How long does it take to clean milker?

[VC Rancher]

Now that I have started milking my Dexter, I am realizing it takes me a long time to milk. This is my third day ever milking in my life. I am having a hard time getting milk to come out AND get it aimed into the bucket. So I end up holding the bucket with one hand and milking with the other. But after an hour and only 5 cups of milk, my hands are tired and I'm thinking a milking machine may be the way to go. But I've heard that it can take a long time to clean the milker and tubes and all that is involved. This next year I may have two cow to milk.

So I am wondering how long it takes you to clean your milker and if there are certain specific milkers you like or certain types of milkers you like.

While I would love to hear your encouragement that I can milk this cow by hand and that I will get better, both statements I'm sure are true and would love to hear that from you, I would still appreciate your thoughts on the milkers themselves and how easy they are to clean.

Thanks!

 

[pdfangus]

isn't this the cow that you just weaned the calf from?

If she has raised a calf you may be getting milk out faster than she can make it now.

Stop by a local dairy farm and get someone to show you the proper grip. It is not hard once you know how. It does take some endurance and strength which will come with practice.

 

[dun]

To properly clean and sanatize a small milking machine is probably gonna take around 20-30 minutes. With big milk systems it takes longer but that's mostly due to volume. On the other hand, the large systems pretty much clean themselves once you start them.

 

[VC Rancher]

pdfangus,

I have not weaned the calf yet...I am half weaning the calf by taking the calf off at 4pm each day, milking the cow in the morning and then letting the calf back together with the cow for the rest of the day, until 4pm. The grip I have figured out and had a few people show me, but getting the grip AND aiming it is a whole other matter.

 

[pdfangus]

if you are only getting five cups and hour, even doing it with just too fingers, there is no milk there to harvest.

A milking machine for one cow is probably a four or five thousand dollar investment.

Proper cleaning is not a one step affair either.
it will take you longer to milk the cow and clean the machine than the hour you are currently spending.
i have hand milked holsteins that were pretty good milkers and never took more than fifteen minutes and get three gallons twice a day. Then all I have to wash is the buckets.

my point is that there may not be enough milk to fool with. You can feed up milk a little bit, but if a cow is late in lactation she is naturally going to taper off in production. especially so if she is rebred.

additional feed then just goes on her back.

I am not trying to be mean in saying this...... but you are apparently way in over your head. I would have suggested that you start with a couple of dairy goats to learn the ropes and then try to graduate to a cow.

 

[VC Rancher]

I am in over my head but this is where I am at and going forward is my only option. Besides....I hate goats.

The milking machines I have been looking at are $700-1000 dollars. See: http://www.portablemilkers.com/page/page/1576325.htm

Do any of those milkers seem viable options?

At full production you are doing well if a Dexter will produce 3 gallons a day so the fact that I am getting a little over a quarter gallon when I am still letting the calf on her tells me there is more to have and there is some left when I am done.

 

[pdfangus]

of the ones you linked to only the last one at over two thousand dollars is a complete unit with vaccum. I did not look closely to see if that was a goat unit.

Milking machines need vacuum and pulsation to operate. the rest of thsos pictured were just the claw and the container. they all still need the vacuum and pulsation.

for a milking unit you either have to break it down and wash all the parts by hand or you can get a unit cleaner and wash it using again the vacuum.

washin steps for good sanitation
rinse with cool water
wash with hot water and alkaline detergent preferably chlorinated alkaline. wash water needs to be over 140 degrees for any auto washing.
rinse with cool acid rinse.
sanitize with approved sanitizer prior to milking again.
You can shortcut this since yours is for personal use but you will have problems eventually if you do.

 

[cow pollinater]

We milked a Jersey at home on a machine excactly like the first one in your link for $725 and it was easy to use and clean up once I got it adjusted just right. Start to finish was taking me somewhere in the area of thirty minutes. It doesn't have automatic take-off so you have to learn to judge how much milk your cow is giving and adjust to it so you don't overmilk.

 

[VC Rancher]

Was that 30 minutes including milking and cleaning? What do you have to adjust? And what do you mean by overmilk?

 

[chippie]

We have a portable milking machine that has a larger bucket than you show. It takes longer to clean the equipment than it does to milk the cow.

I wash the bucket in our bathtub. Hot water and cascade with bleach. I run hot hot hot water and Cascade through the claw and tubing and rinse with hot water. Then hang to dry inside.

 

[VC Rancher]

How long does that take you to go through that bathtub cleaning process?

 

[chippie]

Much longer than washing a plain bucket.

30 plus minutes milking and cleaning. I hand dry the bucket.

My husband can hand milk a cow in less than 5 minutes.

 

[chippie]

I read your other post.

The calf is 7 months old. Wean him cold turkey and milk the cow twice daily. Be sure to feed her a good quality lactation pellet.

She is on the down hill side of her lactation period. So don't be surprised if she goes a head and dries up on her own. Cows can do that even if you milk them twice daily.

 

[VC Rancher]

She held back on me today. Yesterday I got 5 cups from her, 3 the day before, in the morning. But this morning she would only give me 1 cup after a half hour. So I didn't let the calf out this morning to nurse her and I'm not going to until she gives me her milk. I am going to try again later today.

 

[chippie]

If she were mine, I would go ahead and dry her up.

How do you know that she is holding back? From what you've posted about the amount that she was giving, it sounds like she is drying up. Are you feeding her? If so how much. One of our Jerseys is small - about 7oo lbs. She is feed 10 lbs of 18 % protein lacatation pellets twice daily. She is a good milker.

If it isn't there, it isn't there.

Do you have previous experience with dairy cattle? My husband grew up on a dairy and I've owned Jersey cattle since I was in my 20's -- 30 plus years. I am 57.

 

[VC Rancher]

I just milked her again and she gave me 6 cups, so a total of 7 cups today. Since I just milked her, can I wait to milk her again tomorrow morning? It's 2pm here.

She is out on pasture so she is eating grass. I am not interested in feeding her grain.

I am fence line weaning her out on the field.

One other question I have is how do you know when you are done? I have noticed that I will get three or four good squirts from a teet and then nothing. Then I will switch and milk another for a while and come back and get another 3-5 good squirts from the previous teet and then nothing. Does that mean I have gotten all the milk I'm going to get out that teet?

Thanks for sharing that you would dry her up...but I'm not ready to do that, yet. I don't have any experience with dairy cattle, or any cattle until about 3 months ago.

 

[chippie]

She is drying up and without additional feed and quality hay, the chances are she is done until she has another calf.

And if you are not going to feed her, you might as well dry her up. You can't expect her to make much milk on grass alone, epecially at this time of the year.
She needs the grain to produce milk.
Besides the dairy feed, our cows are fed alfalfa hay in addition to good quality Jiggs Coastal hay.
You can't feed a milk cow crappy hay and expect her to produce.
If anyone told you differently, they told you wrong.

I suggest that you buy The Family Cow (A Garden Way publishing book) [Paperback]
Dirk Van Loon (Author)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0882660667/?tag=cattletoday00-20

 

[regolith]

Each teat individually is finished milking when you can no longer pull a strong squirt of milk - little dribbles don't count, leave 'em in for next time.
You're trying for too long... get used to what milk letdown feels like as you're milking her, it's the natural hormonal action and may take a couple of minutes to kick-in after you start handling her udder. While the hormone is in effect the teat should fill and draw easily; it doesn't last much more than twenty minutes and to save yourself and her stress you probably shouldn't be sitting with her for longer than ten minutes at a time.

Oddly enough, I disagree with the suggestion that dairy cows need grain to milk... (mine are grassfed and don't see any apart from a little starter when they're baby calves up to about 4 - 5 months old) but the comments about her being in late lactation are right; her milk is on the way down and if you're not successful at this stage at encouraging and harvesting production there won't be anything worth having shortly.

 

[Dixieangus]

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=65975

 

[Dixieangus]

go down to the milking chart