Post by Mitra on Jan 19, 2010 15:10:40 GMT -5
My intentions for posting my machine milking routine (I hand milk as well) are two-fold:
1. I’d like folks who are considering a machine to see what all it entails and also to see the machine in action. Lastly, people who’ve never used a machine before (like me three months ago) need an idea about how easy or difficult it can be.
2. I’d like the folks who’ve been doing this for awhile to see if they can help me come up with additional efficiencies in the process. You may have a step or have deleted a step that could shave off minutes from my routine. I’d appreciate any thoughts or concerns you have when you read/see what it is I’m doing.
I head to the barn with everything I need to milk both cows at 8:20 a.m. after kid number two gets on the bus at 8:10 a.m.
Step 1
Load the sled with all the pristinely clean equipment and doodads. You will note that I’m using a sled when there is no snow. These pics were taken in mid-November. I don’t have a garden cart (yet) but if I’d had one I would have used it. Willie had suggested using a wagon like a Radio Flyer which we do have but I decided against it because the path to the barn isn’t smooth enough and I didn’t want to deal with capsizing equipment or pails of milk on the way back. The sled of course works even better now that there’s snow.
The sled has the machine in the back (tall can variety), a 5-gallon green bucket with a lid for me to pour the milk into after milking, a two gallon bucket with lid of hot hot water with a tsp of bleach, and Helen’s stainless steel milking pail with lid (that hates to stay on). Outside the sled is my 2-gallon blue bucket of soapy hot water which I need for washing both gals’ udders but also for rinsing the machine at the barn as I have no water (hot or cold) at the barn. The water never gets dirty because I don’t double-dip rags for either cow. Note all the supervisors everywhere!
Step 2
Go to the barn and get set up. During round 1 of barn chores, which happens at 7:15 a.m., I have already gotten Nellie’s grain ready to pour into her stanchion bin, I’ve scooped all the poop out of the barn and put fresh shavings down, and done the other pig, chicken, and duck chores. So setting up at this point means: get Nellie into the stanchion (she is dancing and prancing and throwing her head around waiting for me to unlock the stanchion), lock her in, pour her food into the bin, set down my clean feed bags (one under her udder and one for under the machine), set the machine up next to her, attach the vacuum hose to the machine, put clean rags into the wash water, set up my stool, tie her tail, and proceed to wash and dry her three working teats. I only give her about a third of the grain and alfalfa for this part of the routine. She gets more after I turn on the machine.
Step 3
Give her another 1/3 of the feed, turn on the pump (it is LOUD), and attach the teat cups. One thing that makes my routine a little more cumbersome is the location of the pump and the electrical outlet. The barn is divided in half. I have to come through a gate and come around by Nellie’s head in order to be able to reach the outlet. The outlet is actually on the same side as the cow but I am short and can’t reach it unless I come around to this side of the barn. So I plug it in and then go through the gate and back to where the stool is and sit down and start attaching the teat cups one at a time. By the time I get back to the stool, the pressure is up to about 10-12 pounds of pressure and the pulsator has started up. The teat cups are each plugged with teat plugs. I start with the teat farthest away from me, her left back teat, then I do the right back teat, and last the right front teat. I bend/crimp each inflation to cut off the suction, pull out the teat plug, and place the teat cup directly under the teat and let it suck right up onto it. Then the next one and the next one. Since she has only three working quarters, the other teat cup just lays there on the feed bag plugged up.
Step 4
Watch the milk flow. For the first three to four minutes, the clear hose is completely solid white as the milk just pours into the can. There are no air bubbles or anything, just solid milk pumping through.
In this video you can hear how loud the machine is but you can also hear the pulsator. The milk flow has also slowed down at this point.
After seven minutes, I take off the teat cup from the right front because that quarter has the least amount of milk. I get up and go to the other side of the stanchion to give her the last third of her grain and come back around and sit on the stool. After three minutes, I take off the right back cup and then the left back cup. To take off the cups I again crimp the inflation to break the vacuum and gently pull the teat out and replace it with the teat plug.
I hook the claw back onto the machine and get up and go around to the other side of the barn to unplug the machine.
Step 5
Pouring the milk from the can into the milk tote/bucket. I come around to the cow side and move the stool next to the table so I can set my green bucket on it for pouring into. I detach the vacuum hose. I put the white bucket lid on the table so I have a clean spot to set the milking machine lid when I want to pour the milk out of the can and into the milk tote. I set the milking machine lid on the bucket lid and hook the claw and teat cups on a hook on the rail so it’s up out of the way. I heave the milking can up and pour the foamy warm milk into the green bucket. I put the lid back onto the machine with the claw and reconnect the vacuum hose. I take the white bucket lid and seal it onto the green bucket and put the full green bucket back into the sled.
Step 6
Rinsing the machine, inflations, and hoses. I make sure the vacuum hose is reconnected and go to the other side of the stanchion ONE MORE TIME to plug in the machine. Again by the time I get back to the other side, the pulsator is going (at the rate of 60 pulses or so per minute). I get my blue wash bucket with the soapy water and set it next to the claw. On the stool I put my small 2 gallon bucket of hot water with the tsp of bleach. I pull out the teat plugs and set them on the stool and then immerse the bottom of the inflations into the blue wash bucket while I hold the claw. I turn the doohickey on the lid that stops/starts the flow of milk into the can into the on position and let the machine suck up about half the wash water which is still soapy and foamy. I turn the doohickey to stop the flow, lift the claw and inflations out of the soapy water and into the bucket with the clear hot water and let it suck out the entire contents of that bucket until it’s sputtering and loses vacuum pressure. I leave everything and go around to the other side of the stanchion for the LAST time to unplug the pump. I come back around to the cow side, detach and hang up the vacuum hose. I take the lid off the machine and set it on top of the lid from the white wash bucket so I can go out the barn and pour out the hot soapy bleachy water from the can. I put the can into the sled and put the lid back on it. I leave the claw and inflations in the white bucket and set that next to the can in the sled.
Step 7
Release the cow. Before I release Nellie I put bag balm on her teats (even the non-working one) and untie her tail. I go around to the other side of the stanchion to unlock it and release the beast. Sometimes she’s ready to back out and other times she’s still busy eating or looking for more bits to eat. She would hate to leave one bit of grain in there for Helen! After she does back out, I make her leave the barn because she always has to poop as soon as she’s done and I want that plop outside the barn! As Nellie exits the barn, Helen is usually waiting just outside for her turn.
Step 8
Return to the house to strain and bottle milk. After I milk Helen, I release Bo from his stall and clean his plops out. I shut his door so he can’t return to his stall until we put him back in there in the late afternoon. I drag the sled back to the house with everything in it except Helen’s milk pail, which I carry. Once back at the house I haul everything onto the front porch (up six steps) and carry everything into the house. It is usually 9:50 a.m. when I get back into the house with everything or 1.5 hours since I took the sled to the barn. I strain the milk, bottle it, label/date it and get it all into the fridge.
Step 9
Wash everything. I’m usually done with the whole routine between 10:30 and 11:00.
1. I’d like folks who are considering a machine to see what all it entails and also to see the machine in action. Lastly, people who’ve never used a machine before (like me three months ago) need an idea about how easy or difficult it can be.
2. I’d like the folks who’ve been doing this for awhile to see if they can help me come up with additional efficiencies in the process. You may have a step or have deleted a step that could shave off minutes from my routine. I’d appreciate any thoughts or concerns you have when you read/see what it is I’m doing.
I head to the barn with everything I need to milk both cows at 8:20 a.m. after kid number two gets on the bus at 8:10 a.m.
Step 1
Load the sled with all the pristinely clean equipment and doodads. You will note that I’m using a sled when there is no snow. These pics were taken in mid-November. I don’t have a garden cart (yet) but if I’d had one I would have used it. Willie had suggested using a wagon like a Radio Flyer which we do have but I decided against it because the path to the barn isn’t smooth enough and I didn’t want to deal with capsizing equipment or pails of milk on the way back. The sled of course works even better now that there’s snow.
The sled has the machine in the back (tall can variety), a 5-gallon green bucket with a lid for me to pour the milk into after milking, a two gallon bucket with lid of hot hot water with a tsp of bleach, and Helen’s stainless steel milking pail with lid (that hates to stay on). Outside the sled is my 2-gallon blue bucket of soapy hot water which I need for washing both gals’ udders but also for rinsing the machine at the barn as I have no water (hot or cold) at the barn. The water never gets dirty because I don’t double-dip rags for either cow. Note all the supervisors everywhere!
Step 2
Go to the barn and get set up. During round 1 of barn chores, which happens at 7:15 a.m., I have already gotten Nellie’s grain ready to pour into her stanchion bin, I’ve scooped all the poop out of the barn and put fresh shavings down, and done the other pig, chicken, and duck chores. So setting up at this point means: get Nellie into the stanchion (she is dancing and prancing and throwing her head around waiting for me to unlock the stanchion), lock her in, pour her food into the bin, set down my clean feed bags (one under her udder and one for under the machine), set the machine up next to her, attach the vacuum hose to the machine, put clean rags into the wash water, set up my stool, tie her tail, and proceed to wash and dry her three working teats. I only give her about a third of the grain and alfalfa for this part of the routine. She gets more after I turn on the machine.
Step 3
Give her another 1/3 of the feed, turn on the pump (it is LOUD), and attach the teat cups. One thing that makes my routine a little more cumbersome is the location of the pump and the electrical outlet. The barn is divided in half. I have to come through a gate and come around by Nellie’s head in order to be able to reach the outlet. The outlet is actually on the same side as the cow but I am short and can’t reach it unless I come around to this side of the barn. So I plug it in and then go through the gate and back to where the stool is and sit down and start attaching the teat cups one at a time. By the time I get back to the stool, the pressure is up to about 10-12 pounds of pressure and the pulsator has started up. The teat cups are each plugged with teat plugs. I start with the teat farthest away from me, her left back teat, then I do the right back teat, and last the right front teat. I bend/crimp each inflation to cut off the suction, pull out the teat plug, and place the teat cup directly under the teat and let it suck right up onto it. Then the next one and the next one. Since she has only three working quarters, the other teat cup just lays there on the feed bag plugged up.
Step 4
Watch the milk flow. For the first three to four minutes, the clear hose is completely solid white as the milk just pours into the can. There are no air bubbles or anything, just solid milk pumping through.
In this video you can hear how loud the machine is but you can also hear the pulsator. The milk flow has also slowed down at this point.
After seven minutes, I take off the teat cup from the right front because that quarter has the least amount of milk. I get up and go to the other side of the stanchion to give her the last third of her grain and come back around and sit on the stool. After three minutes, I take off the right back cup and then the left back cup. To take off the cups I again crimp the inflation to break the vacuum and gently pull the teat out and replace it with the teat plug.
I hook the claw back onto the machine and get up and go around to the other side of the barn to unplug the machine.
Step 5
Pouring the milk from the can into the milk tote/bucket. I come around to the cow side and move the stool next to the table so I can set my green bucket on it for pouring into. I detach the vacuum hose. I put the white bucket lid on the table so I have a clean spot to set the milking machine lid when I want to pour the milk out of the can and into the milk tote. I set the milking machine lid on the bucket lid and hook the claw and teat cups on a hook on the rail so it’s up out of the way. I heave the milking can up and pour the foamy warm milk into the green bucket. I put the lid back onto the machine with the claw and reconnect the vacuum hose. I take the white bucket lid and seal it onto the green bucket and put the full green bucket back into the sled.
Step 6
Rinsing the machine, inflations, and hoses. I make sure the vacuum hose is reconnected and go to the other side of the stanchion ONE MORE TIME to plug in the machine. Again by the time I get back to the other side, the pulsator is going (at the rate of 60 pulses or so per minute). I get my blue wash bucket with the soapy water and set it next to the claw. On the stool I put my small 2 gallon bucket of hot water with the tsp of bleach. I pull out the teat plugs and set them on the stool and then immerse the bottom of the inflations into the blue wash bucket while I hold the claw. I turn the doohickey on the lid that stops/starts the flow of milk into the can into the on position and let the machine suck up about half the wash water which is still soapy and foamy. I turn the doohickey to stop the flow, lift the claw and inflations out of the soapy water and into the bucket with the clear hot water and let it suck out the entire contents of that bucket until it’s sputtering and loses vacuum pressure. I leave everything and go around to the other side of the stanchion for the LAST time to unplug the pump. I come back around to the cow side, detach and hang up the vacuum hose. I take the lid off the machine and set it on top of the lid from the white wash bucket so I can go out the barn and pour out the hot soapy bleachy water from the can. I put the can into the sled and put the lid back on it. I leave the claw and inflations in the white bucket and set that next to the can in the sled.
Step 7
Release the cow. Before I release Nellie I put bag balm on her teats (even the non-working one) and untie her tail. I go around to the other side of the stanchion to unlock it and release the beast. Sometimes she’s ready to back out and other times she’s still busy eating or looking for more bits to eat. She would hate to leave one bit of grain in there for Helen! After she does back out, I make her leave the barn because she always has to poop as soon as she’s done and I want that plop outside the barn! As Nellie exits the barn, Helen is usually waiting just outside for her turn.
Step 8
Return to the house to strain and bottle milk. After I milk Helen, I release Bo from his stall and clean his plops out. I shut his door so he can’t return to his stall until we put him back in there in the late afternoon. I drag the sled back to the house with everything in it except Helen’s milk pail, which I carry. Once back at the house I haul everything onto the front porch (up six steps) and carry everything into the house. It is usually 9:50 a.m. when I get back into the house with everything or 1.5 hours since I took the sled to the barn. I strain the milk, bottle it, label/date it and get it all into the fridge.
Step 9
Wash everything. I’m usually done with the whole routine between 10:30 and 11:00.