to "milk out" or not?

[VC Rancher]

I was always under that understanding that it is good to milk out for mastitis reasons, if no other. But I was talking with a milker manufacturer yesterday and he said you should also leave a little milk in so the teat seals.

What do you think?

 

[dun]

By machine or hand a couple of squirts left may not help but it sure doesn;t hurt anything

 

[bigbull338]

dont leave to much in her bagg,because doing so can cause mastitis.

 

[bigbluegrass]

I always try to get as much as I can. I figure a calf will milk a cow until he doesn't get anything else or he gets kicked off. I once milked a cow after a calf got done just to see - couldn't even get a squirt out to wet my hands with.

 

[novaman]

If you're milking by hand, milk her out dry. The milk equipment manufacturer recommended leaving some as all milk manufacturers do. Milk machines are harder on the cow than hand milking. Getting every drop with a milk machine will result in overmilking and other problems. There is a very fine line between milking out enough and overmilking when it comes to machine milking.

 

[bigbluegrass]

After reading novaman's comments I should clarify that I hand milk my cows. I have never machine milked and have no experience with that.

 

[bigbull338]

If you're milking by hand, milk her out dry. The milk equipment manufacturer recommended leaving some as all milk manufacturers do. Milk machines are harder on the cow than hand milking. Getting every drop with a milk machine will result in overmilking and other problems. There is a very fine line between milking out enough and overmilking when it comes to machine milking.

you left out 1 thing though.never machine stripp a cow unless you have to,because once you start she will hold up some milk an make you machine stripp her out.we had an old cow that would give over 150lbs a day.an id have to machine stripp 1 of her teats.an that took 10mins.

 

[dun]

If you're milking by hand, milk her out dry.

The problem with that is that most newbies don;t know ehen enough is enough. They keep trying to get those last squirts. You could be at that for hours. We hand milked at the goat dairy and stripped the ladst bit and turned them out. But if I waited 5 minutes I could have stripped some more, 5 minutes later some more.

 

[bigbluegrass]

If you're milking by hand, milk her out dry. The milk equipment manufacturer recommended leaving some as all milk manufacturers do. Milk machines are harder on the cow than hand milking. Getting every drop with a milk machine will result in overmilking and other problems. There is a very fine line between milking out enough and overmilking when it comes to machine milking.

you left out 1 thing though.never machine stripp a cow unless you have to,because once you start she will hold up some milk an make you machine stripp her out.we had an old cow that would give over 150lbs a day.an id have to machine stripp 1 of her teats.an that took 10mins.

What/how do you machine stripp? If you milk with a machine do you still stripp the last bit by hand?

 

[TexasBred]

If you're milking by hand, milk her out dry.

The problem with that is that most newbies don;t know ehen enough is enough. They keep trying to get those last squirts. You could be at that for hours. We hand milked at the goat dairy and stripped the ladst bit and turned them out. But if I waited 5 minutes I could have stripped some more, 5 minutes later some more.

lol, and old time dairyman told me that all I was doing was getting a bit of tomorrow's milk.

 

[bigbull338]

we always machine stripped the cows that needed it,an never hand spripped a cow.the way you machine stripp is hold your hand down on the milker or squeeze the bagg up above the teat every so often just like a milker.takes awhile todo when you have an old cow giving 160+lbs a day.

 

[bigbluegrass]

How do you know if you have to machine stripp a cow?

 

[bigbull338]

well for 1 you have to know the cows your milking.an 2 if their baggs arnt soft as raggs,or still look full most likely they need stripping.but stripping is something you learn not taught.

 

[dun]

well for 1 you have to know the cows your milking.an 2 if their baggs arnt soft as raggs,or still look full most likely they need stripping.but stripping is something you learn not taught.

I'll drink to that (but not milk, yuck)

 

[VC Rancher]

Is it the whole bag or the bags above the teats that you pay attention to?

 

[chippie]

The bag. It should feel soft and somewhat flaccid.

 

[novaman]

you left out 1 thing though.never machine stripp a cow unless you have to,because once you start she will hold up some milk an make you machine stripp her out.we had an old cow that would give over 150lbs a day.an id have to machine stripp 1 of her teats.an that took 10mins.

I have never machine stripped a cow. I don't plan on ever doing it either. I hand strip every cow to get her producing oxytocin and let the machine do the rest. The takeoffs are set to pull off when milk flow drops below a set level for a set amount of time. Took some playing to get those settings where I wanted. Don't want to overmilk but you don't want to be letting them out too wet either.

If you're milking by hand, milk her out dry.

The problem with that is that most newbies don;t know ehen enough is enough. They keep trying to get those last squirts. You could be at that for hours. We hand milked at the goat dairy and stripped the ladst bit and turned them out. But if I waited 5 minutes I could have stripped some more, 5 minutes later some more.

Good point. I guess I was assuming most knew what i meant. I know, never assume.

 

[bigbull338]

wel;l ill say 2 things for you,1 your dang lucky that youve never had to machine stripp a cow.an 2 beglad that you have your takeoffs set right,an your very lucky that they havent caused some mastitis.i always wanted to install takeoffs.an i came close once when we almost put in a lowline pipeline system.

 

[dun]

Is it the whole bag or the bags above the teats that you pay attention to?

That is the quandry. Some cows have fleshy udders and still milk well, some have an udder that when milked out looks like an old worn out rubber glove. I prefer the latter but don;t really have a problem with the former.

 

[regolith]

wel;l ill say 2 things for you,1 your dang lucky that youve never had to machine stripp a cow.an 2 beglad that you have your takeoffs set right,an your very lucky that they havent caused some mastitis.i always wanted to install takeoffs.an i came close once when we almost put in a lowline pipeline system.

It's only a minority of farmers in NZ who do either prep or stripping and there's plenty say we've bred the 'need' out of the cows for either action.

bb, when I first encountered take-offs in the early nineties I hated them - every single row at least one cow had to have the cups put back on because one or more quarters was barely milked. I've been biased against them ever since but have worked in a shed a coupla times that's got the more modern variety and I've got to say they have improved heaps. I doubt there'd be any mastitis caused by them these days, tho' you do lose the advantage of eye-balling every udder at milk-out (nova's got that sorted because he's pre-milking and will detect mastitis that way).