Diary

May 2015RSS feed

The Milk Project Part 1

Monday 11 May, 2015

by Rosemary at 5:21pm in Cattle 2 comments Comments closed

When we first got cattle in 2010, the intention was to milk them for the house. When Breeze and Blizzard calved for the first time in 2012, my head was too full of magic to try; in 2013, they kind of knew that the milk was for calves and weren’t keen on sharing. I was advised to try with a heifer so last year I tried (but not very hard) to milk Annie, when she had her first calf. But it’s always been there, eating away at me. I think because I couldn’t get the perfect system planned in my head, I couldn’t get started.

The Milk Project Part 2

Monday 25 May, 2015

by Rosemary at 5:30pm in Cattle 6 comments Comments closed

Well, my daily blog didn’t last long. But the milking has. Quick recap – after a couple of days, Blizzard was dropped from the milking project and only Annie kept on.

I’ve milked pretty much every day; I’ve changed from a plastic bucket to a stainless steel one – it’s huge and the bit of milk looks a bit lost in it.

Between the 11th and last Friday (22nd), Vicki got pretty good at following her mum into the byre; sometimes I used a halter to stop her going off exploring. On Friday, I couldn’t catch her and she wouldn’t follow, so I brought Annie in on her own. The biggest fuss is made by Blizzard (Boss cow and Annie’s mum), who bawls at the gate. I wonder if I should bring her in too, just to shut her up.

© The Accidental Smallholder Ltd 2003-2024. All rights reserved.

Design by Furness Internet

Site developed by Champion IS