Recomendations for milking machines

[Whitehedge Farm]

I am looking for something as inexpensive as possible (of course
I have 2 does in milk, one of which is very difficult to hand milk, 4 days and my hands are killing me! Hand pumps or electric machines? What is the best low cost solution for milking 1-3 does??

[carellama]

Henry milker $119 plus shipping on line

[Whitehedge Farm]

GREAT!
Thank you I ordered one right away!

[Alice In TX/MO]

Keep milking by hand and your hands will stop hurting.

[wintrrwolf]

I got the Maggiedan hand pump milker, though I did make one similar before that. I could never buy an electric pump they are waaaay expensive for one who just has a few goats.
http://www.maggidans.com/

[mylala]

Originally Posted by carellama

Henry milker $119 plus shipping on line

So, this is a quality item? It sounds almost too good to be true for someone with just one or two goats to milk. Do you or anyone know if the suction in the long run does any damage to the teat? I may just have to get one.

[HenryMilker]

With the Henry Milker, you control how much the pressure varies or fluctuates. It uses a hand vacuum pump (operated by squeezing the pump with your hand), creating negative pressure on the teat, much like the action applied by a baby goat. Once the vacuum builds you can just watch the milk pour. Keep an eye on the built-in pressure gauge. Fluctuate the pressure with a simple squeeze of the hand. There's also a pressure release valve.

[Alice In TX/MO]

But it's not the suck/release of the goat kid or squeeze/release of hand milking. It's a variable, but constant, vacuum.

[FunnyRiverFarm]

Of course, your hands will cramp when you are just starting out milking. When I started milking I felt the same way and ordered plans to make a pump milker...by the time the plans got here and I found all the parts to make it, I never ended up putting it together because hand milking had become so easy...dealing with anything else seemed like a hastle. I did finally put it together and use it but found that I can hand milk A LOT faster! LOL! My goats definitely prefer hand milking too!

[CaliannG]

~chuckles~ FRF, that's about how I went, too. I got hand pump milkers, though, and used them for a while. You still have to hand milk after the flow stops from a hand pump milker. I guess that bit of milking every day sort of strengthened my hands...now I can milk out even my high producing does in less than 10 minutes.

But boy, howdy, did my hands HURT those first two weeks!