# How much milk should my Jersey be producing?



## farmergirl (Aug 2, 2005)

My Jersey cow, Sweetpea, freshened for the first time on Christmas eve 
Her calf seems to be doing very well, so I know she is producing enough milk for him. But when I put her in the stanchion to milk out the rest of the milk (I figured the little calf would use maybe half of what she produces at most), I am getting ony a few cups of milk total. She has one damaged teat, so the milk just flows out from there when she lets down, but the other three teats are in good condition. I am getting good flow from all three functioning quarters, but it just seems like there's not alot there. I have been milking her once a day, just to acclimate her to the process. Should I just leave the milk to the calf for another few weeks? Currently they are together 24/7.


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## Jay (Feb 5, 2008)

Jerseys are bred to give lots of milk, enough to feed several calves. Start milking two times a day, and massage that udder for letdown. The calf at this age will in no way take all that she is making.

Sounds like she is holding up on you. OR she is decreasing production to match what is taken. This is a case of: if you don't use it, you loose it--meaning you don't take all the milk in the udder right now twice a day, her production will decrease to just supply what is taken.

Didn't know if you knew all that.....


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## farmergirl (Aug 2, 2005)

Jay said:


> Jerseys are bred to give lots of milk, enough to feed several calves. Start milking two times a day, and massage that udder for letdown. The calf at this age will in no way take all that she is making.
> 
> Sounds like she is holding up on you. OR she is decreasing production to match what is taken. This is a case of: if you don't use it, you loose it--meaning you don't take all the milk in the udder right now twice a day, her production will decrease to just supply what is taken.
> 
> Didn't know if you knew all that.....


Thanks for your response. I have wondered if that's what's going on. How soon can I remove the calf from her? I would like to keep the calf on her only 12 hours a day and milk once a day.


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## Oakshire_Farm (Dec 4, 2008)

I always remove take my calves away right away and never let them nurse, I bottle feed them with moms milk. I milk 2 times per day and a jood Jersey should give you any where from 2-4 gallons each milking. That is lots for a few calves and for your fridge as well! 

Happy Milking:happy:


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## Ronney (Nov 26, 2004)

Farmergirl, if your going to sharemilk with the calf you need to establish a routine and then stick to it. You also have to decide how to do this and what is going to work for you, your lifestyle and the cow. Some decide to milk the cow in the morning and separate the cow and calf the previous evening, some milk in the evening and have the cow and calf separated during the day, others separate morning and night and milk the cow twice a day.

You also have to understand that a first calver doesn't produce a lot of milk in her first season and is also probably holding back on you so the sooner you can set up a routine the better - once she is comfortable with it you will start to get more milk. 

The more years you have her, the better she will become and I kid you not. I leave my calves with their mothers for at least 4 days after calving but I have cows here that will leave their calves in a paddock and walk down to the cowshed in the expectation of being milked. So I do and when they're finished they meander back to their calf. 

Half the battle to milking cows is to remain calm, laid back and patient. If you can achieve that you will end up with happy cows that will give you their all.

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

Could you keep the calf away for 12 hours, milk her then turn the calf on her? That way you'd get her milked out quickly and the calf can work on it the rest of the day.
My neighbor milks his cow in the morning, then lets the calf nurse all day. Then at night he pens the calf up. By morning, there's lots of milk.

There are several, perhaps many, reasons/causes for the lack of milk. You may not be able to milk her, I have no idea of your milking skills. She may be a poor milker. Do you know anything about the cow she came from? How about feed? It takes a lot of protein and ample water for a cow to produce a lot of milk. 

In a commercial dairy, just one missed milking can cause a drop in daily production that often doesn't return until the next freshening. Going a couple weeks is sure to effect production.


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## farmergirl (Aug 2, 2005)

Ronney said:


> Farmergirl, if your going to sharemilk with the calf you need to establish a routine and then stick to it. You also have to decide how to do this and what is going to work for you, your lifestyle and the cow. Some decide to milk the cow in the morning and separate the cow and calf the previous evening, some milk in the evening and have the cow and calf separated during the day, others separate morning and night and milk the cow twice a day.
> 
> You also have to understand that a first calver doesn't produce a lot of milk in her first season and is also probably holding back on you so the sooner you can set up a routine the better - once she is comfortable with it you will start to get more milk.
> 
> ...


Thank you for this response. I have wondered whether part of the problem is that she is a first freshener. The calf is now just 1 day shy of 2 weeks old. I have no intention of bottle feeding the calf, simply don't have time in my daily schedule for that. Is the calf now old enough to be separated from his momma all day, so that I can milk her at night and then turn her back out into the pasture with him? She is now readily loading herself into the stanchion I built last week, so I think we're getting the routine part down. I have had horses for 20 years, so know all about the importance of routine and calm and patient demeanor.


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## francismilker (Jan 12, 2006)

Something that works really good if you've got the muscle to deal with it is to put a rope halter on the baby calf at birth. Separate them for twelve hours and then let the calf in to her right before you milk. After a few seconds with the calf on each teat, she has fully let down and the milk orifices are easier on the old forearms to get it out. 
The down side to this is that she is then conditioned to let down only for the calf and it gets very difficult later on when the calf weighs 200lbs. to get it off of mama.


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