Milking machine guidance

Callieslamb · #21 11/23/11, 07:42 PM

Good luck! Give her time to settle in -that can be difficult for some cows.

Highland · #22 11/23/11, 08:36 PM

Anyone interested?

cathleenc · #23 11/27/11, 10:26 PM

We had a family cow for close to 2 years before moving to the 'burbs and I LOVED my milking machine. I hand milked for 3 months and my hands never hurt (I milked goats during the same time period) but my neck and shoulders were a mass of pain. Being the only one in the household that could milk was also a pain - having the milking machine meant I could go visit my mom out of town, for example. I never regretted getting the machine and I could always hand milk when I felt like it.

Brooks WV · #24 12/02/11, 12:24 PM

Highland,

Is your stuff still available? My Delaval milker should be here today, but I can always use extra stuff!

How do you all clean your milker after milking? We're looking stuff up on-line, and it looks like warm water with dish soap is pretty common. I recall my Aunt having a pail of soapy water that she just dropped the claw into. She the emptied out the pail and took everyhting apart to clean and dry.

~Mark

willow_girl · #25 12/03/11, 01:35 PM

Quote:

As far as debris in the milk, you might try what I do: I use a large piece of cloth (like an old hankerchief) and put it over the top of the milk bucket with a large rubberband and milk through it. It's the same concept to me as dairyman use on their bulk tanks. They filter it before it hits the tank.

I did the same thing when I was hand-milking. I used squares of muslin, washed in hot water with soap and bleach and line-dried between milkings. Leave some slack in the fabric so it forms a bowl in the mouth of your bucket-- if it's tight like a drum, the milk will hit it and bounce off.

My Jersey gave around 2 gallons when milking once a day with her calf by her side 24/7. She was a joy to milk by hand.

When I got my Holsteins, I bought a milking machine!

Brooks WV · #26 12/03/11, 03:43 PM

Milking machine makes a HUUUUUUGE difference! 7 minutes and we're done, then we hand milk about a quart just to make sure we got it all. We strain the milk through a papertowel and refrigerate. We're sorta over loaded with milk, getting 5+ gallons a day! We've been skimming the cream, about a quart on every gallon, and giving the remainder to our pigs. We waited three days on the clabber, and gave up. They can just have milk!

BlackWillowFarm · #27 12/03/11, 05:47 PM

I know some use a mesh coffee filter to strain the milk. I use the milk filters you buy.

For cleaning the machine I carry a bucket of warm water with Dawn dishsoap and a splash of bleach to the barn. After milking I rinse the bucket with a little soapy water, dump that out then run the soap/bleach solution through the machine using the vacuum pump. After that I run clear water with more bleach to sanitize. Before milking I sanitize again with warm water/bleach and drain the claw, hose and bucket then milk. Once a week the machine comes inside and gets torn apart and acid washed. This was advice given to me from the lab where I have my milk tested. Since I started doing it that way the milk stays fresh in the fridge for almost two weeks.

I chill the milk in the sink with ice cold water before bottling. Fast chilling helps keep the milk fresh too.

Cindy in KY · #28 12/05/11, 04:51 AM

We use a Farm Master Belly Milker hooked up to the brake booster line on the pickup truck. It is very quiet, just the hissing of the cups. I saw your new cow, she is beautiful, just like our Jersey Girl. Here's a link in case anyone wants to know how to use these milkers. Total cost was just over $100.

Farm Master Belly Milker