Pumpkin's 1st (real) Milking

I figured Pumpkin's milk would probably come in this morning, so I got up at 5:30 a.m. to give myself enough time. Sure enough, she had milk, and I started the process of her first milking. First let me say that she is an angel to milk. She has not become the least bit agitated in the stanchion and has yet to try to kick me. That may change, but so far it's been great. I cleaned her udder off, and started milking, but it was pretty evident from the beginning that she was holding up her milk. It's the same way in women. They have to let down for the milk to really start flowing. They can control this "let down", and cows are even better at it than people. This was not an unforseen obstacle. We knew she might hold up her milk for her calf, and not let me have much, we were just hoping she'd be one of the few cows that doesn't.

Based on some advice I had heard in an online milk cow forum we frequent, I tried tying the calf next to her head so she could seen him. This is supposed to stimulate let down. I know from Regina's experience that seeing your baby or hearing it cry will make let down uncontrollable. Well, it didn't work. The calf did not appreciate being tied up, and fought the whole time. Of course, seeing her calf in distress didn't help Pumpkin's mood much. In the end, I only got 1 quart of milk from a cow that can probably produce 3-4 gallons per day.

I'm not too worried though. I know enough to know that eventually she'll get used to me milking her, and will get so engorged she won't be able to help letting down. It will all pan out in a few days, and there won't be any problems. One thing that is clear is that we shouldn't wait too much longer to teach Meatloaf (the calf) to lead. The sooner he learns, the easier tying him or leading him into the calf stall will be.

I'm proud of myself for not getting frustrated. I don't like getting only 1 quart, but I also know patience will win out in the end. It's hard to be mad at her when she's such a good girl in the stanchion.