How to Train a Family Milk Cow 

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For many homesteaders, a family milk cow is a new level of homesteading! Dairy animals are amazing animals that can transform grass and sunshine into protein-rich milk that not only will feed your family, but can also supplement the protein needs of many of the animals on your farm! A dairy cow truly is the Queen of the homestead! However, cows are large animals. Even for those experienced with animals, it can be terrifying and dangerous to face Momzilla for the first time! Trust me, I know! The best way to keep Momzilla at bay is to start early, build trust, and follow a solid plan to train even a first-time heifer to be a great milk cow. Here are the successful tactics I used on how to train a cow to milk. 

Why Training Matters?

Most experienced cattle owners will tell you that purchasing a trained family milk cow is the best choice for your first cow. Working with a cow for the first time is even more daunting if you haven’t worked with large animals. While I can’t say I disagree, turning an untrained mature cow or heifer into a great family milk cow is possible! 

The most important reason you should train your future milk cow is for your safety and the safety of your cow.  Quality dairy cows are an investment! Lack of training puts you at risk of getting hurt. It also puts your family cow at risk. If you can’t handle her to deal with any problems that might arise, such as mastitis or complications with her calf. 

That’s not to say that a trained cow won’t have her share of challenges. However, the time you spent investing in her training will pay off!  Cows are creatures of habit, they thrive on routine! Your familiarity with each other will make it easier to work through challenges, as you have already built a bond of trust. Motherhood can be stressful for all new mothers. Hormones are raging, and the calf may be drawing in more attention than your momma cow is used to. Building a bond of trust reduces stress for everyone! While training may seem like a lot of hard work in your already busy schedule, it could be the difference between building a successful milking routine or giving up! 

Our Story

Philip and I chose Dexter cattle for our small family farm. These dual-purpose cattle are smaller than full-size cattle. They are known for their more docile behavior and ease of calving. Our cows provide fresh milk and a future source of beef in a single breed of cattle. This is especially important as we don’t have a large space to keep both beef cows and dairy breeds. 

Before moving to our farm, we purchased our cattle: a young bull, a cow, and two heifers.  Building a homestead from the ground up is a huge undertaking! While we knew that we needed to spend time with our expectant cows, we were busy! Nine months of gestation may seem like plenty of time to get ready, but it went by fast. Cayenna was expecting for the second time.  However, her previous owner had never milked her, and I couldn’t touch her. Meg was a first-time freshener.  She was friendlier than Cayenna, but didn’t allow me to touch her much. Neither were halter trained. 

Growing Pains

On our new farm, we didn’t have a barn or a milk stanchion. Even if I spent time with my cows, I didn’t have the infrastructure in place to do much when it came to training. Our training did not start until after they calved. 

Though I was new to owning cattle, thankfully, I had experience working with cows and other large animals. That experience helped me make it through the Momzilla stage of motherhood. Even in Meg’s second lactation, that Momzilla side peaks out on occasion. It’s that stage of motherhood where a new mom is extremely protective of her calf.  Even if she knows you, her raging hormones bring about a heightened desire to protect her baby. This behavior might come out of nowhere, she might allow you to handle her calf one minute and headbutt you for no apparent reason the next.  Possibly she may have all the erratic behaviors of a raging bull! Pawing the ground, charging anyone who dares approach her calf. We’ve seen it all, even in the same cow, and we successfully (and safely) made it to the other side!  

Words to the Wise

For many cows, Momzilla is a stage.  Once her hormones settle, she will go back to her sweet nature.  However, for some cows, Momzilla is not a stage but a way of life.  When working with cattle, always expect the unexpected! Even if a sweet cow doesn’t intend to hurt you, they can hurt you badly. While I don’t advocate abusing animals, always be prepared to defend yourself if you need to.

When Meg was in the worst of her Momzilla stage I made a point to work in her pasture. I was scared, shaking in my boots, and was armed with a shovel in case I needed it. Thankfully, I never needed it. My show of fearlessness… and it was a show…. worked. That is NOT the case with all cattle. Some cattle are plain mean! Always use wisdom and discernment when handling a new animal. Be aware of erratic behavior from an animal you know, don’t blow it off.   Always have an escape plan, never place yourself in a position where you have no way out. It’s a good idea to always work with a partner or let someone know where you are going. When working with the calf, always keep the calf between you and the cow.

While diligent training and building a healthy relationship with your new milk cow should ensure success, keep in mind that your safety and the safety of your family are the most important. Be prepared to make tough decisions if necessary.

Begin with Trust

If your new cow does not allow you to touch her, the first stage of training is building her trust.  For a cow that tends to keep her distance, the simple act of sitting quietly in the pasture with her may be the first necessary step. For the cow that will allow you to touch her, begin by brushing her. At this stage, there is no need to touch a cow’s udder; just get her used to being touched. Once she is more comfortable, you can extend your touch to her back and legs. Always be mindful and keep a safe distance to prevent catching a sidekick. 

Halter Training

While I prefer cows that are halter-trained, I will settle for bucket-trained. Halter training is another layer of training that is beneficial.  Some of my cows lead well, some refuse to budge one inch if you pull on their halter.  One will literally crawl on her knees if you try to lead her. Bucket training is simply a cow that is motivated by food. She’s a cow that will come to and follow a bucket when called. With a solid routine and bucket training, I can usually get my cows where I need them with little effort. 

Building Routine

Cows are creatures of habit! One of my biggest recommendations throughout the process of training a milk cow is to build the routine you want and stick to it. Even if you purchase an experienced milk cow that is not in milk, spend several months following these techniques to build your milking routine together.

Your routine needs to be a solid plan, your cow can depend on day in and day out.  Even if it’s raining, cold, or you are just plain busy, be boringly predictable. While my cows are somewhat flexible, tolerating milking earlier or later than what they are used to on occasion. They don’t change their routine easily. My three girls even went in the same order every day with no prompting from me! Their calves knew who was released first to his momma. I never even had to fight the other calf; he knew he was not the first calf out of the calf pen. Changing even a small aspect of your routine may leave your cow confused and uncooperative.  While they can adapt to changes, it takes time to create a new routine. 

Build Your Milking Routine in Training

During the training phase, you are building a milking routine.  If you are planning to milk in a milking stanchion, you will train in the milking stanchion. Training our third cow, Ellie, was much easier because we were already milking two cows. Each morning, Ellie came in with the milk cows.  She waited for her turn like everyone else.  She was fed in the milking stanchion every day. We did this for many months. 

Train in Steps

Begin by feeding your cow in the milking stanchion or milking area. We have an elevated milking stanchion that requires the cow to walk up a ramp. In your first few weeks of training, don’t expect anything more of her than loading into the stanchion every day to eat. Once she is familiar and heads into the stanchion without hesitation, you can begin brushing her in the stanchion. Again, don’t begin by touching her udder; get her used to being touched in the stanchion. If you have an elevated stanchion, be cautious of the sideways kick, keeping a safe distance.  When I am sitting to milk, I am face level in the kick zone. I’m always aware of my cow’s movements and my positioning to best protect myself. 

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Dos and Don’ts of Training a Heifer to Udder Touch

Once your cow is used to the routine of your milking area and used to being touched on her body, it’s time to start getting her used to having her udder touched.

During the training stage of udder touch, my heifer, Ellie, got belly rubs right on her teats. When touching the teats, I never pulled on them in any way, simply rubbed them. In the beginning, I used just my hand.  I also ran my hands up and down the insides of her legs.

If she tries to kick, give a firm NO. While there are training devices, rope tying techniques and hobbling techniques, during the training stage, you can try to work through this without assistance.  Should you find she is not accepting udder touch even with patience and time, you can try a Kow Kant Kick bar or belly tying technique. If you feel that this will be needed, training is a great time to get started using it.  This will allow you time to figure out how to use it and for your training to continue.

Kicking In the First Week of Lactation

During Meg’s latest lactation, she was extremely sore in the first few days. While she would raise her foot at me, I could tell she knew not to kick but was uncomfortable. Despite telling her no, she would raise her foot. I used a belly rope tying technique in which a rope is tied around a cow’s hip and belly just in front of her udder.  Tie it tight enough that she can feel it but not hurt her. Use a quick release knot to be able to release the rope easily when you are done milking.

 While this method doesn’t prevent the cow from kicking, the pressure on the ligaments is a pressure point that slightly immobilizes the kick. They tend to kick slower and with less force.  The belly rope was enough to discourage Meg from even trying to kick at me and the behavior stopped when the soreness wore off.  

Advanced Udder Training

Once you have built a consistent routine and your cow is accepting udder touch, it’s time to advance her training. Remember, you are building your cows’ milking routine. Once Ellie was comfortable with belly rubs, I began to wash her udder. Again, not squeezing the teats, I simply washed her teats with a wash cloth and dried with a paper towel. Exactly as she would experience as a milk cow.  Rather than use a teat dip cup, I use a spray bottle to spray the iodine solution on my cow’s udder.  I would spray Ellie’s tiny heifer teats with iodine.  This allowed her to get used to the sounds of the spray bottle. The sensation of the iodine on her teats and the feeling of being washed and dried.

Please note, when your cow reaches the final stages of her pregnancy when you begin seeing the udder changing and preparing for birth, discontinue your udder touch training. Once she begins preparing to birth her calf, you don’t want to be stimulating her udder.

Noise Desensitization

If you are planning on using a milking machine, while you can’t attach the claw to a cow that is not in milk, get your cow used to the sound of the machine and vacuum pump.  I did the same with my stainless steel buckets.  Once I knew that my cow would not kick the bucket, I would put it beneath her.  Let her hear the clang of the handle dropping.  Possibly see the movement of the bucket under her belly. 

Successfully training your milk cow means you expose them to every sensation, sound, and expectation that you will have of them as a milk cow. Don’t forget that should include other animals such as dogs and people who may be present.

Word of Caution

While the effort you put into training your first family milk cow will not go unrewarded, understand that first fresheners may go through a period that makes you feel that your training didn’t help. We spent months training Ellie, months of putting her in the stand every single day.  She was a pro! I was thrilled with the results of all of our hard work! Then she had her calf and she lost all sense! Hormones were raging, she was difficult to coax into the milking stanchion and she fought the entire time she was in it. Even if she could see her baby! Even my experienced milk cow had a few days of Momzilla behavior that I was sure we would forgo the second time around. 

Expect that there will be a couple of weeks that may be challenging. At minimum, expect to be flexible the first week as you deal with common milk cow maladies such as engorgement and edema.  Depending on the breed, your cow may be susceptible to milk fever. While you are training your cow, it’s a good idea to research and learn as much as possible about milk cows and your specific breed of milk cow. 

My extensive training with Ellie paid off in that I could be flexible in ways I could not with my other cows.  She would stand for grain in a feed pan and allow me to sit on a stool to milk her anywhere in the barnyard. 

Calf Sharing Prep

If you plan on calf sharing, it’s a good idea to prepare a calf sharing pen before you need it. Location is everything! With our first cow, we built a pen that was convenient for us.  She can see it from the milk stanchion but it’s to the side and not in her direct view.  Her calf was a bit older and it worked at the time. Since that time, our cows do better when we keep the calf right in front of the milk stanchion where they can see their calves well. 

Training Sets You Up for Success

Successfully training your milk cow takes time, patience, and consistency, but the rewards are well worth the effort! By building trust, establishing a solid routine, and introducing training in gradual steps, you’ll set both yourself and your cow up for long-term success. A well-trained milk cow not only makes milking easier and safer but also strengthens the bond between you and your milk cow, ensuring a more enjoyable and productive experience for years to come. Whether you’re working with a first-time heifer or establishing your routine with an experienced milk cow, remember that persistence and kindness go a long way. In the end, the time and effort you invest in training will pay off with a dependable, happy, and cooperative milk cow that truly earns her title as the Queen of the Homestead!