55. Drying Off

I heard a story once about a rookie dairy farm worker who was asked to go and fetch some towels because the cows needed drying off!

For those of you not familiar with this terminology ‘drying off’ is the process of bringing about an end to the lactation, not anything to do with soggy livestock. It is basically just no longer milking the cows. The way the mammary glands work is that the process of removing milk causes the cow to produce more. Once she is not being milked, she stops producing on her own. Usually dairy cows are given antibiotic treatment to get rid of any sub-clinical mastitis and reduce the risk of any future mastitis over the dry period.

We dried off the cows in two groups, early and late calvers. They stay in these groups and are grazed in different places over the winter. We dried them off a few days apart which meant there were a couple of milkings with only about 200 cows. It took longer to wash down the milking shed then it did to actually milk them. I could get used to only having to milk five and a half rows!

After the cows have been milked for the last time this season, they have long acting antibiotics applied through each teat into the udder. Often a teat seal, which is a bit like toothpaste is also put in to create a physical barrier for invasive pathogens. We don’t do that here, apparently the benefits do not outweigh the costs.

It is very important during dry cow treatment to maintain a high standard of cleanliness. If due care is not taken, bacteria can end up being transferred into the udder, most likely resulting in mastitis. We used methylated spirits to kill any bacteria on the teats and our hands, which after a few rows causes mild light-headedness! Trying to keep everything clean can be tricky, cows are often not happy with someone poking them in the teat. When a cow is unhappy, the first thing she does is evacuate her bowels. Normally I wouldn’t mind, but whilst I am trying to keep an almost surgical level of hygiene about myself, the gifts from above are unwanted.

I brought my camera down to the shed to photograph the process, I was so focussed on the job in hand that I completely forgot to actually take any photos. Not wanting to go without illustration for such an important part of the season I have been honing my child-like skills on Microsoft paint!

Once the cows are dried off, they no longer graze on the milking platform so are taken to the run-off block. This is a separate farm a couple of miles down the road, shared with the other sharemilkers. The late calvers will go to another block further away in the village of Enfield, where the local pub is too.

Before they are all sent away for their winter holiday, all the stock must get a mineral supplement and an anti-lice pour-on drench. Usually the mineral shots they get are Selenium and Copper, but after some routine liver biopsies found our Copper levels to be high, it was just the Selenium jab they were getting.

(Photo courtesy of Stephie Hauk)

Over winter the dry cows are fed a combination of grass, silage, hay and a load of fodder beet. 

It takes a couple of weeks for the cows to get used to the diet change, so they have to be gently weaned onto the fodder beet. They love it though, it is very satisfying to be in the paddock and not being able to hear anything but chomping. I imagine it is a bit tricky to go from wrapping your tongue around a clump of grass and ripping it out to having to take a bite out of one of these!

No longer milking has its pros and cons. The pros obviously include the lie-ins and being able to wear the same work clothes for longer. The major negative though is really quite distressing. I had to buy milk from the supermarket today. It is a travesty that I had to pay a lot of dollars for what seems to be white water. I hope the Chinese are enjoying all that fat and protein that Fonterra have taken out of my milk.

It has come to the point where I am starting to think about my return back to the UK. My flight leaves in two and a half weeks, so I am now thinking about how I am going to fit all the Swanndri gear I have acquired into my suitcase. I am definitely going to be over the weight limit, I might have to send an extra box home by ship.

See you next time.