Post by wyomama on Jan 25, 2010 10:10:38 GMT -5
To keep from hijacking Mitra's thread.... ;D
We've all seen the cautions, and heard that machine milking can cause mastitis and all kinds of horrible things because of "overmilking".
Like I did with my cow, I figured things out largely on my own with my machine. It wasn't until I'd been using it for a couple of years that I learned that some people remove teat cups one at a time as the quarters empty - that's something that I'd never done before, and I haven't picked it up as a habit, because I've never had problems with the way I do it.
I also didn't learn until I'd been using it for a couple of years that as the milk flow slows, applying pressure, either by pulling gently on the inflation, or setting a weight on the claw, or squeezing the bag in a downward motion will get a lot more milk out into the bucket. That, I HAVE adopted - because on some of my cows, it eliminates the need to hand strip at all, on others, it reduced the amount I was hand-stripping from a quart or more to less than a cup.
So... I have asked four people I know in real life with big parlor experience about the "overmilking" thing. One didn't know what I was talking about (I don't remember if they had a 10 or 12 cow parlor, but it wasn't very big, and was strictly a family operation), the others did - they all worked in 50 cow or bigger parlors with employees.
What the other three described (some of them pretty colorfully!) were scenarios where the cows came in, were hooked up, and then either because people were too slow getting the milkers attached, or not attentive, or there wasn't enough help, it took too long to get back to the beginning of the line to release them, or the help wouldn't walk the line while that batch was being milked to check that the inflations were in the proper position, to make sure the pulsator was working, or to listen for "chatter" and fix whatever the problems were. What I was told by them, is that where "overmilking" causes damage, is when the cups aren't properly placed - like barely hanging on the end of the teat - or not sealed well - slipping and chattering, or where they are left on for a LONG time - like half an hour or more. I heard some eye-raising stories about some of the dumb things people would do while they had someone else's cows in the parlor milking
Now, I realize that three people is not a lot of input, so I thought I would throw this up here, and see what people think.
I figure either some more of us can shave a little time off the milking chore, or maybe I will be convinced to change my ways.
But, the idea that I have in my head right now is that the two to four minute differential between quarters emptying isn't going to cause any discomfort or damage.
We've all seen the cautions, and heard that machine milking can cause mastitis and all kinds of horrible things because of "overmilking".
Like I did with my cow, I figured things out largely on my own with my machine. It wasn't until I'd been using it for a couple of years that I learned that some people remove teat cups one at a time as the quarters empty - that's something that I'd never done before, and I haven't picked it up as a habit, because I've never had problems with the way I do it.
I also didn't learn until I'd been using it for a couple of years that as the milk flow slows, applying pressure, either by pulling gently on the inflation, or setting a weight on the claw, or squeezing the bag in a downward motion will get a lot more milk out into the bucket. That, I HAVE adopted - because on some of my cows, it eliminates the need to hand strip at all, on others, it reduced the amount I was hand-stripping from a quart or more to less than a cup.
So... I have asked four people I know in real life with big parlor experience about the "overmilking" thing. One didn't know what I was talking about (I don't remember if they had a 10 or 12 cow parlor, but it wasn't very big, and was strictly a family operation), the others did - they all worked in 50 cow or bigger parlors with employees.
What the other three described (some of them pretty colorfully!) were scenarios where the cows came in, were hooked up, and then either because people were too slow getting the milkers attached, or not attentive, or there wasn't enough help, it took too long to get back to the beginning of the line to release them, or the help wouldn't walk the line while that batch was being milked to check that the inflations were in the proper position, to make sure the pulsator was working, or to listen for "chatter" and fix whatever the problems were. What I was told by them, is that where "overmilking" causes damage, is when the cups aren't properly placed - like barely hanging on the end of the teat - or not sealed well - slipping and chattering, or where they are left on for a LONG time - like half an hour or more. I heard some eye-raising stories about some of the dumb things people would do while they had someone else's cows in the parlor milking
Now, I realize that three people is not a lot of input, so I thought I would throw this up here, and see what people think.
I figure either some more of us can shave a little time off the milking chore, or maybe I will be convinced to change my ways.
But, the idea that I have in my head right now is that the two to four minute differential between quarters emptying isn't going to cause any discomfort or damage.