Rah, rah, hey, hey

[Shawn]

I need a cheerleader. My hands are hurting... you know the drill, milking nubs of back teats. I'm determined to hand milk this time and I am woefully out of practice. I'm a grab the whole teat in your fist and squeeze kind of milker, but I'm having to learn the strip milking technique and I'm not sure I'm doing it right.

In desperation the other night I recalled someone that lubes their fingers with milk, so I did that. That was helpful, although I'm not sure how sanitary that is when I want to save the milk here in a few days?!? On the bright side, it did make things really sticky when it dried and I was able to get a good grip on the troublesome LR quarter (why is it ALWAYS the one furthest away??) and milk some out faster.
The next time I grabbed the Bag Balm and used that. That works ok, too, same issues though with being sanitary, and no way does that ever get sticky enough you can change from stripping to grip milking.

So what ideas/encouragement can you offer? Anyone have a video link of a good technique? I've been trying to channel my dad, who was wicked fast at milking, but not sure I'm getting any tips from him. LOL I am getting slightly faster, but I work and work and work and sweat and sweat and think gosh, I've done a lot, then realize I have a quart and I've not found the bottom of that quarter yet.

She usually gives a half gallon TAD. So it's not much milk, I just think her orifices are small combined with the struggle to get a grip on anything, it's very frustrating. We went from very strawberry milk yesterday to more white today, so I'm getting close to saving milk.

Every single time I milk I think "Gosh, I could just get the milker out and we'd be done." But it's cleaned and stored and I remember my 2 minutes of washing my milk bucket and I'm done and I doggedly keep going. Last night I slathered my right hand in Lannie 's Fire and Ice and took an Advil afterwards. It definitely helped.
When we get a little further down the road, I will lock up the calf overnight and leave him that nasty nub! LOL
I need some tips so I don't end up making my tendonitis flare up.

[Applelonia]

The only way I’ve ever milked is with two fingers ~ thumb and index finger. Think it’s probably what one would call strip milking. Both Appy and France only had one teat that I could use three fingers on. I milk about 1-2 gallons from France that way.

I’ll see if the husband will take a video of me milking this evening. Not sure if he has meetings real late.

I use coconut oil on my hands/gloves.

[Deleted]

I do two different strip milking methods. Dry hands and dry teats work best for me.

1- thumb parallel to teat, pointer finger wrapped around other side of teat. I pinch the teat between tip of my thumb and the crook of my pointer finger. I slide my pointer finger down the teat while pressing it against my thumb. Thumbs stay still, only pointer fingers move.

2- my hand is in a similar shape as above, but after pinching the top of the teat my whole hand moves down the teat.

Method 1


Method 2 starts the same, ends like this:

Totally works better on a real cow!

[lew92]

Rah, Rah, Siss-boom-bah,
Shawn the Milkmaid
is the Great Poo-Pah!

Did that help?

Wow, @amyp, I have never thought of stripping like your first example. That would work a lot better for me, I think. I always dry strip, too. Otherwise, my fingers always slip off the end of the teat and I know that can be a bit painful for the cow.

Buttercup's hind teats are very short, so I learned to start out milking with just my fore and middle fingers on those teats. Once there is some slack in her udder, I move higher up and use three fingers to milk with my pinky curled under on my left hand, forefinger on my right. I'm not sure why it is different with my different hands, but I've tried adjusting so that I use the same technique with both hands and I just can't get it.

[northstar]

I milk the "Swiss" way with my thumb tucked into my palm. Three fingers mashing against the first joint of my thumb.
Marsha

[Shawn]

@amyp I've been doing method 2 and it seems it builds a lot of friction without lube of some sort, which I'd like to get away from. (Great pictures, thanks)
I will definitely give #1 a shot. Do you have issues with milk running down your wrists with 1?

lew92 You're quick on the draw there with that handy rhyme. "The Great Poo-Pah"? Eh, maybe not. I think there are still people trying to crawl back in their chairs after laughing over my 1/2 gallon milking stints.
And I've been trying to move up higher, but she's pretty swollen still. One milking session I got a grip on that teat, but hasn't happened again. Maybe soon...

I actually blame my poor milking skills on my dad because he started me out with goats, I got spoiled. LOL

[Deleted]

I usually start with method 1 while everything is super full and tight. Method 2 is used at the end. I don't get any milk down my wrists. The bottle nipples don't quite hang in space like cow teats do. I keep a clean towel on my knee to dry my hand if I do get some milk on my palm. I feel like I have to grip too hard or reposition too often if I use any sort of lube. Milk as lube just feels gummy after awhile.

Totally jealous of your flexible thumbs northstar! I'd probably end up poking her to no end if I tried that!

[familyof8]

I can use my whole hand on the front 2 but on the back I use my thumb and 2 fingers. It works good, but I haven’t gotten used to it yet after milking twice a day since April. Iam thinkin Iam suffering from carpal tunnel, burning sensation from my wrist into my arm.

[jerseyrose]

If it takes you 3x as long to milk by hand are you really saving any time in the long run ??

I remember my nubbin teated Jersey( backs only) I used my thumb and 1 finger milking the traditional way and tucked all the others inside my palm and prayed that God would enable the calf to take the back teat on my side in record time......

[karenp]

I feel your pain. My cow has one teat that is just barely too short to grab and I have to strip milk that one. I can't squeeze it without milk running down my arm. I use Palmer's coco butter for lube. I do have to say that is the softest smoothest teat of the four, you can definitely see a difference.

[treatlisa]

I'd rather wash the milk machine than argue with short, small orifice back teats! Get that milk machine out and save the inevitable tendonitis flare up...

[simplynaturalfarm]

It may take you just as long because it takes 2 minutes to clean the milk machine but at least cleaning the milk machine will not break you down at a young age. And yes you are young and need to protect your body so dig out the milk machine or stop milking her.

[Shawn]

Sept 18, 2018 14:11:43 GMT -5 jerseyrose said:

If it takes you 3x as long to milk by hand are you really saving any time in the long run ??

Hey there, don't step on my bucolic dream, as I skip merrily back to the house with merely a bucket to wash... LOL

I know, I do understand that logic. I've just been away from handmilking for so long and wanted to give it a shot again. When I have decent teat length I can hammer out a gallon pretty fast. And that's all the milk I really wanted out of this arrangement anyway as I planned on milking OAD in the mornings only.

I'll give these new ideas a try, get the swelling out and see where we are. Then I will start locking him up overnight, leaving that nub for him and then he can work on her all day, rinse and repeat.

[saysfaa]

Sept 18, 2018 10:50:06 GMT -5 Shawn said:

I... and I was able to get a good grip on the troublesome LR quarter (why is it ALWAYS the one furthest away??) and milk some out faster. ...

Sit on the other side of the cow so the troublesome quarter will be closer. And to your right. The last won't help if you are left handed but closer will probably be better than to your dominate hand if you can have only one of the two.

I was taught this way...https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=how+to+milk+a+cow+by+hand&&view=detail&mid=F00B8CB8DD558DBF28CEF00B8CB8DD558DBF28CE&&FORM=VDRVRV... at 2:44 through 2:55. Use more fingers if the teat is longer. Pull only a little and don't slide.

Edit to add: or the same thing with the Swiss method Northstar described. Or switch off if hands need the break.

[Shawn]

Tonight was much better. I tried @amyp's method at times and that was useful. I switched back and forth between several methods and I was actually able to get more of a handle on that tiny nub since her swelling is easing up. I did not use any balm intentionally, although the milk was going down my hand (from a different teat this time) and sort of lubing that hand. But ny hands don't hurt or sting tonight. Yay! I think they're just sore from using them differently. But, her production is going up and she felt soooo full (for her) when I started. I got about 3/4 of a gallon tonight and I think I got that back quarter completely emptied this time.

I did break out the milking machine for the morning to give my hands a break. But also I'm curious if I'm close to getting all she has or not. So stay tuned for tomorrow's update...

[Applelonia]

Husband had conference calls durning milking time today. I tried putting the phone between my knees and doing a video with the iPhone ~ didn’t work. He says no meetings tomorrow at milking time.

[karenp]

Sept 18, 2018 15:02:10 GMT -5 Shawn said:

Sept 18, 2018 14:11:43 GMT -5 jerseyrose said:

If it takes you 3x as long to milk by hand are you really saving any time in the long run ??

Hey there, don't step on my bucolic dream, as I skip merrily back to the house with merely a bucket to wash... LOL

I know, I do understand that logic. I've just been away from handmilking for so long and wanted to give it a shot again. When I have decent teat length I can hammer out a gallon pretty fast. And that's all the milk I really wanted out of this arrangement anyway as I planned on milking OAD in the mornings only.

I'll give these new ideas a try, get the swelling out and see where we are. Then I will start locking him up overnight, leaving that nub for him and then he can work on her all day, rinse and repeat.

There really is just something about hand milking, especially a well behaved cow.

[Deleted]

So true karenp. Glad you are figuring out what works for you Shawn!

[3cows]

@shawn, I use a tiny bit of Corona on my hand and the teats to make milking more comfortable for both me and the cows. I don't put it on the ends of the teats and I apply it and then wipe off most all of it so I don't worry about the potential for contamination. I cannot stand to milk without it and everything else I have tried is too oily or greasy feeling for my taste.

You won't want to hear it, but switching to an all animal product diet took away all the soreness and numbness in my hands, wrists, forearms, and elbows that I use to deal with when milking cows (and typing 10k words per day on average). All the ladies are dry right now, but all nine calves should arrive within the next 60 days, so I will let you know if eating that way still works for carpal tunnel pain then.

Remember, the discomfort will get better in a few days, so hang in there.

[hazelsmilker]

I too had the hand milking itch with my first freshener Luna this summer. Just after she freshened her back teats were nubs that were not only hard to grab but also aimed backward. I had to sit behind her with the pail in order to get any milk in the bucket. As you can imagine with a first freshener, this encouraged quick reactions on my part. I did get my goat milker working after about a week of hand milking and milked her with it exactly once. She then decided that she deeply detested the suction cups and came down with a bad case of flying hooves whenever they came near her udder. At any rate it's been over 2 months and I am still hand milking, so it is doable. Her back teats did get longer and once the edema resolved, I was able to sit beside her. Before this summer I always milked Swiss style (So that's what it's called!), but have learned to milk her back teats with my thumb and first 2 fingers. It took a few weeks for my hands to get into shape. The first pint or so is the hardest and the last quart seems to take a long time. I don't have to listen to a loud pump and clean-up is quick. I must say though, if Luna hadn't had such persuasive physical arguments I don't think I would have persisted.