Those of you who are milking their cows...

[Joy in Eastern WA]

...do you use a milking machine or do it by hand?
If you use a machine, what brand are you using?
Thanks!

[BeesNBunnies]

When I've had cows I've always milked by hand. It's very serene(sp?) to lean your forehead against a cows flank and listen to the milk zing into the pail while the cow is munching on grain. A whole lot less equipment to have to sterilize every day too. I wouldn't consider a milking machine unless I had 5 or more cows. If milking twice a day is too much for you just graft some calves on her and let them have the extra milk. Pen up the calves away from the cow in the evenings, milk in the morning, then put the calves with her for the rest of the day. Calves will grow off better, probably won't get scours and you never have to experience a bottle calf ripping the nipple off of the bottle and having sticky milk all over your britches.

[sycamore]

I have a surge milker. Scrounged from neighboring farmers. Love it, don't want to live without it.

I am not cut out for the serene hand milking. The painful cramping in my hands is a big put off.
Really I like electricity and machines. My cow is a jersey and had really small teats at her first lactation making it hard to hand milk.
A machine makes it much easier on all of us, I can actually find people to milk for me, can you say vacation?

[Alex]

We found-out we could get a few pipe fittings, and connect the milking machine to the intake manifold of our truck. We did not have power, so the vacuum pump would not be a good option. But, when we found out about the intake manifold idea, we were ready.

I got all the parts, and screwed them into a threaded existing connection on the manifold, connected the milking machine and – wow it worked!

Hetherington appreciated it too; it was exactly the same type of stainless steel pot, and rubber inflation which she had been milked with for ten-months at Fink’s dairy.

The milking was a few minutes quicker, and much less effort, and something we could do in summer or winter, as long as we could start the truck, and we had that figured-out too; we were in business. Life was good, and if this was so easy, and we made so much money with one cow, then why not get another? We made plenty of money.

We milked four cows that way for two years. It worked terrifically, no problems. None. We used our 1965 Ford F-150. There was a pipe plug in the manifold. It was easy.

Either way is fine, machine is much better.

Alex

[hilltopheaven]

I milk twice a day by hand and I have 2 holsteins. Whenever I can not do the milking my daughters do it for me and they are as good at it as I am. I just recently got a milking machine given to me but we still have yet to get it hooked up and I don't really know if I want to. I love to milk by hand , but it would be nice to be finished quicker when its really cold.

[Alice In TX/MO]

Our milk producer is a goat instead of a cow. We have done both. I prefer milking by hand. I'm into the serenity factor.

[Texas_Plainsman]

I have a Jersey with really small teats. I milk by hand. She only produces about three gallons/day. I think using a machine would increase time expended on account of the cleaning?

[Tana Mc]

I've been milking goats for over 20 years. The serenity factor is nice but my hands and wrists have given out. My forearms look kinda like Popeye's.....
I still milk by hand until I have more than 8 freshened. Until then, it takes longer to wash up the machine than it does to hand milk those few.

I have a small vacuum pump converted from an air compressor and rebuilt surge pulsators that is portable for shows. At the milk barn, I have a stationary pump and use the newer pulsators on a DeLaval bucket.
Once you get a routine and just accept that you have to wash up everything, it is a real blessing to have a machine -- especially with first fresheners. I admit that I have kept some heavy milkers with smaller teats that I probably wouldn't have if I had to hand milk them.

I had my first machine for about 6 months before I would use it. Change is hard for me! LOL! I got the little brochure from DIane Grey that basically told you everything you needed to know to fix and repair nearly all models. Now-- I don't hesitate to jump on rebuilding pulsators or setting up a new one. Unfortunately, I loaned out the booklet and it never came back home. Now it is out of print.
I've been using the same pump for about 10 years.
Tana Mc