help me with my milk cow!!!

[tiggermeriffic]

Hi,
This is my first post and I hope you all can help. I bought a jersey from the sale barn the other day. I got her home and she ran around my fields till the next morning when I was finally able to herd her into the barn with alot of fuss. I got her milked but I now have a little problem. When I let her out I am afraid she won't come back into the barn. How and what can I do to try to fix this problem before I let her out? Or will I have to just keep herding her into the barn till she gets use to it. I am stumped. Thank you for your time.
Chad

[walls0stone]

Give her grain in the barn, that should help. Somthing to come home to. is it a young animal?
Many dairy animals I've wored with were in group... I'd say you'll need to go get her each day if you give her lots of space. and IMO, that bread is rather stuborn.

[Drawbar]

I don't think I have ever milked a cow that did not have its head stuck in a pile of grain, so WallsoStone has made a good point. After a week or so your cow should walk herself into the barn, grain is like heroine to a cow. Just shake a scoop with grain in it, and she will come running.

As for your cow, the best thing to do is set up a routine, and I mean a routine. Milk her at the same time everyday. Pick a time like 5 and milk her at that time. Not at 5:10 AM and then 17:30 PM, but at 5 AM and then 12 hours later at 17 PM. Stick with that routine and she will soon be standing at the barn door waiting for you.

It cannot be stated strongly enough...cows are creatures of habit. By using that to your advantage you can make life very easy for yourself.

Oh another thing I just thought of. How are you trying to herd her? A cow is a creature of habit and does things the same way every time. Never approach a cow from say 12-2 o clock on her right side, or 10-12 o clock on her left side. Standing in front of a cow makes them back up.

Approaching a cow from behind at say 5 o clock to 7 o clock means you are out of their site. To see you they must turn to either the right or left, and you guessed it, they start walking in the direction they turn...in other words a steering one way of the other.

To drive a cow straight, you need to zig zag back and forth behind them. They turn their heads to the right, and then to the left, but since they are walking, will eventually go straight ahead. Another approach is to head towards the cow from say the 4 o clock position, or 8 o clock position. They see you approach and then walk forward straight ahead to avoid you.

I like to put my arms out wide to make myself look bigger. This helps them see you and makes them think you are bigger then what you are. I also NEVER yell at the cows. This causes stress and that never helps the situation.

Since your cow is already at milking age, I bet she is used to farm life. Most farmers call cows...all cows regardless of their names, Bossie. Don't ask me why, but try calling to her using this generic name. It will sound something like this.

"Hey Boss...hey bossie, get up there. Get, get, up, up..." as you steer her towards the barn. I often scratch "the girls" under their chins and say soothingly "Hey there Bossie, good girl." These are cows and not bulls, and they should be pampered. A happy,comfortable cow gives more milk and is less stressed, which causes you less stress, and any farmer wants that.

You will be amazed at what body positioning in regards to the cow does for the animal. As I said never yell,and don't move fast. A cows pace is half that of ours. Adding worse to worse is the fact that a Jersey is skittish (we milk them along with holstein's so I truly know the breed).

Move slow, don't yell and approach a cow from the right angle and you will quickly realize I am not blowing smoke up your deriere, but giving you honest good advice. (By the way you can practice after you are done milking her. Go out in the pasture and try approaching her from different angles. She will always react the same way. Once you figure out where you approach from, dictates where she is going, you'll be years ahead of most beginning farmers.)

[Drawbar]

I am not sure if I posted this on this website or not, either way it does not matter but it does clearly show how positiong can really dicatate what a cow does as far as direction goes.

Anyway a few weeks ago we were milking a first time heifer and she was a bit nervous at the whole routine. Adding bad to worse, a new guy was in the barn that does not understand cows. As one of our Corgi's (a herding breed type of dog) drove the new cow into a stall, this man stepped in front of the cow. That approach caused the cow to step back, and as it did, it stepped on the front paw of the Corgi. As the guy moved to the right, the cow moved to and then it turned on its hoof driving the paw into the concrete and ripping off all its pads. That Corgi is okay, just limping on his paw which will take awhile to heal.

The same can be said for cow handling at a country fair. It takes a lot of training to get a 4H cow to take a bridle well because it goes against their nature. They don't want to be "pulled", as being in front of a cow makes it back up. Only the best cows at the fair look natural on a bridle, the semi-trained ones fight it...buts its only natural in my opinion.

By the way another thing I forgot to mention was distance from a cow. A cow is like a human in that it has its personal zones. If you are 100 feet away from a cow on pasture, it stays where it is happy to be grazing, but get within 30 feet of it, and it stops, its ears sweep back and it watches you intently. Remember too a cow has better perifieal vision then humans so it picksup your movement over a bigger area.

Get with in 15 feet of a cow and it might start moving away from you. A Jersey heifer will be more apt to move from you then say a cow that is used to farmers approaching it a lot.

There is a sweet spot around a cow where it feels uncomfortable and it moves from you, no matter what position you approach it from. You have to find out what that distance is, and stay out of it, if you want it to stay where it is, or move into it to get it to move. Once you move in and out of that distance enough, you can control the cows forward movement by sheer "human presence".

Now once you get past that zone and right up next to the cow, it has accepted you and is calm. It has come to terms that you are not there to do it harm and is content.

I have given you 34 years of farming experience in two posts so I don't expect anyone to understand exactly what I am saying, but if you try your best to follow what I am saying, you can manipulate a cows movement pretty easy.

Move slow around cows. Don't yell. Approach and receed from a cows "flight zone" to control movement, and use approach angles to the cows position to control where it goes. I think working on that will greatly improve your herding skills.

[tiggermeriffic]

Thank you very much for all your info. I will definetly work on where her herding zone is. I believe she came from a large milking farm. I say this because she stands there and lets me milk her but because I am slower than a milking machine she gets impatent. I think it is just going to take her time to get to know me. I am only worried because she is just a few days fresh and I don't want to get her out in the filed and not be able to get her back in. Thank you again for all your help and I will work on the things you suggested.

[walls0stone]

Draw, it's so funny how you and I grew up doing that stuff..calling cows say, and just do them. I mean.... I would probly just go out and call her up, but didn't think to say that. The hills around here sound like an epesode of Rawhide around dawn when the world is still.

[AlchemyAcres]

As Drawbar posted, routine is important.

I's also important to limit stress as much as possible.....make the barn and milking experience a positive thing..

More than anything, the personality of the cow has the most affect on how she'll behave, they're all different, obviously.....many are unpredictable...LOL

The fact that she's a single cow is also a consideration and adds to the unpredictability.... cattle are herding animals.....they're most comfortable in groups....dealing with a single cow is a totally different dynamic.

Adding to what Drawbar posted.....my Grandfather used to say..."The fastest way to move cattle is slowly.".........that's priceless advise!!!!




~Martin ;)

[walls0stone]

Another reason you can't just sorta kinda farm with animals... your home at two times every single day...no questions. Have you thought about getting your cow a friend?

[tiggermeriffic]

She is not alone. I also have three dexters. 1 bull, one cow and on heifer. I only got the cow because the dexters are only just now pregnant and they have not been handled much so they are very stand off ish. I just wanted to get some milk for now and thought if the other cows saw me with her and saw she let me pet her and all that they would relax a little too. I also have 75 chickens two goats and 9 rabbits. My wife is a farm girl and I have been around her and her family for about 12 years. I just was looking for more advice from more perspectives. Thank you again.

[ms-woman]

I grew up working on my uncle's dairy farm and having a lone cow is very different. With my Jersey/Guernsey I started getting her used to milking by giving her a pan of grain while milking and unintentionally got her to come to me each time by whistling. Weird but it works! Pretty much just a reward system, every morning and evening as I walked to the barn I whistled and called her, she started to associate the whistle with a bucket of feed. Now I can walk down to the bottom 60 acres and whistle and she comes right along! But I also have all my animals trained to come to me when I whistle they think its time to get a treat!