Search Results for: cow-calf dairying

This is the last in a series of posts about how to run a small dairy herd without separating the calves from their mothers. This final article is about preparing the cows and calves for a stress-free weaning.
Working towards weaning
As the calves age, you can move from long-duration suckling time to a shorter duration. My rule of thumb is to start with 16hrs with their dams each day, and then for every 2 weeks of age, I reduce that time by an hour. So by the time the calves are 16 weeks old, they have 8hrs …

When a lamb or calf suckles, they bunt their mum’s udder with their heads to stimulate release of more milk. If you are share-milking, as a calf grows this bunting can quickly become so strong that it can easily knock the cluster off the other three teats. So it’s a good idea to progress to milking without the calf suckling before this point. In this post we look at how we do this and also have a recap on why we part the cows and calves for their overnight rest and how we do this in the …

I have found that the first few days after a heifer has calved are critical when it comes to creating a positive association with feeding her calf and being milked by machine. 
In the previous post, we covered steps one and two – creating a bond and calving / first milking. In this post we look at laying the foundation so that each morning can you look forward to going out to milk a happy, relaxed cow, and not dread it worrying if she will ‘let down’ her milk or kick you out of the parlour!
Step 3: long-duration suckling / share …

Here, in part 3 of our series on dairying without removing calves from their mothers, we look at the importance of managing a calf’s nutrition in order to support the effective calf rumen development, essential to her long-term health and productivity.
Cows are metabolic marvels
Have you ever stopped to consider just how amazing cows are? They take grass and other cellulose-based forages that we humans can’t digest, and metabolise them overnight, through microbial action, into nutritionally-rich food that we can digest. They really are metabolic marvels!
Cows are ruminants and turning grass into milk …

In this second post in the series from the Smiling Tree cow-calf dairy we focus on how milk is synthesised and, importantly for cow-calf dairying, what triggers the release or ‘let down’ process.
Making milk
Milk is synthesised in microscopic alveoli – small goblet-shaped structures – within the udder tissue. There is a rich blood supply to each alveolus, which is lined with special epithelial cells that synthesise milk from the various components carried in the bloodstream: water, vitamins, minerals, immunoglobulins, amino acids, glucose, fatty acids, etc.
Milk synthesis is happening all the time and the milk collects in …

This is the first in a series of articles looking at the practicalities of producing ethical, cruelty-free milk by allowing dairy cows to keep their calves. In this post we cover why conventional dairy cows don’t keep their calves and why humanely-produced milk using cow-calf dairying is rare and costs much more to produce.
Over to Christine:

When customers come to collect their milk from our farm shop I often take them down to the field to see the cows and calves. When you see them together, it becomes obvious what cow-calf dairying means.
However …