Dexter milk

[Colin]

One of my cow's had a calf a week ago and the calf was only suckling one side and not the other. As the cow's udder was very large I milked out the other side today. I thought of using the milk in the kitchen. But I tasted it and I was disappointed. It tasted thin and not rich and creamy as I expected. It wasn't particularly palatable. Would this still be colostrum after a week ? If so I'll freeze it and keep it for future needy calves.

Regards,

Colin

[Duncan MacIntyre]

This length of time from calving it will not really be colostrum. It may not be normal good milk either if the calf has not emptied these quarters out. Probably best to milk out regularly for a day or two, then try tasting the milk again, it may be much better. Check there are no clots of mastitis there too.

Whe I milked I used to milk out all the milk, twice daily, and bucket feed the calves, buying in extra calves if we had plenty after taking out some for the house. The you really know how much your cow is giving. One year we had milk for the house (two adults two children), milk for her own calf, and milk for a series of 7 bought in calves which were sold for a total of £500 more than the purchase price. Maybe not possible at today's prices.

Duncan

[Rob R]

We milked a Dexter for a while & found the milk uninteresting & somewhat naturally homogenised - getting cream off it wasn't easy, so we went over to Jerseys for the house.

[Duncan MacIntyre]

Rob, I have seen similar comments before, and it is certainly not what I found. I milked Harron Erica, Burnside Holly, Curerden Candy, Knotting Tredaru Rock, Burnside Periwinkle, and Burnside Tansy, over a 10 year period, and always found plenty if not too much cream for normal domestic milk use. I would say that the cream is not nearly so obvious as it is much paler than say Jersey, but always rose to the top. We did ocassionally make cheese or butter but not very often.

Sometimes I recorded yield and butterfat, having the fat measured in the lab at the Rothesay creamery, rarely got any readings under 4%, averages always well above that, and one reading of 6.25%BF from Burnside Holly.

I would encourage anyone who wants a house cow to milk a dexter or two.

Duncan

[Jac]

I'm with you Duncan, I had to buy a cream separator as I was seriously worried about the amount of fat I was consuming. The milk that is immediately accessible tends to be of slightly thinner consistency and the higher quality (fatty) milk comes towards the end. Beryl did confirm that this was in fact the case although I have never carried out an experiment to put the first half of the milking then the second half of the milking through the separator to see what happens - just trusted what she said was true.

[Saffy]

Having been a dairy farmer most of my life, I can confirm that the second half of the milk and even the strippings will have the largest amount of cream. The problems come when for some reason you are not getting good let down - i.e the cow holds on to the last part of her milk, sometimes you can even see this in the shape of the udder. This can be because the cow is keeping it for her calf, or because she is uptight for some reason. Some cows get edgy easily, maybe they heard a loud noise, or a strange voice, or you were 10 minutes late milking if she is a fussy thing!!! However if your milking technique is not perfect it could be a simple as that. If you put yourself in the place of the cow, you do need to do it right and again some are fussier than others!

Stephanie

[Rob R]

I'm with you Duncan, I had to buy a cream separator as I was seriously worried about the amount of fat I was consuming. The milk that is immediately accessible tends to be of slightly thinner consistency and the higher quality (fatty) milk comes towards the end. Beryl did confirm that this was in fact the case although I have never carried out an experiment to put the first half of the milking then the second half of the milking through the separator to see what happens - just trusted what she said was true.

It's certainly true in humans, but also in cows. Perhaps the genetics of the few Dexters (I said one above, but in reality it's been about three over the years) I've milked were that way out. I've also never used a cream separator, being used to Friesians & Jerseys (and a stint with Holsteins, but lets not go there). I don't doubt the amount of fat in Dexter milk, just that it is harder to get out.

[Colin]

Duncan thanks for your advice. I'll try that. The milk looked very good, but from the taste it clearly wasn't right. I chucked it away, which was a shame as there was loads of it. No sign of any mastitis.

Regards,

Colin

[domsmith]

Just bought a jersey cow. trying her milk as we speak, its very good, but i dont think any better than the dexter. but i will have to give it a bit longer.

The jersey cow on the other hand is a delight.... is there a jersey cattle for sale website?
a wonderful little cow!


dom

[Duncan MacIntyre]

Dom is showing serious signs of genetic diversity, and will probably need to be taken in for treatment by the Dexter Dogma and Doctrine Division.

Duncan

PS it is cold here, I need to put on a Jersey At least they are good for something

[wagra dexters]

I have it in an email, a certain late grand old lady who made a living from milking Dexters for many years referred to Jerseys as "dumb blonds". I quite like them but give me a Dexter bull over a Jersey bull any day!