Can you walk me through your routine?

[Tam319]

Hi all,

I was wondering if some of you seasoned veterans would mind walking me through your typical daily routine as far as prepping/washing your cow, milking, straining pasteurizing, etc. is concerned. What are the steps you take to get the milk from your lovely cow to your table?

Thanks for sharing your experience with this newbie!

[jerzeygurl]

ok here goes

get up, make coffe, drink coffe....

get dressed, get bucket out of dishwasher, put lid on, get wal mart sack to pull over bottom( keeps poo of of bucket and thus off of counters)

get 4 towels, one glad sandwhich bag , soap corner of 2 rags and wet with hot water, put in bags, other two rags are for drying( i milk 2 cows, the rags are sanitized in washer)

suit up for weather, walk to barn put bucket out of way get feed walk in barn climb ladder get feed out of auger wagon(there must be a better way) walk back to lot, wrestle the llamma for the feed bucket. pour half of feed in homemade feed thingy . let in cows into lot. bring one into stall, tell the other one to wait her turn and quit shaking her horns at me. shut gate to stall, shut head gate. get make shift milking stool(old small bucket) have milk bucket ready, wash udders, dry udders, one teat at a time moving to different spot on rag and wiping whole udder, wipe loose stuff off belly, milk a few squirts out of each teet. place bucket under and start on farside 2, then move to close 2(your arms will thank you) then strip each till dry, let her go and let the bossy one in.

repeat process on her . let them out. go in, toss walmart sack in trash, rags in their bucket for later washing.

get pan strainer and filter, pour milk inslowly.(this is the hardest part for me you may need help here) I put in fridge and take out the day befores, i skim it, pasturize cream and milk separate, by raising the milk to 161 in a double boiler set up i described in other post, hold for 15 seconds. have sink of ice water ready, change water as needed after pplaceing warm pan of milk in.

pour cooled milk into pitchers, carry down to basement fridge which is kept as cool as possible.

instead of pasturizing, if making aged (over 60days) cheese i just put the milk in cheesemaking pan, in the water bath, and follow recipe...

i think thats it lol

[francismilker]

#1 make sure kitchen counter is cleaned off and all milk jars have been cleaned and sterilized.
#2 get my stainless steel milk pails and put a tea cloth over the top of them using a large rubber band to hold them on.
#3 get on lots of clothes and rubber boots and go to barn

#4 shake feed bucket to call the cows up (if they're not waiting on me)

#5 get cows in stanchion

#6 wash cows with bowl of warm soapy water (with small touch of clorox in it)

#7 allow cows teats time to dry for a minute while I feed some of the other critters
#8 milk cows and pour some of it into bottles to feed baby calves (rub cows teats with udder balm if needed.)
#9 carry milk to house and pour through strainer into jars
#10 refridgerate milk
#11 put all milk pails into dishwasher

This may not be the best way, but it works for me.

[jerzeygurl]

yes all stuffs in contact have been sterilized in dishwasher or in washing machine( mine has ultra heat setting that sanitizes towels esp if bleached too)

[linn]

Here goes. I hope I can remember to put in each step.
Put strainer pad in milk strainer.
Fit milk strainer in the top of the inner bucket for the pasteurizer.
Put warm water and a dab of dish detergent in my little udder washing bucket.
Stuff two clean rags in my jacket pocket, one small and one larger(for
washing and drying the cow's udder).
Grab milk bucket and wash bucket.
Put on jacket and boots.
First thing when in the barn find a safe place to sit the buckets away from the cats.
Put feed in the feed pan and make sure the stanchion is open and ready.
Put down clean straw in front of the stanchion to keep the bucket clean.
Let the cow into the milking stall.
If is summer the cow is probably still grazing and I have to go get her.
Fasten the cow into the stanchion.
Retrieve the cow brush, udder washing bucket, milk bucket and milk stool.
Brush the cow's sides and belly off good.
Wash and dry the udder.
Squirt out two or three squirts from each teat.
Make sure the cow's near hind leg is back a little.
Put the milk bucket under the cow and sit down on the milk stool.
Milk out your cow.
Sit your milk bucket in a safe place (away from the cat population).
Let the cow out of the milk parlor and clean up any poops.
Put up the milk stool, grab the udder washing bucket and milk bucket and head for the basement to remove boots and empty udder washing bucket.
Upstairs, I slowly pour the milk through the strainer into the pasteurizer bucket.
Put the pasteurizer bucket into the pasteurizer and fasten down.
Wash milk strainer and milk bucket and set to air dry.
Get the pasteurizer going (See instruction manual for that).
When the milk has cooled in the pasteurizer I pour it into sterilized gallon jars and refrigerate without a lid until cold.
I then put the lids on my milk jars.

If I am not saving milk I skip the pasteurization process and use my electric separator to get the cream. I give the skim milk to the pigs and chickens. And ofcourse I then have to wash the separator.
Wow, I hope this makes sense and doesn't scare you off.
Just take it a step at a time. The key is to have the strainer, pasteurzier, jars etc. ready before you go out to milk.

[Tam319]

Thank you for the detailed explanations!!! LOL I really enjoyed them.

A couple of questions...

Is the dishwasher hot enough to sanitize the bucket, or do you need to sterilize it in boiling water?

LOVE the Walmart bag idea. I never considered the danger of bringing in a cow pie on the bottom of the bucket. LOL

This might seem like a silly question (sorry)...do you remove the dishcloth with the elastic band on the top of the bucket prior to milking? Or do you milk through the cloth. If you milk through the cloth, does that keep hair, dirt, flies etc from falling into the milk?

Thanks a bunch! I sure appreciate it!

[jerzeygurl]

yeah, the dishwasher on normal should sanitize, but i run the sani rinse any way(normal dishwashers heat to 161 in the final rinse)

I do clean the stall, but its not concrete, its rainy and i have to set the bucket down to open gates,

they bring in "mud" on thier feeties, and i know whats mixed in that mud...

not to mention this time of year every where is MUD

[jerzeygurl]

i have heard of people using the cloth like that during milking to eliminate straining later, it keeps stuff from falling in.

[linn]

The reason I brush my cow on the sides and belly and wash her udder is so the dirt and loose debris will eliminated before I milk. If you strain your milk right away and pasteurize it you shouldn't have any problem. I don't mean loose debris won't contaminate milk; but if you brush your cow down first and wash the udder you get rid of it. I have even had to wash my cow's tail at times. I usually tie her tail to her leg with twine before milking to keep the tail from flopping me. Just remember to untie the tail before turning the cow out of the stanchion. I have forgotten once or twice and had to chase my cow around the pen to get it off.

[jerzeygurl]

Originally Posted by linn

The reason I brush my cow on the sides and belly and wash her udder is so the dirt and loose debris will eliminated before I milk. If you strain your milk right away and pasteurize it you shouldn't have any problem. I don't mean loose debris won't contaminate milk; but if you brush your cow down first and wash the udder you get rid of it. I have even had to wash my cow's tail at times. I usually tie her tail to her leg with twine before milking to keep the tail from flopping me. Just remember to untie the tail before turning the cow out of the stanchion. I have forgotten once or twice and had to chase my cow around the pen to get it off.

i hadnt thought of using a brush, i may try that, i have been using the cloth to knock of the big chunks.

lol friend told me her hubby used to have the same problem forgetting to untie tails,

now i have forgotten kickers, and you know they cant walk with them but they can sure figgure how to run in them, then you have to sneak up on them to get them off because they are spooked. Fortunately nobody needs them at this time...