Post by eljay on Oct 2, 2014 15:06:21 GMT -5
Just curious ... what would be the best way to clean an udder if you're hand milking?
I do basically the same thing as for machine milking. I am blessed with a girl that is usually clean. If she has dirty teats I wipe as much off as I can get with as many clean rags as is needed. Then I pre dip the teats. While that sits I take a dry towel and rub the udder to get any pieces of loosely clinging dirt and debris. Since she is usually clean that usually means one rag. Next I wipe off the teats and reapply the dip if there is any amount of caked on dirt/manure. Actually I usually give her a second dip anyway in case I missed something. If she is dirty I empty the teat dip cup and refill it every time I dip. I do the teats as many times as is needed to end up with clean teats. There are rare days, when she comes in from being rained on and is dripping off her sides where I don't save the milk, but that doesn't have anything to do with the pre milking cleaning procedure. She's never come in so dirty that I couldn't get her clean enough to milk. My old jersey though, she was another story...
I always wash my hands well before going out to milk, and I wash my hands again with the iodine teat dip or wear gloves, and I am super weird conscious of not touching my face. If I have to cough or sneeze I walk away from the cow and keep my hands out of the "line of fire". ***I don't know if using the teat dip as a hand wash is a good idea or if it will eventually make me grow a second head or something equally appealing. I was wearing gloves to milk until the heat of the summer came and I couldn't stand the thought of having my hands in those hot gloves. Once it cools down I'll go back to gloves. It is a little layer between my hands and the cold and worked pretty well when coupled with the warm teats. My DD wore knit gloves under the rubber milking gloves and said it worked very well to keep her hands warm. I am rambling now so I shall stop and go do something useful.