Friends in Far Places

Like a good number of my posts on this blog, this post is about cows . . . by way of Africa!

In 1985, we lived in Bangui, Central African Republic, on the campus of Bangui Evangelical School of Theology (which we called FATEB, for its French abbreviation).  Our three children (at left, pre-Kara) Jimmy, Katie and Jenny, were about the age our grandchildren are now.

In September of that year, we flew halfway across the continent of Africa to Mombasa, Kenya, for a three week language acquisition course.  As part of that course, we had to find a local language helper to help us learn a few words of their language.  It was rather intimidating to walk up to a perfect stranger and try to ask them to help us learn a language when we couldn't even speak it, but we found everyone we met to be extremely friendly and eager to help. Helen Karabok, shown here with her children, taught me a few words of her language, Kikuyu, and helped me practice my few words of Swahili.

At the end of the course, we spent a week on Shelly Beach at our mission guest house, and we discovered the Indian Ocean was as beautiful as the people who lived near it--

--although definitely less welcoming, as Jimmy discovered a lethal lion fish while we were snorkeling in a tidal pool!

While we abandoned that tidal pool for another one, it didn't stop us enjoying the beauty of the beach.

To this day, shells that we gathered on Shelly Beach glow softly in the curio cabinet by the front door, and Jim's children like to "listen to the beach" in them, just as he and his sisters did.

"What does Mombasa have to do with cows?" you might ask.  A week ago I received a new comment on an old post from a reader named Sylvia, mentioning that she has dealt with self-sucking cows, too, and had benefited from my post about combating self-sucking.  Out of curiosity, I clicked on her name and discovered to my amazement that her farm is outside Mombasa!  For more photos of their cattle, check out her blog.

I wrote back to Sylvia, telling her that we had been in Mombasa in 1985 and had loved it.  Today I heard back from her with photos of what she did for her cows.  Since she offered to share her experience with my readers, I decided to reprint part of her letter here, along with the photos.

Dear Susan,

Thank you so very much for your mail, unfortunately I only manage a reply today. Internet service for my laptop is giving me a really hard time and I am still to learn writing prolonged letters on my Smartphone…

It‘s really unbelievable that you have been to Mombasa in 1985! That year was the first time I came to Kenya too; we may even have met by chance… And for me it was love on first sight and no looking back ever since. You are so right, what a small world it is!

Thank you so much for your warning about the bra [Tamm Udder Support] and its dangers, it is so sad to hear about what happened to your beloved Siobhan.  I have come across this dreadful Pseudomonas mastitis, too.  First time was from utilizing a reusable cotton udder cloth for cleaning the udder before milking and which was dipped in an Iodine solution between cows.  Since then we are only using disposable kitchen towels.  Second time and years later Pseudomonas affected two cows and came out of the iodine filled teat cup for dipping the teats after milking!!!  So both times the things that actually were meant to improve sanitation and prevent mastitis were the actual cause of it!  We lost the pregnancies in all three affected cows, almost lost the cows themselves but managed to nurse them back to full health and production (minus one quarter…), which was much aided by the use of high doses of Gentamycin intra-mammary infusions.  That actually was the only antibiotic which seems to be able to do any good to treat Pseudomonas. 

One of the three cows, Barre, is now 10 years old and still with us today and has given birth to two bulls (which we both kept for breeding) and two lovely heifers, all since her misfortune. We have in-calf heifers now which are daughters from that first bull!

The bra I am using on Cholle might have the advantage that the part covering her udder is actually a nylon fishing net, which dries instantly and Pseudomonas doesn’t seem to like synthetics much… or we were just lucky so far. But I will replace it by that fabulous invention of yours as soon as I get the parts together.

The bull ring inserted in the way shown in the pictures doesn’t impair your taste test; also rumination is not disturbed in any way, although the cow is sore for a couple of days after placing it. Well I thought it’s a little revenge for the hours of headaches and heartaches she had caused us beforehand, not to speak of the 10 liters of milk that disappeared miraculously day after day…

The cow will still try to suckle initially, so your food color test can’t be applied right away, but eventually she will get frustrated as she can’t really produce the vacuum needed to remove the milk from the teats, or so the theory goes… We have tried it twice, with a 50% success. (That’s why the bra is still in use with one of the two…)

Ario which got totally cured from self-sucking with this ring, started the habit when she was on the ground for two months after she had broken her hip when making acquaintance with a nymphomanic herdmate days before her calving date, so your observation that self-sucking might often be caused by boredom, seems to fit right for her. Two months later she was back on her feet, but all the milk was gone and being recycled…

Well, as you can see, I love talking about cows too; actually it is the one thing I love talking about most in my life! If you want to use any of my observations or pictures in your blog, please you are most welcome, I think it is so important to exchange ideas and observations, as one lifetime is much too short to experience and try out everything by oneself…

I am so much looking forward reading more Adventures on Zephyr Hill Farm and it is so great to having finally met a true soul mate!

Thank you so very much again and my very best regards to you and all your loved ones,

Sylvia

If you've ever sought help for a self-sucking cow, you know that most people will advise you it's an incurable problem and tell you to butcher the cow.  Compared to that solution, the brief pain of a nose ring seems preferable to a death sentence!  That's why I felt it was worthwhile to share Sylvia's photos and solutions.  She is a true "Cow Mama" in the fullest sense of the word--going above and beyond what most people will do.

This last photo is the most recent one Sylvia sent me, testament to her healthy, happy cows!  It is, indeed, a small world when I find a friend in Mombasa through my blog.  And since we met because of our cows, I might add, "Cows make the world go round!"

Just When We Think We're in Charge . . .

Dexters are pretty smart.  Siobhan's dam Sara weaned Siobhan all by herself without any human intervention.  After we sold her back to Kim, she witnessed exactly how Sara went about weaning her calf.  One day Sara kicked her calf off and wouldn't let it nurse.  The next day, she let it nurse.  The next day, she kicked it off again.  That smart old cow took her calf to every other day nursing to wean it and dry herself off!

Siobhan is just as smart as Sara, although maybe a little less determined.  Last February I noticed Siobhan kick Macree off when Macree was 9 months old.  Macree would not be dissuaded, though, so I intervened with a weaning tab.  The same thing happened this February; Siobhan gave Wellie a good kick to let him know the milk bar was closed.

Then Wellie got castrated, and Siobhan seemed to sense that he needed comfort, so she let him start nursing again.  Shortly after that I threw my back out, and the family told me to take a break from chores.   After three days of rest, I went out to the barnyard to check on the animals.  To my surprise, Siobhan had apparently decided that Wellie was sufficiently comforted, and she had kicked him off.  Her udder was bursting with milk, so I decided to start once a day milking.

Just to be sure Wellie had gotten the message, I put a weaning tab in his nose.  Poor little guy, he had just about forgiven us for the castration, and then this!

After a few days, I noticed that some mornings I was getting almost no milk at all.  At best, one side would have milk and the other would be empty.  I knew Siobhan wasn't self-sucking because I had put her harness on as soon as she weaned Wellie.  I figured that naughty Wellie must be nursing through the weaning tab, so I booted him out of the barnyard to join the other cattle.

The next morning the barnyard gate was pushed out as far as it would go, and one side of Siobhan's udder was empty.  I figured Wellie must be nursing through the wires of the gate despite his weaning tab, so Herb and I covered the bottom of the gate with chicken wire.  The next morning, as expected, we got all of Siobhan's milk.  It looked like we had solved the problem!  Sir Loin was hanging around the barnyard visiting Siobhan (as he had visited his buddy Wellie) and talking to her in little "baby" moos.  I thought it was odd, but kind of cute.

And then a couple days later I glanced out the back door.  To my horror, Sir Loin was nursing on Ebony who is due to calve in early April!  I ran out to check, and sure enough, all four of her teats were wet!  Sir Loin was banished immediately to a different pasture, and I post-dipped all of Ebony's teats before I turned her loose.

Suddenly Sir Loin hanging around the barnyard, the soft little moos, the gate pushed out, and Siobhan's empty quarters all made sense.  It wasn't poor Wellie nursing around the weaning tab; it was Sir Loin nursing through the gate!  And when we foiled him by adding chicken wire, he managed to convince Ebby to let him nurse on her.  I told Herb that Sir Loin looks tastier every day!

With the sneaky nurser banished, the only remaining problem was that Siobhan's harness was not holding up very well.  So I decided to try a product designed to support heavy dairy cow udders--Tamm Udder Support.  Two days after I ordered it, Siobhan was decked out in her new lingerie.  The sunlight shows her udder through the netting.  This is good for air circulation, but in order to be sure she wouldn't try self-sucking, I secured a clean cloth inside the net on her left side.

NOTE:  I now very strongly advise against using the Tamm Udder Support for any cow.  It ended up being disastrous for Siobhan (story here).  Another family cow milker told me in June 2015 that her vet advised her that using it would be asking for mastitis.  I wish I had known that piece of information in March.

You can see from the loops that even the small size support is a little large for a Dexter, but it is easily adjustable.  This is much more comfortable than Siobhan's old harness, and she seems happy to be able to turn her head freely.

You can see that there are numerous ways to customize the fit.

For milking, it was pretty easy to undo the two back buckles and one side buckle above the udder support without removing the entire harness.

We've had a fair amount of rain, and the cotton canvas dries out easily.  Of course, with all the rain, Siobhan's new lingerie is now a nice muddy beige.

Siobhan will remain in the barnyard wearing her harness until she's completely dried off.  Once I'm sure she won't be tempted to self-suck again, she can ditch the harness and join the boys until it's time for her to calve.

Her pre-drying off mastitis test came back with no Staph A, but I'll continue to keep her separate from Ebby as a precaution.  The episode with Sir Loin nursing first Siobhan and then Ebby is a reminder that even when we think we're in charge, we might not be.  We have to stay on our toes to keep ahead of our Dexters!

At least for now, everyone is where they should be.  Siobhan is drying off in the barnyard.  Ebby is about to move into the Home Pasture for calving.  Once she does, Sir Loin's banishment will be lifted and he can rejoin the bachelors.  It looks like we're back in charge again, for now . . .

NOTE:  Just in case you missed the warning above, I'll repeat it here:  I now very strongly advise against using the Tamm Udder Support for any cow.  It ended up being disastrous for Siobhan (story here).  Another family cow milker told me in June 2015 that her vet advised her that using it would be asking for mastitis.  I wish I had known that piece of information in March.

Siobhan's Super Anti-Self-Sucking Harness™ 2.0 and 2.1

Here's a post on the genuine, original Siobhan's Super Anti-Self-Sucking Harness ™ from March of this year.

The harness worked great for Siobhan, but as time went on the surcingle tended to slip around and end up hanging off to one side or even upside down under her belly.  We would regularly go out in the morning and find things hanging every which way.  Occasionally Siobhan would even rub the whole surcingle forward over her head, and we'd find it trailing behind her.  The surcingle was buckled in its tightest holes, so there was no easy solution to the Case of the Straying Surcingle.

Once again, it was horse tack to the rescue.  In early May I was visiting our daughter Katie in Houston, and we happened to drive past a tack store.  Katie helped me look through all the wonderful tack possibilities until we found just the right thing:  a leather crupper, designed to keep a horse's saddle from slipping forwards.  (I'll guarantee you, I was the poor clerk's Weird Client of the Month, buying a crupper for a self-sucking cow!) The crupper is pictured below, the black leather strap that goes around Siobhan's tail.  Not sure it was long enough to reach the surcingle, we also picked up a red trailer tie down with clips at both ends.  It's a good thing we did.    

Here is Siobhan's new, improved Anti-Self-Sucking Harness™ 2.0.



Here's a different angle to show how it all fits together.

My poor girl is so patient with all her "costume changes."  If they ever make a Barbie Cow, Siobhan should be the model!

You can see that the red tie down allows for movement so the harness is not restrictive, yet the clips were smooth and did not dig into Siobhan.

The crupper has a neoprene sleeve around it where it goes under her tail, and it rides high enough that it doesn't get manure on it.  All in all, I was delighted with Version 2.0.

At the same time, I decided to make extra sure that Macree wasn't pushing up her weaning ring and nursing on Siobhan.  I had purchased some antique weaning devices off E-Bay for fun, but I figured the old-timers knew a thing or two, why not learn from them?

So Macree got her own "Medieval torture device."

The chain looped under her halter to be sure it didn't fall off.  Once I was sure it would stay on, I was able to remove the orange weaning ring.  The reason I'm showing this device here is that I think it would make a great substitute for the spiky screws I put in Siobhan's halter.  I ended up removing those screws because she showed no inclination whatsoever to suck on Macree; I had only put them in originally because other cow mamas had warned me that self-sucking cows sometimes end up sucking on other cows or heifers.  Siobhan hasn't done it, but maybe this idea can help someone else whose cow does.

By the time Siobhan had been wearing her harness full-time for five months, the surcingle was showing a lot of wear and tear.  Several rings had pulled off and others were loose.  It was time to replace it.

I was delighted to find the exact same surcingle on State Line Tack for under $30 AND a 20% off coupon.  They even had a pony size available, and after measuring Siobhan and talking to a customer service rep, I decided to go with the pony size.

Here it is next to Romeo's shabby old one.

When I took the old one off, it was clear just how well-worn it was.  Considering that a surcingle is meant for periodic use for probably an hour at the most, I have no complaints with how this one held up to rain, shine and fence-line scratches 24 hours a day for five months!

Here's Siobhan in her new outfit.  It's a much better fit, and if it relaxes with time, there are still more holes I can tighten.

There's plenty of room for Siobhan to move in her
Super Anti-Self-Sucking Harness™ 2.1.

Several times since Siobhan freshened on May 26, we've found her with her old harness completely off or with the PVC pipe and tie down missing.  Each time her udder was as full everywhere as I expected it to be.  I really think that the harness has cured her of self-sucking, but I've kept it on her just to be sure.  I figured that the longer she's "helped" not to self-suck, the more likely she is to really be broken of that terrible habit.

When it's time to breed her, of course, it will have to come off.  It would be terribly dangerous for the bull to be mounting her with the possibility of hooking a leg somewhere in the harness.  (The thought makes me shudder!)  When it's time to dry her off, she'll have to wear the harness again, as the temptation to self-suck will be strong.  For now we just take things as they come, and the harness is a tool to help Siobhan "be all that she can be," a great little family cow.

Spa Day for Cows

After a winter of rain, mud and eating hay, the girls were all looking like they could use a makeover, especially Siobhan (right) because her harness keeps her from rubbing her winter coat off.  So today was spontaneously designated Spa Day for Cows.

A metal curry comb does a great job of loosening the dirt and dead hair.  A good bristle brush then lifts out the dirt and brushes it off.

While Siobhan's harness hung to air after its cleaning, she luxuriated in some neck-bending scratches and licks.  While I brushed her she arched into the curry comb like a cat being stroked, obviously loving every minute.

There's still some winter coat left, but there's also a bit more sheen to her coat.

Decked out in her custom fly mask, she's a new woman, sexy and mysterious.

Next the mobile spa went over to Macree and Ebony in the Home Pasture.  They were both lying down in the shade shack chewing their cud, so I stood over Macree and brushed what I could reach of her while she stayed right where she was.

By the time it was Ebony's turn, my back was ready for a break so I sat down next to her.  She didn't mind me . . .

. . . and when I started to stroke her neck, she stretched out like a cat and leaned into the curry comb.  I ended up laying over her back to reach her other side, and we stayed like that for several minutes.

Jet wandered over to join us.  Ebony doesn't chase him off like Siobhan does, so he felt safe enough to lie down nearby and hang out with the girls while they got gorgeous.

Ebony went off decked out in her fly mask looking shiny . . . and almost ready to be a mommy!  Stay tuned for Ebony's Calf Watch coming up!

The Saga of My Self-Sucking Cow and How I Got Her to Stop, Part II

In my previous post I detailed my efforts to stop Siobhan from self-sucking, ending with a jubilant victory after two tests.  However, since I had thought so many times previously that I had succeeded in stopping her, I decided to perform a third test--the third time being the charm, as they say.

So after milking on March 10, I performed a third food color test.  To make the test more thorough, I put red gel on the front teats and green on the back.  That made it easier to double-check any color transfer.

Siobhan went out and lay down on the brow of the hill to chew her cud.

She has always loved this spot, ever since she was a baby two years ago in April. We have a lot of history together, Siobhan and I.

The next morning stormy weather moved in, perhaps a harbinger of things to come.

A cursory glance was all it took to see that Siobhan had failed the test.  She was still self-sucking!

Or was she?  Could she just have managed to smear the food color in the dewy grass?

I wiped around the front teat with a damp, folded paper towel, being careful not to touch the tip of the teat.  There was red all over it!

When I wiped the rear (green) teat, my heart sank to find red all over it, too.  I despaired of ever finding a solution.

I decided that I'd given Siobhan too much rope, well, rein--and she had hung herself!  So although the reins were as short as they were meant to be, I found a way to shorten them by using a split ring (the kind that holds keys) to loop several of the rings closer together.

And by the way, this is not a mother-daughter reunion here, but a sassy teenager challenging mom . . .

And mom is not going to take any guff!  While Siobhan and Macree settled the issue of who was boss, I realized that the way the reins separate could cause a serious problem for a smaller calf, possibly even allowing it to hang itself.  Something needed to be done.

The answer was a piece of PVC pipe from Ace Hardware.  I had just one 28" long piece of 3" pipe so I put it on the side she usually turns to self-suck.  That smile of Siobhan's?  She's probably already figuring out how to beat this!

First I ran the rein through the pipe, pushing it up as far as it would go toward Siobhan's head.

Next I pulled the rein through the side ring on her surcingle.

Then I fed the rein back through the pipe and pulled it out the front end.  I was able to squeeze the rubber ring and shove it into the pipe so the pipe would come all the way forward on the rein.

I used the sliding clip on the rein to help secure the rein to the surcingle.

And finally I clipped both front ends of the rein to the halter, clipping one a little farther forward to shorten the rein even more.

As always with a new contraption, I did a taste test:  Can she eat?  Yes!

Next I added a new test, the turning radius:  Does it look like the pipe will stop her from turning to suck herself?  Well, I didn't see how she could do it, but only time would tell.

The day ended in a cloudy sky, which I hoped was not symbolic of the future of my Anti-Self-Sucking Campaign!  It rained hard that night, so there was no chance to do another food color test.

It wasn't until two days later on March 13 that I was able to do another test.  The next morning when Siobhan came in for milking, this is what I found . . .

. . . and this.  That food coloring is clearly untouched and un-smeared!

And these are the paper towels I used to wipe the sides of her teats.  SHE PASSED HER TEST!  NO SELF-SUCKING!  Even more good news that day:  Siobhan's cultures came back with NO GROWTH from any quarter.  Her SCC was still high, though, in both left quarters, and the vet wanted me to continue milking for two more weeks to try to clear it before I dry her off.

After all my previous failures, though, I still wasn't resting easy, and I wasn't taking any chances on the mastitis coming back.  I still wanted to try some more of the ideas I gleaned from my internet search.   I didn't have enough of the right kind of straps, so I played around with what I had.  I like the idea of PVC pipe better than the old-timers' wooden stake, but it's clear that what might work on a big tall Holstein . . . won't work on a short little Dexter!  There's no way Siobhan could walk with something under her chest, not without tripping on it.  Scratch that idea!

I've been warned by the cow gurus on Keeping a Family Cow that even if I can stop Siobhan from self-sucking, she might turn to sucking other cows.  So I decided to make a spiked halter, like the old timers did,  but a little more modern.  I'll do another post soon on how I made the halter and some changes I decided on after seeing it in the vicinity of my other cows' faces!

I realized I needed more supplies.  My creativity was ebbing, so I took a trip to Tractor Supply and wandered the aisles looking for inspiration.  I came home with a pile of horse trailer tie downs, dog collars and leads with clips.  In addition I found a leather crupper from my little French horse.  I piled all my treasures in the Doodad and headed out to play with Siobhan.

It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that she actually tried to run away--well, walk away--when she saw me coming with more torture equipment!  I told her it was because I love her, but I don't think she believed it any more than I used to believe my mom when she said that before she spanked me.

Pretty much everything I bought at Tractor Supply ended up getting returned except this wonderful Weaver nylon tie-down strap for horses.  Once it was clear that it would work I headed back to TSC to get another one and return everything else.

On the way home I stopped at Ace Hardware to get a smaller PVC pipe that would still fit the tie-down inside.  All three of the regular "helpful hardware men" at Ace now know the saga of my self-sucking cow.  Whenever they see me there they ask how it's going, and they're ready with helpful ideas.  It's wonderful that they'll cut my PVC to the exact length I want, no charge.   I told them that with my collection of hardware and PVC pipe, I'm going into competition with them.  This is 2 feet of 1-1/2 inch PVC pipe, exactly the right length for the tie-down and just big enough for the smaller clip to go through.

Siobhan executed the turning radius test herself without any encouragement from me.  It's like she was testing the limits of her newest contraption!

I ran another test to my specifications, though, just to be sure it would work.

The taste test was fine, too.

Unfortunately, the rain test was a failure.  I hadn't thought of that one!  It started pouring rain that night, and the next morning Siobhan's halter was hanging around her neck, which of course rendered the PVC contraption useless.  The one problem with these nylon halters is that they stretch when they get wet.  So now I know that every time it's going to rain, I need to tighten up the halter; when it dries out, I need to loosen the halter again.

I put the halter back on, but the next night she somehow managed to rub against the clip on her halter and get it open, and I found the tie-down and PVC pipe dangling from her surcingle.  I hadn't thought of the genie-rub test, either!  So now I turn the clip in against her face and her side so she can't catch it on something to open it.

Finally, by March 18 I was ready for another test.  I had thought of an improvement this time.  One of my readers mentioned that they couldn't really see the food coloring on Siobhan's black teats, so I picked up some paper tape at Rite Aid.  (The local economy owes Siobhan a big thank you!)

The morning of the 19th was one of my lowest points, when I found both pieces of tape smeared with red food coloring.  I didn't see HOW she could physically be self-sucking, but apparently she was! That whole day I vacillated between being furious at my cow, desperate, despondent, and exhaustedly trying to come up with a plan, all of this going through my head as I made another trip to Ace Hardware and back.

I decided I finally had to use the expensive over-sized dog collars from TSC to make my absolute, last-ditch idea.  Two of them buckled together fit the biggest part of Siobhan's neck.  Some bolts and 1/2 inch PVC pipe replaced the old timers' broom sticks, but what could I use for the top of her neck?  I had two more collars, but they were way too large together, and one alone was too small.

So I raided my closet and found a nice silver-buckled belt that shrank and doesn't fit me any longer.  ;)  I was tired of walking back and forth to the house for fittings, so I carried everything out to the pasture and sat down on the ground to put the Anti-Self-Sucking Collar together.

I looked up at Siobhan, standing there so patiently where she'd been tied for the past two hours, gazing at me with her sweet, trusting face after all the torture devices I've put on her . . . and I burst into tears.  I bawled and bawled and begged her to stop sucking.  I was crying so hard I'm sure she didn't understand a word, but she kept gazing at me with that sweet expression.  (And drooling a bit because it was getting close to supper time.)

After a few minutes I dried my tears, picked up my pliers and screwdriver, and went back to work.

The first trial of the collar showed me a problem . . .

. . . Because the dog collars were buckled together, one went up and one went down--and they pulled the PVC pipes off-kilter.

So out came the trusty tie-downs, and I looped them through the collar buckles and around one piece of PVC pipe on each side.

That seemed to solve the problem, but it didn't look very comfortable at all!

However, it passed the taste test . . .

. . . and the turning radius test.

All that remained was the food color test.  The next morning Siobhan came in like this.

And like this.  I didn't despair this time, though.  The night before, Herb got home unusually early, while it was still light.  I dragged him out to the pasture to look at Siobhan and tell me how on earth she could be self-sucking with all that stuff on her!  I showed him the first pieces of tape I had saved and made her do a turning radius test for him.  It was the first time Herb had been able to see Siobhan in the daylight, and he said it was impossible for her to reach her udder.  What if, he asked, when she lies down her teats rub against the dewy grass and each other, transferring the food color to the tape?

Bingo!  That was an eye-opening revelation!  So I sat there yesterday morning and tried it out.  Yes, her teats would rub against each other, and yes, the color could transfer off the tip of one onto the side of the one next to it.

In fact, when I looked closer, the color on the tip of her teat was intact.  It was barely "dry-brushed" onto the tape, easily explained exactly as Herb had suggested.  I realized it was the same for the first tape test and that my PVC surcingle contraption had worked just fine.  I had become so focused on Siobhan and her problem that I was seeing a problem when there wasn't one anymore!  As I told Herb, "I need to get out more!"

In my defense, I will say that I kept expecting that once I stopped Siobhan from self-sucking, the left front quarter would be fuller in the morning.

The other side is fuller, although none of the teats look full, and her production has dropped by about half.  So it looks like she's simply drying off faster in the quarter that had mastitis and got most of the self-sucking.  It remains to be seen what will happen when she freshens, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

That morning's milking did uncover one problem with the collar:  I couldn't close the neck-catch of the stanchion over it.

I tied Siobhan, but it was easy for her to back up when she thought we should be done milking.

Since I thought all those straps on her neck looked terribly uncomfortable, anyway, I decided to switch her back into the PVC/tie-down/surcingle.  It's easy to unclip both tie-downs from the halter and let the PVC pipes dangle so I can close the stanchion, and it's just as easy to clip them back on when milking is done.

Siobhan looked so much happier and more relaxed when I turned her out!  I think she agrees that we've found a solution we can both live with!  We're halfway through the extra two weeks of milking the vet wants me to do in order to clear her SCCs, and then I can dry her off so she can grow her calf.

And if that calf turns out to be a heifer, I have her name already picked out: "ZH Cash's Pretty Penny," but I'll call her "Polly"--short for Poly Vinyl Chloride, of course.  What else?!