Anyone still milking by hand?

[ohiogoatgirl]

this is a good topic!
my parents had a small dairy goat herd for about 8 1/2 years.
we milked 7 does twice a day by hand. i used to hate it! the does we had were the worst!!! i still remember having to milk stinky with my shirt over my face... she really deserved her name!

now i'm building my own herd and i can't wait to start up an get some real milk!

that rite of passage bit is great!
we always had people over and new people were always interested in how you milk a goat so they always looked real close. and if you've been milking a while then your aim gets good and you can get someone head to toe in one squirt!


i remember when my little sister's boyfriend came over the first time during milking... i got him great! head to toe with both teats and he'd been talking so he got a lot in his mouth...
he was so mad! he went runnin into the house and told on me to my parents and they just laughed at him... he didn't know what to do!

 

[mrssmitho]

I can't wait!!! I will have the first calf around Dec 1st, 2011 and will start milking 1x per day after a week...never done it before, so who knows?
I will be making my own butter, cheese, yogurt, etc...this spoiled girl is going to save me from the Wal-mart completely!!!!! All I go after is dairy products...OOHHHHH, I can't wait!!
My girl is a Jersey/Holstein and bred to a Mini Herford. They call a Jersey momma bred to the mini Herford calf a "Hershey"...so mine will be a "Hershey w/Almonds"

 

[manybirds]

I hand milk goats

 

[animalfarm]

You might need to be flexible on that 1x day at one week plan.

If your cow is a heavy milker and both Jerseys and Holsteins are, the x should also be. There is no way a one week old calf will take enough milk out. You may end up lowering production and run a high risk of mastitis. I have never been able to go to 1x a day in less then 6-8 weeks and its usually around 8 weeks. I have a jersey who fed 3 calves and still had to be milked out for a month. You should be so lucky. If your cow is older, then maybe your plan is more likely to work.

For the first 2 weeks the calf is most likely to get more than it wants from just one teat. It might go to 2 after that. You may not have a problem, but just be aware and check that udder diligently 2x day till you are sure the calf is holding up its end of the bargain and you are not losing all the good stuff you are looking forward too. So, other then milking 2x a day for longer then planned and maybe getting more then you thought you would, its all good.

The calf should be nice with breeding to the Herford for some beefy hardiness.

 

[zzGypsy]

I hand milk goats

me too.
and sheep, but they're tougher.

 

[codymax2]

I will be hand milking Getting our family cow this friday. She's just a baby so it will be awhile.

 

[sawfish99]

We are hand milking 3 goats. We have discussed getting a milker since we know a goat owner nearby who wants to sell a used one for $1500. It just seems hard to justify when it will only save 15 min a day. I can milk out the does faster than they can eat the grain.

 

[zzGypsy]

We are hand milking 3 goats. We have discussed getting a milker since we know a goat owner nearby who wants to sell a used one for $1500. It just seems hard to justify when it will only save 15 min a day. I can milk out the does faster than they can eat the grain.

got a friend who machine milks 6 dairy goats, he says it doesn't save them time... the time they get back on speed of milking is used cleaning the milker. for them it makes sense, since the time is is the same, but it allows any of their older kids or the parents to do the milking with consistent clean milk handling, and the kids don't have the stamina for milking 6 producing goats.

we bought a milker this year, but it's for our sheep which are much harder to milk. I may use it for milking goats while the sheep are in production since I'll have it set up and have to clean it anyway, but I'll probably hand milk the goats when the sheep are out of production.

I've found I've got hand-milking stamina for 4 goats + 4 sheep... but i'm losing speed on the last 2 or 3 sheep from hand cramps. if I'm going to have more than 4-6 goats in production, I'll probably go to a machine process just because I don't have the stamina for efficient milking past that.

we paid $600 for our used milker. shop around, you can buy a new system for less than $1500... depending on what you want.

 

[5Jerseygirls]

I have been milking by hand for years. It only takes me about 8 minutes to milk 2.5 gallons. I love my Jersey's. Milking time is very relaxing. I love to feel the warmth radiate from the cow, hear the milk hit the pail and listen to her chew her grain and then belch. That lets me know everything is in working order. I am fortunate mine have nice handles. I only milk one at a time. It is nice to have a back up when one is dry. When a new calf is born I will have to milk that cow for awhile until the calf gets big enough to take it all. I make cheese, butter, cottage cheese, and ice cream. It is for the family. I give lots of cheese to family for Christmas and I know they appreciate it. I have never tried a machine, it seems it would be more work to clean than a bucket. I planned on having only ONE milk cow. CALP attack (Cows Are Like Potato Chips....you can't just have one) Now there are 7!

 

[RareBreedFancier]

I'll be hand milking. (Hopefully soon if my does ever decide to kid. )

I watched a lady milking with a machine and it seemed to me that it took just as long or longer to use the machine. It sure was more work to clean up.