Post by Deleted on Sept 9, 2010 7:17:59 GMT -5
I trained at a Raw Milk Jersey farm 20+yrs ago to hand milk cows. When I was a young fella I could milk 2-3 Jerseys in a short while. After taking a break from dairy for a while I began hand milking again a few years back. I love it, but it no longer loves me.
My current cows, a Guernsey & a Jersey--both 3, on their 2nd lactations--are beating me up something fierce. Sooooo....we just bought a new Delaval Bucket milker set up. At first I was determined to hate the thing. Yes, my hands & back are cramped after over an hour of hand milking--these girls came from a machine based set up, and while sweet & steady--have never taken to hand milking and I'm just gettin old.... But, one can't beat quality time with a cow...
Here's where things are going wrong.... I understand the milker & how to use it. I think I understand cleaning it.... What I don't quite get is how long it should take to milk each girl. The Guernsey--Hazel--gives 22lbs on her best day right now. She freshened in July and should still be building up, but our pastures are wearing thin about now too.... Right now she is milking out--or almost out--in around 7 minutes. Her main problem--and probably why she was sold to me--is that her front two quarters are smaller than the back two and milk out in under 2 minutes. So, I've been removing the 2 inflators from them--capping them with a piece of tape--and leaving the back two on, for the remaining time. Her teats are big & short but medium inflators are working well.
How important is it that the both rear quarters milk out 100%. I'm used to stripping via hand milking, but recommendations are not too strip after machine milking because then the cow expects it.... is this correct?? Last night we had a less than stellar milking session, with every problem which could go wrong, going wrong... barely got much out of either cow. Where as the yesterday AM I was impressed by getting more out than via hand milking.....
Milly, our Jersey, is a similar story, although here teats are long and narrow. She is actually calmer and likes being milked by hand or machine better than the fussy Guernsey. Again, her front quarters milk out far sooner than the rear. On Milly, the inflators slide off and if I'm not there to catch them, the hit the floor and pull off everything. Her milk yields are up--14+ lbs this AM but she only gave 10lbs last night.... I had been only getting 10-12 hand milking. Again, however, her rear quarters milk out unevenly with one quarter still looking like there is up to 2lbs left inside. I really hate to leave them like this as I hate to think of what this will do to future yields and udder health.
Am I doing anything wrong here? Is there any way of working the girls into a shorter milking so that I don't have to be pulling off two inflators from the front quarters?
As for cleaning... We don't have water in the barn, so I have been lugging water in for each milking. This worked well for hand milking, but with the compressor being fixed in the barn I have been hauling 3 pails in plus lugging the milk bucket back and forth to the kitchen.
Currently I bring the milk into the kitchen for processing, then dash back out to flush the lines & bucket with clean water--rinse water goes to happy pigs--then I run bleach water through the lines twice. I also rinse the inflators off and the outside of everything with soapy/vinegary udder wash water. Then I flush with clean water twice and hand up to dry. I know I need to take the whole system apart to clean more thoroughly, but how often?? What is everyone's preferred dairy soap?? I am not grade A, but because I have milk customers and we drink this milk raw, and I make cheeses, so I like to maintain standards and not ruin our septic or eco-system....
That's enough for now...thanks in advance for any help!!
My current cows, a Guernsey & a Jersey--both 3, on their 2nd lactations--are beating me up something fierce. Sooooo....we just bought a new Delaval Bucket milker set up. At first I was determined to hate the thing. Yes, my hands & back are cramped after over an hour of hand milking--these girls came from a machine based set up, and while sweet & steady--have never taken to hand milking and I'm just gettin old.... But, one can't beat quality time with a cow...
Here's where things are going wrong.... I understand the milker & how to use it. I think I understand cleaning it.... What I don't quite get is how long it should take to milk each girl. The Guernsey--Hazel--gives 22lbs on her best day right now. She freshened in July and should still be building up, but our pastures are wearing thin about now too.... Right now she is milking out--or almost out--in around 7 minutes. Her main problem--and probably why she was sold to me--is that her front two quarters are smaller than the back two and milk out in under 2 minutes. So, I've been removing the 2 inflators from them--capping them with a piece of tape--and leaving the back two on, for the remaining time. Her teats are big & short but medium inflators are working well.
How important is it that the both rear quarters milk out 100%. I'm used to stripping via hand milking, but recommendations are not too strip after machine milking because then the cow expects it.... is this correct?? Last night we had a less than stellar milking session, with every problem which could go wrong, going wrong... barely got much out of either cow. Where as the yesterday AM I was impressed by getting more out than via hand milking.....
Milly, our Jersey, is a similar story, although here teats are long and narrow. She is actually calmer and likes being milked by hand or machine better than the fussy Guernsey. Again, her front quarters milk out far sooner than the rear. On Milly, the inflators slide off and if I'm not there to catch them, the hit the floor and pull off everything. Her milk yields are up--14+ lbs this AM but she only gave 10lbs last night.... I had been only getting 10-12 hand milking. Again, however, her rear quarters milk out unevenly with one quarter still looking like there is up to 2lbs left inside. I really hate to leave them like this as I hate to think of what this will do to future yields and udder health.
Am I doing anything wrong here? Is there any way of working the girls into a shorter milking so that I don't have to be pulling off two inflators from the front quarters?
As for cleaning... We don't have water in the barn, so I have been lugging water in for each milking. This worked well for hand milking, but with the compressor being fixed in the barn I have been hauling 3 pails in plus lugging the milk bucket back and forth to the kitchen.
Currently I bring the milk into the kitchen for processing, then dash back out to flush the lines & bucket with clean water--rinse water goes to happy pigs--then I run bleach water through the lines twice. I also rinse the inflators off and the outside of everything with soapy/vinegary udder wash water. Then I flush with clean water twice and hand up to dry. I know I need to take the whole system apart to clean more thoroughly, but how often?? What is everyone's preferred dairy soap?? I am not grade A, but because I have milk customers and we drink this milk raw, and I make cheeses, so I like to maintain standards and not ruin our septic or eco-system....
That's enough for now...thanks in advance for any help!!