It seems to depend on the sheep, even within breeds sometimes. We have what we call 'gushers' and 'tricklers'. I'm sure you can guess which we prefer. Certain ewes seem to be able to hold it in, so that after we're convinced we've gotten all of a ewe's milk, her lambs drink and drink, and she looks at us with this expression that says "suckers." :happy0035: Some require a lot of bag massage to let down their milk (not nearly as rough as the incredible 'lamb hammer' maneuver, ouch!), others none at all. One ewe, Samantha, on the farm I used to work on, has a HUGE bag (fat triplets every year), but it used to trickle out so slowly, even with massage, we could never get it all even with double snack rations. Finally, a new intern discovered that if you pulled the milking cups down & out just slightly, stretching the nipple as the machine ran, she suddenly became a gusher. Sheep are weird, and every one has their own quirks, I think.
And long teats are wonderful for hand milking, absolutely! My Cotswolds have cow-like nipples, but the EF lines we call kitty-ti

ies. I Definitely like the Cotswolds for hand milking, but the EFs are gushers, so....
