Post by mrskk on Oct 16, 2008 6:59:57 GMT -5
1) No-ladle cream. Since the hind milk is mostly cream and I use two buckets for milking anyway, I decided to experiment with keeping the last bit of milk separate from the earlier milking and see what kind of a cream line I would get. None! because there is no milk left in it. It is only about a cup and a half (I only do this when her udder is almost empty - after the last time I use Connie to re-start letdown), but I'm dumping it into my butter-making container, and will have enough each week to make a pound of butter easily. And it doesn't affect the creamline in my milk by a noticeable amount.
2) Diagonal quarter milking. Buttercups teats are kind of short and when her udder is really full, the tension makes it kind of difficult to milk both quarters on one side. So now I milk diagonally - right front quarter and left rear quarter, for example - until her udder loosens up a bit. It makes things a lot more pleasant for both of us!
3) Milk the wonder cure. I had a scratch on my hand from wood cutting that was really sore the other morning when I was milking. The scratch was slightly inflamed and would rub against the hairs on BC's udder with each bump. So, to lubricate and sooth the scratch, I squirted some milk on it. It eased milking, and I didn't notice the scratch at all after that. The next morning, I remembered about it - it had completely scabbed over, there was no more swelling and only redness in the actual injury site.
At this time of year, my hands are so dry and it seems that every little scratch stays sore for 2-3 days unless I smear on antibacterial ointment and cover it with a bandaid. I'm going to try the milk treatment on future scratches and see what happens.
2) Diagonal quarter milking. Buttercups teats are kind of short and when her udder is really full, the tension makes it kind of difficult to milk both quarters on one side. So now I milk diagonally - right front quarter and left rear quarter, for example - until her udder loosens up a bit. It makes things a lot more pleasant for both of us!
3) Milk the wonder cure. I had a scratch on my hand from wood cutting that was really sore the other morning when I was milking. The scratch was slightly inflamed and would rub against the hairs on BC's udder with each bump. So, to lubricate and sooth the scratch, I squirted some milk on it. It eased milking, and I didn't notice the scratch at all after that. The next morning, I remembered about it - it had completely scabbed over, there was no more swelling and only redness in the actual injury site.
At this time of year, my hands are so dry and it seems that every little scratch stays sore for 2-3 days unless I smear on antibacterial ointment and cover it with a bandaid. I'm going to try the milk treatment on future scratches and see what happens.