Post by canesisters on Feb 6, 2017 14:42:37 GMT -5
I don't know if this is the right place for this... since my milking equipment is my hands and a bucket.. but it IS a "during the milking process" question.
When I milk, I hold the bucket between my knees. That way moving it if she sifts forward a bit or backward a bit is just a matter of leaning. I sit on an old cat litter bucket with my ankles crossed in front of me and the bucket between my knees. Some of you may have spotted the problem all ready... This leaves my feet and ankles sticking out all the way under Eva. It hasn't been a problem - YET. The ONLY time she is moved enough to 'step' on my was only a brush with one foot - HOWEVER I can see this going very, very wrong one day. I can just picture me trying to get back to the house with a broken ankle or smashed knee if something should go terribly wrong one pre-dawn morning.
I was told to not let the bucket touch the ground so that nothing 'dirty' comes back into the house.
(But of course... my BOOTS come back in with me. I don't stick THEM in the sink... but still)
I was told that holding the bucket makes it so much easier to keep away from a hoof if she steps. Which.. the one time she took a big, sudden step.. it did.
For those of you who hand milk, where do you put your feet? How do you hold the bucket?
Do you sit the bucket on the ground and tuck your feet under you? Do you have any concerns of what might be brought back on the bottom of the bucket? I tried keeping my feet tucked up against the plastic bucket that I'm sitting on, but then the stainless bucket that I'm milking into keeps slipping out and nearly falling.