it is so frustrating

[bookwormom]

I should not have bragged how well I was doing milking Brownie. I am not milking anymore. she is determined to not let herself be milked anymore, Period.
Is it her? what am I doing wrong?
I put good feed in front her, tied her to a fencepost and milked her. It was hard going, her nipples have such little openings, it takes forever.
she was fine with that routine for a couple of weeks, followed me along, then she went in heat and now she is a different cow. she would rather starve than be tied. I am at my wits end. Her back udder is getting big.
My goats are fresh, a real pleasure compared to her, the milk foams in the bucket and in no time I am done. Milking Brownie just wears me out. My hands get tired. should I consult the vet? The calf has no problem, but she only sucks the front nipples, and there prefers one side over the other.
I have thought if I could do something to make the calf drink from the back nipples, but that is futile, as I can not milk her at all. As soon as my barn is done and I have some stalls I would like to lock up the calf overnight and milk her in the morning. here the question would be, how to get the calf in a stall in the evening. goats are so much easier, but I have dreamed of a cow and I know that my situation is not the norm. but it is really exasperating.

[Drawbar]

It could be her, and it could be you and it could be a combination of the two. I really don't know. If the rear utter is hot it could be mastitis, but if not maybe the back half of her utter has already gone dry? Again really don't know.

I know I have milked cows for 34 years (twice a day, every day for the first 20 years and sporadically after that), but I have NEVER milked an entire cow by hand...nor would I want to. I think my hands would cramp up pretty quick. If that's the way you are doing it, then I can see why you would be frustrated. It takes a LONG time to get all the milk out of a cow compared with out of a goat (or sheep for that matter).

In either case its too bad the cow is not working out for you. I think it might be one of those cases where sticking with what you know may be best. I am glad you tried a milking cow, but if its not for you then its not for you. No big deal.

As for Brownie, for what its worth, we would have culled the cow when it refused to be milked the first few times. All in all, we have 555 cows and don't have time for the ones that won't play by the rules.