Hand milk time challenge. Don't want to hi-jack another thread!

mrs.H · #1 07/10/12, 09:19 PM

Well I'm not challenging any-one, that's for sure! But now I'm really curious as to how fast I can milk out my Alpine, Sadie. She gives an average of 3lbs at a time. So, in the AM I'm going to time my self. I will start timing from the firs squirt, to milked out. Of course I will have to have my dd of ds help!

I will post the results.

Any joiners?

LoneStrChic23 · #2 07/10/12, 09:57 PM

After reading Emily & Steff's 1 minute milk outs, I wanted to time myself (though I still wanna know their milk amounts).

From first squirt it took me 6 minutes, 12 seconds to milk 5.1lbs (lil over 2 1/2 quarts) from Bleuberry (FF Alpine) this morning.

That was me milking as fast as I comfortably could...... My usual speed is a lil slower, so I certainly won't be at the top of the speed milkers list.

April · #3 07/10/12, 10:03 PM

My husband takes about a minute and a half per goat, but I'm much slower at 5 to 6 minutes per goat. If I go any faster it hurts! However, I usually get more milk than he does. Could be coincidence, I suppose, but I don't think so.

Zilli · #4 07/10/12, 10:17 PM

From the time I walk out the door to go milk and the time I walk back in is about fifteen minutes.

It takes me less than a minute to get out to the goat house, probably, another minute or so to get her situated on the stand. Then, what? another minute or less to get her wiped down and ready and myself comfortable.

This is her third freshening (5 1/2 pounds to 6 pounds per milking) but I find that her teats are still quite small. Also, my right hand is missing a finger and half the thumb and my remaining fingers have no joints due to an on-the-job accident and what is left in the way of fingers does NOT bend (everything was reattached). So, while I milk her right teat normally with my left hand, my right hand can only do a stripping action - I use the space between my middle finger and my pinky since I lost the ring finger. Consequently, my left hand is finished first and then I finish up her left teat with my left hand. Because of that, I'm pretty sure I'm slower than I would be if I were "normal."

I know last year, when she dropped to around a gallon a day total, there was much more pliability and I could have her milked out in less than five minutes. I'm probably looking at around ten minutes right now.

The Tin Mom · #5 07/10/12, 10:17 PM

Depends on the goat. Pepper and Snow give over a half gallon in less than three minutes. Monkey gives a gallon or more once a day (milked her through this last year) but she takes over eight minutes. Funny how eight minutes seems like foreeeeeeeever when all the others take less than five minutes. Quisi is the next longest, at five minutes for about a gallon once a day....

lynnabyrd · #6 07/10/12, 10:36 PM

Just wanted to say that you all are making me feel both bummed, since it probably takes me at LEAST 10-15 minutes to milk my Tina, and that's with her giving only about 3 cups of milk each milking, and hopeful, since I've only been milking for just over a week... Yay, I'm gonna get better!

Seriously, as a newbie milker... how the HECK do y'all DO this so fast!

I feel like I'm going pretty quickly, but I'm obviously a lot slower than I thought! LOL!

Zilli · #7 07/10/12, 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lynnabyrd

Just wanted to say that you all are making me feel both bummed, since it probably takes me at LEAST 10-15 minutes to milk my Tina, and that's with her giving only about 3 cups of milk each milking, and hopeful, since I've only been milking for just over a week... Yay, I'm gonna get better!

Seriously, as a newbie milker... how the HECK do y'all DO this so fast!

I feel like I'm going pretty quickly, but I'm obviously a lot slower than I thought! LOL!

A week?

Don't worry - I'm sure you will be out milking me in no time. LOL

I love it when one of my boys happens to stop by at milking time - they can have her milked out in just a couple of minutes.

The Tin Mom · #8 07/10/12, 10:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lynnabyrd

Just wanted to say that you all are making me feel both bummed, since it probably takes me at LEAST 10-15 minutes to milk my Tina, and that's with her giving only about 3 cups of milk each milking, and hopeful, since I've only been milking for just over a week... Yay, I'm gonna get better!

Seriously, as a newbie milker... how the HECK do y'all DO this so fast!

I feel like I'm going pretty quickly, but I'm obviously a lot slower than I thought! LOL!

You are doing great!

ROFLOL! Quisi was a first freshener when I got her in 2009 and she was giving about 8 cups per milking - after a month I still took 30-40 minutes to milk her. Never thought I would see that day that I would say I could milk Quisi in 5 minutes and get more milk than I was getting then!

andabigmac · #9 07/10/12, 11:16 PM

I'm milk sharing this year. I don't separate babies either I just go out and get what I get. I milked Fulla(ff) in 4min 49 sec. She gave 7 cups. I don't have a scale that is that accurate. She about freaked because I wasn't doing my laid back because you eat so slow milking. Frolic (ff) gave 9 1/2 cups. I milked her in 6 min 2 sec. She has fatter teats than Fulla so I think she's easier to milk. The last was Loretta the passive-aggressive psychopath who sees me coming to milk and nudges her doeling to eat. I milked her in 34 seconds and got about a cup. Her baby is as fat as a tick though. I'm ready to eat her. I won't be winning any prizes.

KrisD · #10 07/11/12, 12:27 AM

I milked out Butter this morning in 5 minutes nd she gave a QT. my Nigie who has less milk takes longer it has to do with let down, orific size and teat size. I wasn't hurrying and I wonder how fast I could go if I pushed myself. I have carpel tunnel in my right hand ( from milking I presume) so I don't push it or it hurts really bad.

Cheribelle · #11 07/11/12, 12:52 AM

My friend drives Amish for vacations, etc. He has a lot of friends in the Amish communities. We stopped to visit one day, and he told these kids that it took me 45 minutes to milk my goat. Those kids almost laughed out loud! They milk 120 goats twice a day!

Zilli · #12 07/11/12, 03:18 AM

Ok, since that time I gave myself before (ten minutes) was an estimate, and I was curious as to just how long it really does take me, I took my cell phone out with me when I milked tonight so that I could time myself.

I waited until I had her in the stand and she and I were both ready and I started my timing then.

So.....just milking, nothing else, start to finish, took me seven minutes.

And that was for six pounds of milk (yes, I weighed it - I actually weigh each and every milking - I'm weird that way).

So, it took me a little over a minute per pound of milk.

Seven minutes. And I didn't rush - just milked at a comfortable pace for me. I also didn't take a break, like I sometimes do - when I need to rest my left hand for a moment (arthritis).

Not bad considering my disability with my right hand and the fact that my "good" hand (my left) is arthritic.

I'm actually a little bit pleasantly surprised - I didn't know I was such a fast milker!

steff bugielski · #13 07/11/12, 05:12 AM

I am getting any where from 5-7lbs of milk out in that 1 minute time. But in the spring when they freshen with 7-9lbs of milk it really does not take me any longer.

I used to work at a show horse farm and they need manes and tails braided. It took everyone over an hour to do each, I was done in 15 minutes, so I guess I just do things fast.
Too much to do always to be slow.

Backfourty,MI. · #14 07/11/12, 05:26 AM

Well it takes me about 10 minutes to milk out 1 doe & maybe a little less to do the other. Now I'll have to get serious & time myself, before I just looked at my watch when I started & looked again when I was done no serious timing or anything.

chewie · #15 07/11/12, 08:38 AM

milking 2, one is way easy and one is not bad. from walking out the house, feeding some hay to bucks and the does, giving the boys a tiny pity scoop of grain, watering all, then milking, all told is about 20 minutes.

I'll have to time my actually milking tho. I do feel rather smug, after just that tiny bit of time, to haul in a catch of 2 gallon pails, almost full, to the house!

RedSonja · #16 07/11/12, 08:49 AM

I will try to time my milking this morning. I haven't yet timed myself with a stopwatch or anything, just glanced at my phone when I start and when I finish to get an idea of how long it takes. It really really depends on the doe and her teats. It takes me probably three times longer to get a third as much milk from Viola, because she has short teats. I get about a gallon from Little Bit in much less time than it takes to milk out Viola. If not for Viola having so much more butterfat in her milk than Little Bit has in hers, Viola would be sold. I'm anxiously awaiting Allegra, Viola's first doeling's first freshening next spring. My buck's dam had a very nice udder with very nice size teats so I'm hoping that gets passed along to Allegra.

-Sonja

mrs.H · #17 07/11/12, 10:33 AM

Finally getting on to report. It took 6.57 minutes for me to milk out 2.93 lbs of milk from first squirt to milked out with bumping. My doe is a FF french alpine.

My ds used my cell phone stop watch to time me. And I was going fast enough to make my hand cramp. So I clearly have room for improvement!

silverseeds · #18 07/11/12, 12:21 PM

It took me just shy of 2.5 minutes to milk out about a quart and a half with one goat, the other took about 3.5 minutes to milk out around one and a quarter quarts. Shes a good amount harder to milk.

Zilli · #19 07/11/12, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steff bugielski

I am getting any where from 5-7lbs of milk out in that 1 minute time. But in the spring when they freshen with 7-9lbs of milk it really does not take me any longer.

And here I thought I was doing pretty good at seven minutes! LOL

But, seriously, all things considered with my hand situation, and the fact that she has such short teats and she is so tight when she is full and not much comes out at a time (small orifices?), I'm happy with that time. But I'm only milking the one; if I were milking multiples at seven minutes each, that would certainly take a huge chunk of time out of my day.

I'm eager to see how her daughter does next year and if she will have larger teats than her mother eventually.

silverseeds · #20 07/11/12, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by silverseeds

It took me just shy of 2.5 minutes to milk out about a quart and a half with one goat, the other took about 3.5 minutes to milk out around one and a quarter quarts. Shes a good amount harder to milk.

For the sake of accuracy, I was trying to milk fast with this time. I am probably 50% or so slower in general when not trying to be fast.