complete milk/strip out when milking?

Gopher · #1 12/02/11, 02:32 PM

OK Family milk cow people or those who have had a family milk cow. I milk by hand and I'm wondering if it is a good thing or a bad thing to milk and completely milk/strip out each quarter when I milk. I know when I worked on a dairy farm we never let the claws on that long for fear of stress to the teat. But I'm wondering if milking by hand is any different.

Lannie · #2 12/02/11, 03:37 PM

I always strip each quarter because the cream is in that last milk! The more milk that's removed, the more she'll make to replace it. I use a Surge belly milker now (can't hand milk anymore), and I still strip by pulling down on each inflation at the end to get every last drop I can. It's all cream.

~Lannie

myersfarm · #3 12/02/11, 05:56 PM

^^^^ what she said

myersfarm · #4 12/02/11, 05:56 PM

you have to take it for her to make it

arcticow · #5 12/02/11, 06:54 PM

Hand stripping is much easier on her than machine stripping. Go for it.

Gopher · #6 12/02/11, 06:57 PM

So I take it that stripping every ounce out of her is not hard on her. Interesting comment on the cream being last. I always wondered why the milk looked different towards the end. Thanks Peeps!

Lannie · #7 12/02/11, 07:20 PM

The reason you took the machines off the cows in the dairy was to prevent overmilking, the machine still running long after the cow was empty. That could damage teats and udder, if it was left running long enough, and if there are enough cows, they're bound to be left on too long once in a while. One cow with a machine won't get overmilked (I sit there while the machine is running and stop it when she's empty), and FOR SURE she won't ever be overmilked if you milk by hand. When the milk stops, you stop. That's the perfect equation.

Now enjoy your extra cream!

~Lannie

Brooks WV · #8 12/02/11, 07:33 PM

I just finished my first milking with my delaval milker. It had slowed to where I didn't think there was anything left. I then hand milked about another quart before she was stripped empty. When hand milking, if I left her teat alone for about 30 seconds I could get another squirt
I had recently read that the cream was at the end. I also read that hay makes the milk, not the grain. Grain maintains the cows condition.

willow_girl · #9 12/03/11, 01:29 PM

I think the important thing is to be consistent.

The farm I work on now machine-strips all the cows. It's a pain, and yeah we have some teat ends that show the consequences. All the "experts" say it's a bad practice. Two years ago, we tried to get away from doing it, and I pushed for the change, but the results weren't so great! Mastitis and more mastitis. The cows just didn't seem to adjust well.

We're back to stripping now, and our SCC is back down where it should be, around 100,000-120,000. Can't argue with success!

BlackWillowFarm · #10 12/03/11, 06:23 PM

If you have a clear bowl on your claw you can see the milk flow slow down or you can see it go through the milk hose into the bucket. After you've done it for awhile you'll be able to judge when she's done. You might also be able to tell by how her bag looks towards the end. Sometime the milker doesn't milk out all four quarters evenly. If I'm not sure then I'll hand strip to make sure I got it all. If I get more than three full squirts by hand I know the machine left some behind. Usually, I get one full squirt, one half squirt and the last one is almost nothing and the teats are deflated.

birdman1 · #11 12/04/11, 07:10 PM

Yes strip her .When your done milking gently bump up on her udder as the calf would then milk out the last bit of milk this last milk has the most cream content . not milking out your compleatly will cause her to make less milk and is one of the causes of mastites a good book to read is ..the family cow by dirk van loon