MOOOOO!!!!!!

Sure enough, Daisy became ours. Her previous owners delivered her in the evening around 5 pm after we'd had one heck of a windy, stormy day! The weather broke just in time however, so Daisy was allowed a bit of time to become familiar with her new home before milking time. In order to minimize the whole shock of being in a new place just before milking, we kept her in the barn stall rather than throw her out in a field with Sully (the horse) nearby and too many fences to try to run through! :) Our first milking went rather like I was expecting, but was still a mite discouraging too. Angela, my cousin who helps with milking and caring for Daisy, and I took turns milking. Mind you, this was the first time either she or I had milked a cow other than just a squirt squirt here or there in the past. It took us nearly 2 hours from beginning to end. She knocked over the bucket 4 times, I got stepped on twice, it was dark and we were working by lantern light.....who knows how much milk we really got because there was nothing to show for our work since she kept kicking it over, and who knows if we got all the milk! The next morning went slightly better, and each milking thereafter got slightly better and quicker.



I am now pretty settled into an evening routine of having dinner on the table between 6:00 and 6:20, so then I have time nurse Elizabeth and get the buckets ready and solutions mixed up by 7 pm. If Aaron isn't home to stay with the kids, they all come with me. I take 2 clean milking pails down to the barn with me, a solution of homemade teat wipes, a different homemade udder cleaning solution and a rag, and yet another homemade post milking teat dip. The wipes are made at once, but the other 2 solutions have to be made each milking. (I wish I could just make a bunch at once, but it loses it's effectiveness quickly if it sits around.)As soon as I get to the barn, I open the back door and call her in. Even if she's on the other side of the pasture, she starts walking towards the barn when I call her. Once she's in the barn, I put on her halter and tie her to the stall. Then I tie her tail to her back leg with a piece of twine. This does not hurt her at all, but it keeps her from flicking her tail in my face and it also keeps her from pooping (because she has to lift her tail to poop!). I brush her down to remove stray hairs, wash her udder with the soapy water solution, wipe her teats with the wipes, strip her teats (which means to remove the first few squirts of milk in case any bacteria has made it's way in) and THEN give her some grain. If I think it's necessary, I put a dab of coconut oil on my fingers to help with the friction, and off I go. The actual milking process is really quite fun, and I'm getting strong hands and arms from it too! It's fun to squeeze just as hard I can and watch the streams of milk come out. The milk foams so much and the bucket fills up so fast! I have gotten into the habit of taking two buckets so I can switch buckets if she seems impatient. That way, I don't lose all my milk if she kicks the bucket. I just dump each quart or so into another bucket as I milk it out. I've learned to sense when she's starting to shift and move that bucket FAST so it doesn't get knocked over, but occasionally she still knocks the bucket and dirties it. After about 20-25 minutes of milking, the milk has slowed down to a near stop, so I get out the teat dip and dip her teats. This helps to prevent mastitis and also helps close off the teats to keep bacteria from entering. If I think she needs it, I rub her teats with some udder balm, untie her tail, brush her a minute longer, tell her she's a good girl, and send her back out to pasture. I carry all my paraphernalia and full pail of milk back to the house. The milk has to be strained because as clean as the process is, a stray hair or piece of straw might enter into it, so this ensures that the milk is clean and safe to drink. I typically get 1 1/2- 1 3/4 gallons of milk per milking. Then I have to wash all the pails, buckets, strainers and cups right away to prevent bacteria from growing, and lastly, take off my "cow" clothes. The whole process takes about 1 hour exactly. Angela follows the same process in the morning and she gets about as much milk.



We're getting 21-25 gallons of milk per week. So that means plenty of yummy milk to drink, cream in coffee, butter, yogurt, ice cream, and cottage cheese abounds! I want to make some other kinds of cheese too, but I need to buy some cultures online to make the different kinds of cheeses. So far, I'm really enjoying having a cow. She's been real patient and we're learning to be regular ole' milkmaids.