Content
- 1 What is a beef cow
- 2 How many hours do you need to milk a cow after calving?
- 3 How to milk a cow after calving
- 4 How many times to milk a cow after calving
- 5 Whether to distribute a cow after the second calving
- 6 When to drink milk after calving a cow
- 7 Tips for organizing the milking of cows
- 8 Conclusion
Milking a cow after calving is not always possible. This process directly depends on the characteristics of the birth of calves. Like most mammals, cows have some difficulty in milk supply and production. Lactation in an animal can be long, but it is necessary to observe all the rules for competent milk production.
What is a beef cow
The section of cows is a set of measures aimed at creating forage resources, organizing competent feeding, adhering to all milking technologies, creating the necessary conditions for housing and care, which lead to the manifestation of milk productivity in an animal.
The rate at which milk appears depends on a properly organized milk yield and the quality of nutrients supplied to the cow's body with feed. It is important to provide her with enhanced nutrition immediately after calving. Without this, animals will not be able to feed and fully demonstrate their productive qualities. The release of milk affects all organs of life: blood circulation, respiration, digestion, and the nervous system. Therefore, you need to constantly take care of improving the health of the animal. Only then can you achieve good milk productivity and high-quality milk yield. As a rule, abundant milk yield is obtained from cows with a strong constitution, rather developed internal organs. These properties are laid down from the moment of birth and are maintained throughout life. That is why you need to take care of good lactation, high-quality milk yield from the first days of the animal's life.
How many hours do you need to milk a cow after calving?
Usually, the first milking of a cow after calving should be done no later than 2 hours after the calf appears. In small private farms, milking is done by hand, and in large farms - with the help of milking machines. With the first milking, colostrum is obtained - a certain secretion of the mammalian mammary gland, which contains substances involved in the establishment of the immune system.
The calf will help you milk the cow correctly after calving. This will solve several important tasks at once:
- for a cow, milking with a calf is less painful than milking with a milking machine or hands;
- the calf receives colostrum, which is vital for him;
- a calving individual behaves much calmer during milking with a newborn calf, stress passes faster;
- the calf develops a sucking reflex.
Colostrum is milked for another 3-4 days after calving. It is necessary during this period to let the newborn near the cow. A week or two after calving, the calf must be isolated from the mother.
How to milk a cow after calving
Milking of the cow should be started after calving, but for 2 weeks milk is used exclusively for feeding the newborn calf. After that, the udder and the entire body of the cow gradually returns to their normal physiological state.
Since the animal loses a lot of fluid during calving, in order to restore the water balance, you need to give the individual two buckets of slightly salted water to drink. This liquid will quench your thirst and stimulate your appetite. After that, the cow is given some hay and her back is wiped for a quick contraction of the uterus and successful discharge of the placenta. Milking can begin in a couple of hours.
You can feed the animal after calving with hay, fresh grass, it is imperative to give a mixture with concentrates. After 3 days, without reducing the volume of concentrates, juicy feed is added to the diet. Do not overfeed the animal for the first days after calving. Because of this, appetite can significantly decrease, intestinal pathologies often occur, and the udder becomes inflamed. As a result, there is a significant reduction in milk yield. Only after a couple of weeks, provided that the cow has fully recovered from calving, can she return to her normal diet. During this period, nutrition will depend on the body weight of the animal, the quantity and quality (fat content) of milk produced, as well as the season of calving.
When calculating the feeding rate for a calving individual, you need to take as a basis the milk yield that you would like to receive. For unproductive animals, the amount of milk produced does not depend on the quality and quantity of complementary foods. For high-yielding, productive cows, the feeding ration is designed in such a way as to get 3-5 liters more milk. For animals with an average milk yield - to get 3 liters of product more than the actual milk yield. It will be necessary to increase the feeding ration while the milk yield grows. When milk yields are reduced, the advance feeding ends.
The highest increase in milk yield is given by concentrates and root crops. If the cow, with increased feeding, constantly increases milk yield, then it is necessary to introduce juicy feed into the diet, without reducing the amount of hay. It is important to diversify the feeding diet of a calving cow: with uniform feeding, the appetite decreases, and the milk yield falls accordingly. Usually the diet is changed every 2 weeks.
How many times to milk a cow after calving
Milking a cow after calving is a special, complex process. After calving, most animals have a slight swelling of the udder. This is a natural condition and usually goes away after a while. To make her feel better and to prevent inflammation of the udder, milking should be done as often as possible, 5-6 times a day. If milking is done with the help of a machine, then it is possible to milk 3 times, but after each time, after 1-2 hours, it can also be milked by a machine.
As udder swelling subsides, the number of milking procedures can be reduced. First you need to switch to 4 times a day, then reduce milking up to 3 times. If the farmer is dealing with high-yielding animals, you should stop at 3 milking times with an interval of 8 hours.
Whether to distribute a cow after the second calving
The distribution of calving cows is carried out during the first 100 days from the moment the production of mature milk begins. This is the most productive time. Feeding, care and breeding will depend on how much time has passed since the first calving and on the physiological state after it. If at the first calving there were no pathologies, the udder is not overstrained, then you can not make any dietary restrictions and freely feed silage, hay and haylage. At the same time, concentrates and root crops should be limited; they should be added to the diet gradually.
When to drink milk after calving a cow
Milk is a high-quality protein product that is indispensable for many people, and even more so for children. However, few people know how long after the appearance of the calf, it is ready for consumption.
As you know, after calving during milking, colostrum is produced, which is necessary for the calf's body. It can be used for food and people, but it has a specific taste and smell, because of this colostrum is not to everyone's liking. It is actively secreted for another 8-10 days, then the cow produces milk that everyone knows about the taste. From this period, it can be safely eaten.
Tips for organizing the milking of cows
It is customary to pay special attention to calving and beefing cows. The productivity of cows depends on these processes. The milking process includes:
- compliance with the rules of maintenance and care;
- compliance with sanitary standards;
- correct milking;
- regular breast massage just before milking;
- advance type of feeding.
It is advisable to adhere to certain intervals between feedings and milking. The animal quickly gets used to the regime and will have time to release the required amount of milk by the time of milking.
The lactation period is divided into several main stages:
- colostrum - lasts up to 8 days;
- milking stage (main) - up to 100 days;
- average - 100 days;
- the final one is also about 100 days.
After colostrum, the cow produces transitional milk. Then the quality of the milk is restored, it matures.
After calving, after about 10-14 days, when the udder of the animal returns to normal and the colostrum is replaced by mature milk, you can start a new feeding system. This is a period of intense milk production. She is already ready to consume more feed for the subsequent production of additional volumes of milk. Usually, the amount of food consumed is increased by several feed units. When the cow stops responding to additives, a gradual reduction in concentrates begins.
The main advice on the technology of milking cows is to correctly conduct advance feeding:
- experts recommend giving 50% of concentrates chilled in order to increase the process of assimilation of feed;
- it is desirable that on large farms the technologist keeps records of cows for milk production and periodically conducts control milking;
- breeding should be carried out regardless of the cattle management system;
- Milking is considered to be successfully carried out if already on the 40th day after calving, the productivity of the animal has increased by 1.2 times in comparison with the milk yield on the 14th day.
After successful milking, the main task is to maintain the level of productivity as long as possible.
Conclusion
It is necessary to milk the cow after calving, while having some experience and some knowledge in this area, since the lactation process is cyclical and depends on the appearance of the calf. In order for cows to lactate consistently and last as long as possible, the farmer needs to properly prepare for this milking period. Any, even a healthy and young animal, requires support and care from the owner.
