I've been meaning to write this blog for OH about a year now.. Tonight seemed like a good time to do it.
We bought our milking machine in several pieces. The compressor we got from an old milker in the area and turned out to be one that my uncle's dad had a long time ago! We bought the compressor with a milking machine, but never used that machine. Bindy, the cow we were milking then did not have enough clearance to hang the machine off her back, in front of the udder. And as she was something of a problem cow we never tried it. Instead Papa called the local dairy supply place and ordered a bunch of supplies. SO now we have a state of the art milking system run off an old compressor and for the most part we love it. We've got milking and washing down to a fine art and it takes less then 20 minutes from start to finish. And the system is sealed so we have VERY little of anything get into the milk. A far cry from milking a cow by hand into a open bucket.
So for those interested I'm going to break the system down for you. The hows, why and whatyoumacallets :)
Here are some explanations. The claw sounds like the evil game in Toy Story but in this case it's really just a plastic clear cup that has attachments for the 4 cups and the 4 smaller hoses that feed the pulsater. It's sort of like the body of a spider, in fact the whole thing put together is called a spider. The cups are metal rubber lined 'mouths.' The suction makes the rubber suck the milk out and the pulsater gives the teat that 2 second relax time between squirts. Make sense? If not look it up on Wiki. That's as much as I know :) The pulsater is explained later.
Ok We are milking a 2.5 year old Holstein named Maggie at the moment. We get about 5 to 6 gallons of milk a day. This depends a little on when milking gets done, where she is in her cycle, and how much stress she's under. Let me just say we try and minimize stress as much as possible but on a farm things happen. For instance the last time one of our pigs went into heat she broke out of her pen and chased Maggie around for quite a while. Maggie was very upset and did not give hardly any milk for 3 days!! Life happens, we just have to minimize it. That pig is now in the freezer and I must say she is delicious!! :)
Step 1. I know what your thinking.. DUH... put the cow in the stanchion.. Well your wrong. :) Step 1 is actually to get the milking claw together, the bucket over turned and the strainer/bucket ready and the jars out of the cupboard with lids on them and to the milking table. This is all done inside in the 'clean' area.
Step 2. Go outside and call Maggie while getting a small 1ish gallon bucket of our special non grain mixture that she loves and dump it in her box at the head of the stanchion. By the time it's dumped Maggie is drooling by the gate and trying to walk through the gate.. don't let her.. she'll hurt herself.
Step3. Open the gate and get OUT OF THE WAY!! Maggie is on the move! She's never actually run anyone over but the way I see it.. better safe then sorry! Maggie REALLY loves her sweet non grain mix!! So does Steerseye, Meatloaf and every other cow we've ever had on the place!
Step 4. Close the stanchion. She never notices that she's locked in until she's done her sweet mix.
Step 5. Grab the 'cow' towel and check out her bag. Maggie is a young cow so her bag is tight to her body and therefore stays quite clean. Rarely does she come in covered with **** like Bindy, the beast, used to do twice daily! Have a mentioned we love Maggie?? Maggie normally just gets a dry rub with a clean towel and a check over. If there is anything more then a little dust we go back inside and grab a bucket of warm soapy water and wash her down good and proper. Keep in mind the milker is completely sealed. The milk comes out of the bottom of the teat and goes right into the claw.. it never touches the teat.
Step 6. Turn the compressor on as you walk by to go into the house. It takes about a minute for it to get to the right PSI to milk. Too much and you damage the cow, too little and the cups fall off! It's set automatically. I just turn it on and wait for it and it's the perfect PSI every time!
Step 7. Close at least one board on the gate where Maggie came in. Steerseye is out there and as previously stated he too loves this sweet non grain mixture and has been known to go to great lenghts to get it.
Step 8. Go inside and get the claw, bucket and related hoses. These are all stored clean so they need no prep except to put them together which we already did.
Step 9. Put the bucket down close to the front of the cow. The short clear hose has to reach the suction nipple that runs over Maggie's head and down to thigh level. This clear hose brings suction to the claw.
Step 10. Slide the clear hose onto the suction nipple and turn the handle on the nipple to ON. Suction can now reach the bucket. Place the lid on the bucket and turn the black hoses ON/OFF valve off so no air can get to the claw. In seconds the bucket is sealed. The lid is now stuck on the bucket and will not come off unless you turn off the compressor or turn the black hoses ON/Off valve to ON.
Step 11. Get the claw ready. I normally hold it upside down with all 4 cups hanging upside down. This way I can turn the black hoses ON/Off valve ON and make sure that the pulsater is working before actually trying to put them on Maggie's teats. The pulsater is made of a couple little pieces that you put in the yellow cup like thing. It's got a spring, a seal, and a little tiny thing that turns. I know the spring causes the cups to pulse and therefore MILK the cow and the seal keeps it from leaking air into the system and flooding it therefore making the cups fall off. But I have NO idea why the little thing goes round!! But it does and if you don't have them all 'just so' it simply will not work. The cow will not get milked, the cups will fall and get dirty and you start all over again and feed the milk to the pigs. Just so you know!
Step 12. The pulsater works and the little thing makes a THUNG THUNG THUNG noise about every 2 seconds. Perfect!
Step 13. I normally make some soothing noise to Maggie just to get her out of 'sweet feed lala land' and into 'milking you and touching you now' mode. She normally gives me a back handed look and I take that as permission to attach the cups to her teats.
Step 14. Keep the whole claw system well away from the ground. Pick a starting teat and lift and pinch off the hose that goes to the claw from the cup. The cup is now NOT sucking. Then you place the cup under the teat while lifting/unblocking the flow of suction and the cup SUCKS itself up onto the teat. Repeat 4 times. Maggie will shift her legs at least once while you do this. She doesn't kick.. no matter how much you flinch. She is a good cow!! Bindy would kick!
Step 15. Make sure milk is flowing nicely into the bucket and pulsater is still going THUNK THUNK THUNK. If all is well proceed to Step 16. If not recheck cups and pulsater and adjust if necessary.
Step 16. Go inside, making sure to close the white human gate as you do. See step 7. Yes.. he really will get out by the hay bales run around the house and sneak in to the milking area for a few lousy bites of this sweet stuff.
Step 17. Check email, get a drink, unload the dishwasher, stock the fire, play a card game, nurse the baby.. what ever you find to do.. do it. For about 12ish minutes. Check on Maggie if you hear anything strange but for the most part your free for 10 to 15 minutes.
Step 18. Go to the back door and look out the window at the milk bucket. The milk will be visible.. check level. Take a look at the claw.. if still white with milk go back and do some more of step 17 for a few more minutes. If clear of milk go to Step 19. (I have to admit I had no idea there would be that many steps.. I think I must do all these things on autopilot!)
Step 19. Open the white gate and say "Hi' to Maggie. She will be vigorously licking her box free of molasses and talking to her is like giving your kids a five minute warning before bed. She needs this time to adjust to being locked out of the milking area until the next milking time. Seriously.
Step 20 Grab a hold of the bottom of the claw with one hand and turn the ON/OFF valve to OFF on the black hose. This can be tricky. ALWAYS do the black hose first or you will loose the seal!
Step 21. Turn the clear hoses ON/OFF valve to the OFF position. Now the milk is seal inside the clean bucket!! YAY!
Step 22. Turn off the suction nipple and pull the clear hose off. You are now able to move the bucket. It is no longer attached to the system or the cow and it is still sealed.
The brand new milking stuff. The white lids are for storing milk in the buckets which we've never done. The pulsater is the yellow thing on the top of the spider (the whole piece is called the spider. The claw is the clear thing the pulsater sits on.) on the top of the bucket. The black lids to the right are the ones we use with the hoses attached.
Step 23. Place the sealed bucket on the bottom step and balance the hoses on the lid. Easy after a bit of practice. Turn off the compressor switch.
Step 24. The noisy compressor stops and you notice that Maggie is still licking feverishly at her box. Note: If Maggie is not licking feverishly at her box something is likely wrong. OR she is plotting a plan to get to the wheel barrow full of sweet non grain mix so watch her closely when you let her out!!
Step 25. Open Maggie's gate that takes her back to her pen. 2 boards. Chase Steerseye away from the gate if he's nearby. A stupid sweets loving steer and a drooling sweet loving milk cow in a small milking area with a wheel barrow full of said sweet mix is NOT, I repeat, NOT amusing. Things can get broken. Tempers can be lost. Cows and steers will learn that humans know best and NO they can't eat all the sweet mix all at once! Actually this is almost never a problem any more. Steerseye rarely comes and visits while we are milking. He did more when he was still Bullseye but he's calmed considerably since then.
Step 26. Close the white human gate most of the way. You want her to not think about going through that way but you also don't really want to be locked in there with her if she's going to be a pain. Just for the record. Maggie has NEVER gone for this gate.. this is something I learned from Bindy and old habits die hard.
Step 27. Go to Maggie and un hook the stanchion bars at the top. I'm a bit short and it's a bit of a reach. Be aware if she thinks it's open she will try and yank her head out (Note this as well.. often means she is impatient to get started hatching her 'get the sweet mix' plan!) and that metal bar is right at forehead level. I've only gotten hit once. She does not like to be left in the stanchion while your nursing your sore head. She normally holds very still while you undo this bar. So all in all I guess the trick here is get it done fast, get it done right and get it done the 1st time.
Step 28. As SOON as you let her out she's going to back up a step, swing her head around and go for the wheel barrow. It NEVER fails. Anticipate her. I take two quick steps backwards and stand beside the wheel barrow. She will usually stick her nose that direction while looking at me with her body already moving towards her gate. This is good. Pay attention. The 1st time you don't or your a bit too slow with the backwards steps she'll have planted her feet, stuck her nose in the wonderful wheelbarrow and MAN is she hard to get moving then! It's really best to just not let her get that far. If this does happen once you'll have to 're-train' her for the next several times you milk. She'll be fine with Papa but she'll push you every chance you get until you win a few times. Then she'll sigh deeply and move on out!
Step 29. Wait until she has moved her whole body out of the milking area.. she gets SLOWER AND SLOWER the farther she gets from the 'good stuff' and often I close the board gate only inches from her rear! She is less then motivated at this point. As soon as the gate is closed she find her 'go to' again, but until that last board is shut she must have hopes for more yummy sweet stuff. Now if you want you can do step 30 or you can skip it and go right to step 31.
Step 30. Watch through the fence as Maggie takes a running two steps towards the water tub and SMASHES Steerseye with her head. I have NO idea why she does this. He's normally waiting for her so I don't know if he enjoys it or he's really just that stupid. Anyway sometimes they stand there and smash at each other for several minutes. I rarely watch. Then she'll saunter over and play in the water for a bit. Yeah I know. Cows are strange!
Step 31. Close the white gate on the way out and grab the sealed bucket of milk and head into the house. The bucket holds about 6 gallons but even empty is not super light. J can lift it empty, but L can't. So I stagger a little as I go up the steps and through the door.
Step 32. Kick the door shut and heave the bucket on to the table by the sink. Place the claw into the sink. Make sure sink is empty or water will get sucked into the milk when you open the ON/OFF valves.
Step 33. Take your boots, jacket, gloves, hat ect. off. Other then taking the jars of milk outside to the fridge ( We keep the milk fridge at a lower temp then our inside fridge so the milk cools fast) your done outside. And your going to be washing up so you might as well be comfy.
Step 34. Open the ON/Off valve on the black hose slowly. This unseals the bucket. I always do the black hose as that's the one I wash first and I dislike getting sprayed in the face with water when I forget. Then place the lid and all the hoses into the sink with the claw.
Step 35. Take the bucket of milk and pour it through the strainer (double strainer) and into the bucket. Try to do this without spilling. When all the milk is in the strainer, lift the strainer so the bucket fills and the strainer empties. When the strainer is empty place it on the top of the bucket. It will drip and make a mess if you don't.
Step 36. Take the bucket of nice clean warm milk and pour it into jars. We use 1 gallon jars that actually hold a gallon and a quart. We fill them all the way. This takes up 2.5 gallons of the 3ish she gives a milking. Put lids on the jars and put them outside in the fridge. Feed the dog. :) He often gets the last little bit of milk out of the bucket into his own bucket which he suppose to share with the cats. I believe he rarely does.. if his rounded self is any clue. Don't feel too sorry for the cats then just as often get the left over milk on the back porch and they NEVER share with Chip unless I make them.
Step 37. Rinise all the milking stuff with warm water. Buckets, hoses, strainer, claw, cups. Best to get the milk out as soon as possible. The milk rarely touches any of this milking stuff for more then 20 minutes 2 times a day. But cleaner is always best.
Step 38. Use soap and scrub, take apart the claw, cups, pulsater, turn the clear hoses valve to on or you'll get wet. Wash the lid, cups, hoses, buckets, strainer all with soap.
Step 39. Rinse everything really well. Hold up the ends of the hoses and drain them before storing. Rinse the pulsater cup and place it and the strainer, and buckets upside down on an angle to dry properly.
Step 40. Turn off the light and rinse the sink to get the soap bubbles out. Dry your hands and go play on your computer for a while. Maybe blog about cow milking.
Step 41. Hear that?? Go and check it out. Turn the outside light on and watch Steerseye JUMP as you catch him licking out Maggie's already licked to splinters box. Yes he got out on the other side of the house, ran over here ( I've watched him, he's quite funny about it), and is making a lot of noise licking out a box that has already been licked out and licked out and well.. really well licked. I could go chase him off.. but really what harm is he doing. Soon it will be spring and his hairy body will ground out on the electric fence again and he'll stay in. No more licking the yummy box. Oh this is also a GREAT time to pat yourself on the back for completing Step 31. Or kick yourself for forgetting the 1st part of it. Because if you did forget you have to get your boots and jacket back on, and gloves if it's cold enough, and go out and chase a stubborn steer out of that yummy wheel barrow!
This is the milk area before we built the new addition. The blue thing on the right is the compressor. Maggie is on the right and Bindy is on the left. This is one of the great things about this system. It can milk two cows at the same time with very little extra work. The wheel barrow full of 'good stuff' sits where Bindy used to milk. That's Papa there milking.
