-4 gallons a day
plus whatever it was getting before.  She is still producing the same, or
even more, but the calf is drinking it all.

We usually wean at 2-2.5 months depending on how well the calf is eating
grass. We bottle feed so we know they are getting 2 gallons a day at that
age. We slowly cut the milk down over a 2 week period from 4 bottles a day
to one and then none and it is weaned.



There are multiple ways to do this.  One is to take the calf away during the
day (let it graze near) but not be with the mom and milk the cow in the
evening and then let them back together overnight and then separate them
again the next day.  Of course you could separate them at night and then
milk her first thing in the morning but the bawling could be problematic in
the night.  One thing about a cow with a partially nursing calf, is she will
often not let down the milk for people and save it for the calf (she is
probably doing that now).



 Another solution is to wean the calf away completely after separating it
for part of the day for several weeks..  The family will have more milk
(probably 4-6 gallons a day).  It is NOT a good idea to switch to one
milking a day when the production is so high.  The cow’s production starts
out low and peaks when the calf is drinking a lot (right around 3 months)
and then will drop off again before you dry her up for her next calf.  That
is why people often choose to take the milk from one milking and let the
calf have the rest.  Once the production goes down, it will not go up again,
so the decision needs to be a good one.



Hope that answers the questions.



Darlene