Milking claw

JDog1222 · #1 10/21/11, 09:31 AM

Do any of you who use milk claws know if your claw has a pinhole in them to let bacteria infested air suck in and possibly contaminate your entire crop of milk? The new claw I have does! What’s it for? Can I cover it with a piece of tape? I paid $100 for the darn thing. The whole time I am listening to that darn thing sucking air in, I’m thinking of Loui Pastures’ beef broth experiment. LOL What in the world’s going on here?

**gone-a-milkin** · #2 10/21/11, 10:34 AM

Yes, they have a little hole in them. If it clogs up, the milk wont flow through the lines.

You breathe air in and out all day long and so does the cow.
There is air all around the milk when you squeeze it out by hand too.

Dont be afraid of that air going in the claw. It is just fine.

JDog1222 · #3 10/21/11, 10:57 AM

I know that the cow and I breathe air, but we have immune systems. Now, yes, at times my immune system does get overwhelmed by the air I breathe and I get sick. I think everyone does. And, yes, I have read where raw milk does have a built-in immune system. BUT, how much dirty barn air will it take to overwhelm the raw milks immune system?

Remember I am comparing my Surge to my DeLaval system to figure out which one I want to keep. The Surge does not let ANY air in except if the inflations start to quacking like a duck.

I DID take a bucket into the milk parlor to catch the poo when the cow goes, but darn, I missed the first pile this morning. The claw drags on the ground and if she backs up, O MAN, I can just see the ecoli getting sucked straight into that milk. YIKES!

linn · #4 10/21/11, 11:39 AM

People have been hand milking in barns for centuries. I can't imagine what little air gets through those pin holes will be a danger. I don't mean to sound hateful, but if you are that afraid of contaminated milk, then maybe a pasteurizer would be an option.

JDog1222 · #5 10/21/11, 12:21 PM

Yeah, but I don't think people were drinking chlorinated water back then and using hand sanitizers. MAYBE, that's why they are SO against raw milk now-a-days and DO want everything pasteurized. Hmmmm, you might be onto something there Linn!

I know I can drink my well water, that DIDN'T pass health inspections due to HIGH e.coli count, but when someone that has been drinking chlorinated water has some WOW do they get sick, been there done THAT! SO, would it be kinda the same with milk also? Should I be concerned will selling the raw milk to someone that has lived with chlorinated water and sanitizers all their life?

springvalley · #6 10/21/11, 02:08 PM

If you have E-coli in your water you better be extra carefull selling raw milk. And clean fresh raw milk will kill some bacteria if it gets in it. > Marc

JDog1222 · #7 10/21/11, 02:48 PM

Yeah, funny how they are using it to cure CANCER now!

http://www.rsc.org/Publishing/Journa...08871C_Yeh.asp

JDog1222 · #8 10/21/11, 02:53 PM

Everything they say is bad for us, then they give it to us to make us better!

http://gut.bmj.com/content/54/1/6.short

JDog1222 · #9 10/21/11, 02:57 PM

Don't get me wrong folks. I want ALL the E. coli and worms in MY milk I can get. It's the chlorinated people I'm worried about!

Forerunner · #10 10/21/11, 05:31 PM

*gasp*

Does the FDA or USDA know about that little hole in your milking claw ?

I wouldn't go posting TMI about such compromises to your system on the open web......

FMO3 · #11 10/21/11, 05:44 PM

I think you need to realize that the Surge and Delaval milking system is set up completely different from one another. All the surge system is, the liners are hands milking into a bucket. That is why there is very little air that gets into that system. But, the Delaval, system is set up to pull the milk into a bucket with the milk hose.

Personally, I would go with the Delaval system, as the Surge, you can get milk back flow into the liners when a cow moves. That is why, most people that used the Surge system went to pipelines faster than the Delaval people.

Yes, the USDA does know about the holes in the claws. As in the PMO it states that they holes have to be freed of any blockage during the milking process. It lets some air into the system, but, not that much. 99.9% of the milk that is produced in the country uses milking claws with the air intake hole. Its not something that you should be worried about.

Forerunner · #12 10/21/11, 06:40 PM

I'm not buying it.

What's the # for the USDA hotline ?

FMO3 · #13 10/21/11, 08:17 PM

Here is the PMO...it gives you all the information that you could ever want to know about producing and selling and movement of legal raw milk. This is the bible of laws that the FDA goes by. The farm section of the PMO is pages 31 to 156.

Here is the link.... http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/Fo.../UCM209789.pdf

JDog1222 · #14 10/21/11, 09:45 PM

FR, YES they know about the little hole, why else would they be wanting us to pasteurize the milk?

Thanks everyone for helping me with my choice of which milk machine to keep. I think what I'll do is STOP selling my raw milk to chlorinated people so the FDA will at least let me keep MY cow for my own personal use.

Madsaw · #15 10/21/11, 11:10 PM

Jill
My vote is on the surge. But, then again I am biased since I been useing them close to 25 years. Much simpler design and less mantainace and cost for replacement parts. I worked off the farm for a short period of time when I was in tech school. They used pipeline. What a nightmare. I will take hand washing the equipment anyday. Compare it to the fact of the chemicals and high temp hot water to clean teh hoses and such on the units. For a small operation surge is the simplest and the cheapest. For the most part complete milkers can be still had around here for $50. Rebuild kit for the pulsator is 12-14. Also they run on lower vacuum which is better for teh cow.
Bob

springvalley · #16 10/21/11, 11:19 PM

Bob I use the old Sterling/DeLaval pulsators on my milkers and they are even more simple than the Surge. I can take the pulsator apart in the dark almost, clean it and put it back togeather and be milking again. And I have found some parts for these oldies and they seem to run forever. I just hate pulling that milk out from under the cow all the time, the DeLaval just sits next to the cow. I will have the wife put a picture of our DeLaval on here this weekend. > Thanks Marc

Madsaw · #17 10/22/11, 12:04 AM

The amish here use the floor units all the time. Its a newer style pulsator they run. There is a adapter to use it on the surge too.

Bob

JDog1222 · #18 10/22/11, 12:59 AM

Got 15gal. of cider in the vinegar barrel for the cow today, more to do tomorrow!

Madsaw
I think I’m with ya, I think it depends on the cow though. The best cow for the surge system, is one that is tall and has a nice tight small udder. Honestly, I think my next cow will be picked to fit the Surge milker. It’s just SO easy to clean! AND, the pulsator, yes, easy to rebuild. I have not tried to look inside this new one, but I’m gonna need to do that. Calibrating the Surge is easy too. I don’t have the slightest on what to do with the new one yet, it came already calibrated.
I am starting to warm up to the new system though, but I DON’T like it dragging on the ground. If I’m working with the inflations for some reason, not paying attention, and the cow starts to go poo, WHAT A MESS. And that darn hole is in the back where it all splatters! O and then if I don’t get it out of the way in time before she starts backing up, LOOK OUT! Then, after she is about empty, she’s got to go pee! AAAAA The cow I had before this one, only went to the bathroom ONCE in the milk barn, and that was when she was about 7mo. PG and she had to go pee. A cow like that is worth their weight in GOLD, now I know!

I left the hose longer on the new system too. I like to be able to throw the claw over my shoulder when I am carrying the system around. I have also found that if I hold the hose just right under the sink drain, with the faucet running, I can get a siphon going with the bottom of the claw. I add the soap first and let it run through the hose then let the clean water rinse it out. I REALLY want this to be a FAIR comparison so I’m still using the new system to get everything running smoothly before I do the YouTube for it.

I will be keeping both systems until this spring when my heifer calves. Something is telling me she is going to be the PERFECT cow for the surge system if her teats are too short to hand milk, and if that’s the case, I’ll sell her and be on the lookout for the perfect homesteading cow for me. Jersey, tall, long teats, giving about 4gal. per day, and I’ll be willing to pay big bucks for her too!

I DO think the new system is using more water during the clean up and that's a big factor for me. Our city water is REALLY high. We pay a double rate! And it also does take longer for me to clean. BUT, if it milks the cow better, I'm willing to work with it, we'll see.

AverageJo · #19 10/22/11, 09:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JDog1222

.... I’ll sell her and be on the lookout for the perfect homesteading cow for me. Jersey, tall, long teats, giving about 4gal. per day, and I’ll be willing to pay big bucks for her too!

Hope you find this perfect cow. If her udder is like most I've seen, as she ages it will get bigger, lower to the ground, and bigger handles. Might want to invest in a bra to keep them high and tight. tee hee...

JDog1222 · #20 10/22/11, 09:47 AM

Genetics, it’s all about genetics!