By Sue Pollington
If you spend the money to buy a trained Dexter milk cow please define what you expect by this and tell the seller you choose.
Does this mean halter trained, lead trained, stanchion trained, milking trained, trailer trained?
When I was buying my first cow, I wanted a trained milk cow that I could halter, lead, and who would stand to be milked and had been milked. What I got was a cow pregnant with her second calf who has been milked, she could be haltered and would kind of be lead. She had never ridden in a trailer or been in a stanchion.
This brings up an important point. Find out how a cow has been trained to milk. My first cow was trained to come into a milking parlor, go to a trough with hay and stand there to be milked while she ate. She was not tied or haltered for this. Luckily for me, my first cow had a great temperament, was patient, understanding and willing, so she would let me fail and we could both find a way to make it work together.
Just as you will be training your cow, they will also be training you.
Within our first lactation (milking season) together, my first cow and I got really good at leading, she learned to enjoy the stanchion, I learned to milk with lots of help from my cow. We have become very comfortable together and I am looking forward to her next calf in the Spring so I get to milk her again.
Sue Pollington
