SEVAI-OFI Project: Women SHG members trained in Cow dairy farming

Milking a cow by hands

SEVAI-OFI Cow project takes off in Sirugamani.Special care is given for cow rearing in this project. The women Self Help group members those have milk cows visited this project. The cow care taker of this project, Devi enlightened the women groups on dairy cows maintains.Thangaraju, a cow farm trainer spoke to the women group members, “A cow can bring great personal satisfaction and enjoyment. Just having her around and attending to her can become a daily pleasure. The cow needs daily attention, and the cow farmer must provide the basic care to sustain cow and promote growth and good health. Still, cows are remarkable creatures. Left to their own devices, they can live fairly well on their own with little outside help. Their survival instincts can be to advantage. In normal circumstances and with a healthy animal, one won’t need to babysit her too often. After providing her with water, shelter, and whatever feed she can graze, she can be left alone for most of the day. In return, she’ll reward you with her milk, often considered nature’s most perfect food. The initiation of lactation, or milking, begins with cow giving birth. Before this happens, the cow farmers need to make several decisions. The process of a pregnant cow that is dry will be quite different than if the cow farmer purchases a cow that is in lactation. If she is dry, the cow farmer will have some time to get her acclimated to farm and can plan milking routine. If she is giving milk, farmers need to put milking plan into action when she arrives. A dairy cow is typically milked twice each day, seven days a week, until she is dried off in anticipation of her next calf. Peak milk production occurs in the first three to four months after calving. It is a standard lactation curve: high early on and then tapering off. Feed quality and availability, weather and climate conditions, and udder and body health are factors that affect production levels. There is no rule or law that says the cow farmers have to milk her twice a day, once a day, or even at all. Nor is there any regulation that states what hour of the day she should be milked”. -Govin