dairy equipment

Help Support CattleToday:

Christina

Active member
Joined
Jan 28, 2004
Messages
35
Reaction score
0
Location
Northern AZ
I amn a first time heifer owner. I've had my holstein since she was 5 weeks old. She is now about 21 months old and will calve in Aug. Here are my questions: I keep looking on ebay for equipment, but I'm not even sure what to get. Do I have to look for a stainless steel pail or can I use a ss Delavel bucket to milk into. I'm not sure if the neck is too narrow to aim into and if the Delavel items are only for machine milking.

Secondly, do I need to get a cream separator or can I just let cream rise to the top and go from there?

Besides the bucket and milk strainer I am planning on getting a 2 gal pasteurizer (if I can find one at the right price). Is there something else I am overlooking?

I know most of you are beef cattle people, but I figured just as many of you probabably had a dairy cow while you were growing up. Thanks for your input.
 
the delavel buckets are for machen milking. get a good 2gl bucket with big mouth if you are going to hand milk. for one cow i would not buy creamseprater or pasteurizer.
 
Thats a lot of work for one cow....are you sure you are up to the task of milking her twice or sometimes three times a day (you won't need to do more than twice with heifers....as she gets older you will need to milk more frequently). Why don't you wait until she has her second calf and graft another calf with her.... Or milk some out and bottle feed it to other calves...(prefer goats' milk since it is very rich in fat and calves seems to do very well on goat milk). Goodluck to you!
 
greenpasture78":271bz0kc said:
Thats a lot of work for one cow....are you sure you are up to the task of milking her twice or sometimes three times a day (you won't need to do more than twice with heifers....as she gets older you will need to milk more frequently). Why don't you wait until she has her second calf and graft another calf with her.... Or milk some out and bottle feed it to other calves...(prefer goats' milk since it is very rich in fat and calves seems to do very well on goat milk). Goodluck to you!

She already has the cow. The cow is going to calve in August. She didn't mention about your concern for her being up to milking the cow 2 times or possibly3 tinmes a day. Most first calf heifers nursing a baby calf that is also being hand milked should only have to be milked two timees a day.
Her question is what equipment she should buy. It sounds like she is planning on milking after the heifer calves. Probaly for family use, which is what most people use a family milk cow for. There was no indication on her part that she had a goat or planned on buying a goat just to feed the

goats milk to the calf.
Most calves do very good on their mothers milk.

Now to answer Christinas question; I would buy a


2 gallon stainless steel milk pail, a pasteurizer, some hobbles to refrain her from trying to kick you while you are milking her.
 
In addition I would get a milk crate or short stool (depending on your facilities), a large strainer and lots of Bengay for the first week or so. A good idea would be to play a radio in the area she's being milked. I've seen too many cows milked in silence and the first time a dog barks or a horn honks she goes nuts.
Good luck

dun

la4angus":3fjzxwg8 said:
greenpasture78":3fjzxwg8 said:
Thats a lot of work for one cow....are you sure you are up to the task of milking her twice or sometimes three times a day (you won't need to do more than twice with heifers....as she gets older you will need to milk more frequently). Why don't you wait until she has her second calf and graft another calf with her.... Or milk some out and bottle feed it to other calves...(prefer goats' milk since it is very rich in fat and calves seems to do very well on goat milk). Goodluck to you!

She already has the cow. The cow is going to calve in August. She didn't mention about your concern for her being up to milking the cow 2 times or possibly3 tinmes a day. Most first calf heifers nursing a baby calf that is also being hand milked should only have to be milked two timees a day.
Her question is what equipment she should buy. It sounds like she is planning on milking after the heifer calves. Probaly for family use, which is what most people use a family milk cow for. There was no indication on her part that she had a goat or planned on buying a goat just to feed the

goats milk to the calf.
Most calves do very good on their mothers milk.

Now to answer Christinas question; I would buy a


2 gallon stainless steel milk pail, a pasteurizer, some hobbles to refrain her from trying to kick you while you are milking her.
 
LA4 or Lloyd,
It was an tentative suggestion to her, I'd never intended for her to follow my advice. All I had done was give her something to think about... You didn't need to be so short-tempered with me. I'd noticed in several other posts you made you seem irritated and short-tempered with people. Might want to take a vacation down in Mexico..go see some pretty girls for a while...you'll feel better when you get home and THAT is an tentative advice. I am sorry if I had offended you.

la4angus":2z2nmr2p said:
greenpasture78":2z2nmr2p said:
Thats a lot of work for one cow....are you sure you are up to the task of milking her twice or sometimes three times a day (you won't need to do more than twice with heifers....as she gets older you will need to milk more frequently). Why don't you wait until she has her second calf and graft another calf with her.... Or milk some out and bottle feed it to other calves...(prefer goats' milk since it is very rich in fat and calves seems to do very well on goat milk). Goodluck to you!

She already has the cow. The cow is going to calve in August. She didn't mention about your concern for her being up to milking the cow 2 times or possibly3 tinmes a day. Most first calf heifers nursing a baby calf that is also being hand milked should only have to be milked two timees a day.
Her question is what equipment she should buy. It sounds like she is planning on milking after the heifer calves. Probaly for family use, which is what most people use a family milk cow for. There was no indication on her part that she had a goat or planned on buying a goat just to feed the

goats milk to the calf.
Most calves do very good on their mothers milk.

Now to answer Christinas question; I would buy a


2 gallon stainless steel milk pail, a pasteurizer, some hobbles to refrain her from trying to kick you while you are milking her.
 
You didn't offend me.
The lady acked specific questions and you seemed to answer every thing except for the advice that she had asked for.

Here is her post. Read it and see if you even attempted to answer her questions

I amn a first time heifer owner. I've had my holstein since she was 5 weeks old. She is now about 21 months old and will calve in Aug. Here are my questions: I keep looking on ebay for equipment, but I'm not even sure what to get. Do I have to look for a stainless steel pail or can I use a ss Delavel bucket to milk into. I'm not sure if the neck is too narrow to aim into and if the Delavel items are only for machine milking.

Secondly, do I need to get a cream separator or can I just let cream rise to the top and go from there?

Besides the bucket and milk strainer I am planning on getting a 2 gal pasteurizer (if I can find one at the right price). Is there something else I am overlooking?

I know most of you are beef cattle people, but I figured just as many of you probabably had a dairy cow while you were growing up. Thanks for your input.
 
I have two 4 yr old holstein twins that I raised on bottles. When the first one calved I tried hand milking for a couple of days. I learned that I was not cut out for that job lol. Dun is right. You'll need the bengay!
I bought an old universal milking bucket on Ebay for less than $100. Someone gave me a vacuum pump. The first couple of times I used the milker on the cow was, to say the least, an adventure. I had to restrain her back legs and avoid flying poop. After the first few milkings, she decided fighting it wasn't worth the effort.
You'll need a stall or something similar for your cow to stand in while you milk her. She'll do much better if you feed her some grain while milking.
If you are better at hand milking than I was (and you wouldn't have to be very good to be better than me), you will need some way to keep her from kicking over your milking pail. A stainless steel milking bucket with a wide mouth is best. I used a cheap plastic bucket, but cleaning it was a chore as it tended to be hard to rinse after washing. You might think about restraining her tail so that you don't get swatted by it.
After milking, you'll need something to use as a strainer. I went the cheap route and used a clean white hankercheif. I poured the milk from the pail into some 1 gallon pickle jars. I've read on some dairy boards that paper towels work well too. For just the one cow, you probably won't want to go the expense of buying a cream seperator. You can put the milk in the fridge in a covered container overnight. The cream will rise to the top, be thick and easy to ladle off. I used a soup ladle to dip the cream off of the milk I had. If you plan to make homemade butter and don't have a churn, a blender can be used. I prefer an old mayonaisse jar or something similar to that. Fill the jar with the cream, leaving about 2 inches of open space between the cream and the lid. Let the cream sour if you'd like, or let it get to room temp. Then "churn" it by slowly shaking the jar up and down. It usually takes about 20 mins for the churning to be done. I haven't tried making cheese, but hear that it is very tasty.
If you are planning to use the milk for your family, there is a way to pasturize the milk using a double boiler, but I'm not sure how that works. I'd suggest buying the pasturizer if it isn't too expensive. If your cow is like my two, you'll have PLENTY of milk. I just dried one of my girls off about 2 wks ago. I sold her calf in Nov (he was a year old) and she was still giving around 4 gallons of milk a day with only one milking. If I'd milked twice a day (as should be done) she'd probably have doubled that amount.
We personally don't use the milk for ourselves. I make butter once in a while, but am the only one that will eat it. I bought a couple of calves to bottle feed the milk to. They did fine on her milk and are doing well now that they've been weaned.
If you think of any other questions and think I can help, send me an email at [email protected] I'll be glad to answer.
 
[If you are planning to use the milk for your family, there is a way to pasturize the milk using a double boiler, but I'm not sure how that works. I'd suggest buying the pasturizer if it isn't too expensive. If your cow is like my two, you'll have PLENTY of milk. I just dried one of my girls off about 2 wks ago. I sold her calf in Nov (he was a year old) and she was still giving around 4 gallons of milk a day with only one milking. If I'd milked twice a day (as should be done) she'd probably have doubled that amount.
We personally don't use the milk for ourselves. I make butter once in a while, but am the only one that will eat it. I bought a couple of calves to bottle feed the milk to. They did fine on her milk and are doing well now that they've been weaned.
If you think of any other questions and think I can help, send me an email at [email protected] I'll be glad to answer.]quote>

Trying to pasteurize without a pasteurizer is OK but it is awful easy to scald the milk. To make butter, just do like making whipped cream with your electric mixer, except when you get whipped cream; just keep whipping, it will soon turn to butter. If you have to much milk and cream you probaly have some friends that would be willing to take it off their hands. Just don't sell it to them. Normally state rules disallow this. You can make other arrangements though. Like "you wash my car, I will give you fresh milk and fresh cream."
 
My perosnal preference for thr surplus milk is feeding a couple of pigs. Normally the resrictions on selling the meat or whole pig is much easier to deal with then selling, or giving away milk or dairy roducts.

dun

la4angus":5zdwdzkc said:
If you are planning to use the milk for your family, there is a way to pasturize the milk using a double boiler, but I'm not sure how that works. I'd suggest buying the pasturizer if it isn't too expensive. If your cow is like my two, you'll have PLENTY of milk. I just dried one of my girls off about 2 wks ago. I sold her calf in Nov (he was a year old) and she was still giving around 4 gallons of milk a day with only one milking. If I'd milked twice a day (as should be done) she'd probably have doubled that amount.
We personally don't use the milk for ourselves. I make butter once in a while, but am the only one that will eat it. I bought a couple of calves to bottle feed the milk to. They did fine on her milk and are doing well now that they've been weaned.
If you think of any other questions and think I can help, send me an email at [email protected] I'll be glad to answer.
Trying to pasteurize without a pasteurizer is OK but it is awful easy to scald the milk. To make butter, just do like making whipped cream with your electric mixer, except when you get whipped cream; just keep whipping, it will soon turn to butter. If you have to much milk and cream you probaly have some friends that would be willing to take it off their hands. Just don't sell it to them. Normally state rules disallow this. You can make other arrangements though. Like "you wash my car, I will give you fresh milk and fresh cream."
 
Thanks everyone. My first priorities will be the strainer and bucket. Thanks for the milk crate idea, Dun. I had a little stool, but I really like the idea of a milk crate. I have a want ad on homesteading.com (a possible dairy board link???) for a pasteurizer, so we'll see what happens. The big event doesn't happen until Aug., so I have time to find everything and ask the millions of other questions I'll have. Thanks again!!!
 
The bad thing about a milk crate is it's harder to fall of backwards when you're trying to duck a tail. A stool is much better for that, especially the one legged jobs. But I was alwasy falling off the one legged ones even when I didn't want to.
Have you ever hand milked a cow?

dun


Christina":1dd79ntw said:
Thanks everyone. My first priorities will be the strainer and bucket. Thanks for the milk crate idea, Dun. I had a little stool, but I really like the idea of a milk crate. I have a want ad on homesteading.com (a possible dairy board link???) for a pasteurizer, so we'll see what happens. The big event doesn't happen until Aug., so I have time to find everything and ask the millions of other questions I'll have. Thanks again!!!
 
Christina":3mdnado9 said:
Thanks everyone. My first priorities will be the strainer and bucket. Thanks for the milk crate idea, Dun. I had a little stool, but I really like the idea of a milk crate. I have a want ad on homesteading.com (a possible dairy board link???) for a pasteurizer, so we'll see what happens. The big event doesn't happen until Aug., so I have time to find everything and ask the millions of other questions I'll have. Thanks again!!!

You could make plenty of ICE CREAM and eMail some to all of us.
 
These recent postings really take me back to the good old days. You could also make some real thin homemade jellies (I think grape and blackberry/dewberry is best), say with the consistency of syrup. Then mix some of that thin jelly and your "homemade" cream in a bowl and mop it up with hot homemade bread. Now that's some mighy fine eating. It's what we did with the cream years ago when my cousins and I stayed on the farm with the grandparents all summer. (also guaranteed to add pounds to those doing the eating) We hand milked a Jersey and a Guernsey and never had any behavior problems with the cows. Once they were in their stalls and got their bucket of feed to munch on all was well with the world for them.
 
Arnold
What you are saying is sure true. I've done that too. One thing that was fast and easy and tasty, was to ladle some of that thick cream up onto a slice of bread and sprinkle some sugar on it.

Do something like what you're talking about and what I'm talking about, and the kids of today probaly wouldn't eat it because it didn't come from a box, and the parents probaly wouldn't let them.

It's a wonder we aren't all dead. That's almost as bad as riding in the back of a pickup.
 
Arnold Ziffle":195hstp4 said:
You could also make some real thin homemade jellies (I think grape and blackberry/dewberry is best), say with the consistency of syrup. Then mix some of that thin jelly and your "homemade" cream in a bowl and mop it up with hot homemade bread. Now that's some mighy fine eating.

way off the main topic & a little off of arnold's...........dewberries are ready in our area right now. dewberries & blue bell homemade vanilla ice cream. yum!
 
Make your own homemade ice cream.
Then you can say you have eaten the Best Homemade Ice Cream.
 
txag":k1q2sce0 said:
Arnold Ziffle":k1q2sce0 said:
You could also make some real thin homemade jellies (I think grape and blackberry/dewberry is best), say with the consistency of syrup. Then mix some of that thin jelly and your "homemade" cream in a bowl and mop it up with hot homemade bread. Now that's some mighy fine eating.

way off the main topic & a little off of arnold's...........dewberries are ready in our area right now. dewberries & blue bell homemade vanilla ice cream. yum!

Watch for rattlers seem to be very active this spring. Totally agree with the Blue Bell
 
We made some Coffee Ice Cream last summer along with a few other flavors.
The store bought Homemade stuff is good, but not as good as real homemade stuff.
 
Okay, here is where you are all going to think, Oh My, she really is a newbie...I haven't ever hand milked a cow. About 20 years ago I hand milked a neighbor's goat for about a week while they were out of town. I remeber it being a joke for the first 2 times, then I got the hang of it. I have a couple of people around (a old dairy farmer being one of them) that are going to help me the first few times. I'm nervous about things like mastitis, but most of the posts are encouraging that it is a bacterial thing (therefore preventable?) and seems to occur more likely when more than one cow is part of the picture.

I love owning my gal and see why so many of you have made a life of it in spite of all the very hard work and lack of respect on behalf of the general public. I've always dreamed of owning a family cow and am very blessed to be at the stage of life where I can do this. This gal has already helped beef up my muscles and I'll just get the benefit of new ones while I invest in ben gay!!!!
 

Latest posts

Top