Can you leave a calf on a cow and get milk for the house too?

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Has anyone ever left a calf with a dairy cow and still gotten milk for the house? I have done this with dairy goats. Taken the kids away at night, milked the goat in the morning and then let the kids on during the day and they were both (doe and kids) was fine. I was wondering if you could do this with a cow. I certainly don't need all the milk and milking a cow, putting the milk in a calf bottle and giving it to the calf just seem silly. Would the cow be OK? Would the calf get enough milk? How much milk would I be able to get for the house?

Thank you,

-- Karen Kazel (goncontry@aol.com), November 12, 2000

Answers

Karen, I have been doing it that way for years now. Put the calf up at night and then milk in the morning and let the calf have it the rest of the day. It is healthier for the calf and I believe for the cow too. It is convenient if I need to be away for a milking to just let them stay together. Milking is a supply and demand type thing in a way and I haven't noticed getting that much less milk by letting the calf suck during the day. She will produce more because of a heavier demand. Just don't make the mistake my cousin made with a milk cow. He put her out in the pasture with 2 adopted calves....this cow would take any calf...so all the calves in the pasture sucked her...she died about a month after he put her out to pasture.

-- Amanda S (aseley@townsqr.com), November 12, 2000.

we have a jersey. We pen the calf up at night, and we milk the front quarters in the morning, letting the calf have the back quarters. this gives us a gallon a day. When we need more, we leave the calf in the pen during the day also, and milk out the front quarters at night, and give the calf the back quarters. This has worked for us for many years. Blessings, sissy

-- sissy sylvester-barth (jerreleene@hotmail.com), November 13, 2000.

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