milking 101
I may be new to milking but I have learned many valuable things over the past few weeks.
1. always wear muck boots. Cows will pick up their feet if they step on a muck boot. If they step on tennis shoes or flip flops they don’t seem to realize it has a foot inside.
2. If your cow has diarrhea, there are a lot of flies or a long unkempt tail wear a hoodie. Or get hit in the face and on the head many times with a dirty nasty tail. One easy remedy for this is to keep the tail groomed or trim the hair so it does not become a natty dred of feces.
3. always check for flies and spray if necessary before milking. Even though the fly spray says to spray after milking. It took me a kick to the thigh and a kick to the shoulder in the same milking – in the first 5 minutes of that milking – to realize this lesson. I now have 2 bruises as reminders.
4. Wear pants not shorts. Unless you like getting bit by flies and swatting flies while you are trying to milk.
5. make sure the cow is on solid level ground. Cows do not like to stand at a sideways slant, nor do they like to stand on rocky uneven ground. They will hold much stiller and dance left if they are happy with their footing.
6. Secure your cow. A person standing next to the cow and a barn door will not do unless you like an exercise in frustration.
7. Build your stanchion much stronger and securer than you think necessary times 2. See #6 and watch said stanchion get destroyed in 1/2 the milking session.
8. Secure your cows head. The less she can move her head back ( and probably side to side) the less she will dance, and the faster your milking will go.
9. If your cows ropes harnesses, leads or whatever you are securing her with get loose, stop milking and fix them. Or she will pull and pull until she gets loose.
10. have 2 buckets. And empty from the milking bucket to the spare bucket often, especially if you are starting to become impressed with the amount of milk you are getting in your bucket with out the cow dancing or kicking.
11. spilled milk makes the floor slippery. For both you and the cow.
12. Have some sort of milking stool. Even if it is just an upturned extra bucket. Otherwise your legs will cramp up, it will be hard to hold your balance and you will get tired much faster.
13. Give your cow something to eat. This will keep her from getting bored, and she will stand still longer before she tries to dance ( which she will regardless how well you secure her head and body).
14. be nice to your cow. Do not yell or hit her, or she will behave even worse.
15. adding corn to the feed will increase milk production. Maybe this is why all the big dairies do it.
16. Never open the door to the pasture while milking. Or your cow will think it is time to leave and give you attitude until you are done milking.
17. always strain your milk right away. Do not allow the cream to set up first or you will lose 1/2 the cream when straining.
18. If hand milking your hands will hurt. They may tingle or feel like they are asleep at times. But soon (hopefully) you will build up muscles and it will be better.
19. One hand will milk the teat out faster than the other does. This is the right hand for me.
20. if you are not holding the teat correctly you will make a mess. Milk will dribble down your arm into your sleeve, spray on the cows hoof, mist everywhere.
21. Grabbing and pulling will not get you any milk. Only a strange look from your cow. you must clamp your finger and squeeze in a downward motion to get milk, kinda like a weird whole hand snap.
22. And milking will take a lot longer than you expect. At least at first, it took the 2 of us an hour or more at each milking, now I can do it on my own in about a 1/2 hour.
23. Getting your own milk is definitely worth the work, and hassle. Plus you get a great big dog that says “moo” whenever it sees you, comes looking for food, and gets upset when you are late.
oh and finally
24. Don’t be late for milking or you will hear about it. With many many load moos.
Oh so funny, and oh so well said. I never thought about this when I commented the last time (the post with all your milking troubles) but what about a grooming chute to secure her in? If you google grooming chute, you should get lots of cattle show supply websites – but I would think it would work great for milking. We use ours for everything but cattle grooming (vaccinations, AI breeding, vet visits). They might be a little pricey (ours was $300) but well worth the investment – we’ve had ours since 1994. If you are creative and have a welder, you could probably make one very easily out of metal tubing.
I’m so glad to hear milking is going better for you!
Kris
I am going to print these!! THEN I will be ready-advice from a learner is SO much easier to follow than advice from someone who has done it so long that they assume you know a lot you don’t.
I am SOOO glad you were kept safe with a kicking cow and a baby so near those hooves!
All good tips, especially #14, the calmer the cow (and you) are the faster her letdown reflex will happen, and she will milk out fast.
Oh my! It sounds like you guys have had a time of it! For what it’s worth, I’ve read never to trim a cow’s tail, as it takes so long to grow back and is often their only recourse for flies.
Sorry I didn’t respond sooner to your comment over at my blog. I left the info there as well, but thought I’d come over here to post it to be sure you got it.
I got a used DeLaval bucket milker through ebay. The new ones are ridiculously expensive, and the used ones are still very expensive, but in my opinion worth the $7 or $8 hundred bucks. The seller I purchased mine from is portablemilkers.com, and I’ve heard good things about them on the dairy lists.
The dairy guy I bought my cow from steered me away from a surge belly milker and toward the DeLaval bucket milker, which he uses regularly while at fairs and shows, saying it was much easier, though lots of folks on the dairy board like their belly surges. From what I’ve seen, the surge milkers are a bit less expensive than the big buckets.
Hope this helps, and hang in there!
I have milked for thirty years and my hands and arms STILL ache if I have to hand milk a cow (we do sometimes to get colostrum for a calf, rather than set up the whole milking machine for just a gallon of milk). The farm kids around here love to compare milker’s muscles (even when milking with machines there is a lot of hand stripping involved)…..they all have a large muscle at the base of their thumb and strong forearms.
Glad things are going along easier for you now with your new cows.
I also second Danielle on the DeLaval.
This is a useful list, thank you. As someone considering getting a milk cow someday it is good to know what I’m getting into.