# Whats a good size milk pail?



## Susyr22 (Aug 22, 2011)

Going to be milking my Alpine doe for the first time and not sure what size milk pail would work best.
 I'm trying to decide on a 2 quart or a 6 quart stainless steel pail. 
Would a 6 quart be to big to fit under her? What size do you use?


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## kstaven (Aug 22, 2011)

If she is full sized for and alpine the 6 will work. But take a good look at her to see how deep her udder is and how long the teats are. You need room between the top of the bucket and the bottom of a full udder to get your hands in there.


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## hillbillycitygirl (Aug 22, 2011)

I use a 3 quart pail, I tried the 6 quart and it was too bulky and big for me to move when one of my girls got kicky, I like the ease of the smaller pail. I get about 2 quarts from my two does so it works perfectly. (I strip them separately but milk them into the same pail)  I also gave up on the stainless steel pails, my personal choice is a serving container (insulated) with lid that you can buy from Gordon Food Service. Its the same as the little black containers you see at a buffet counter at the salad bar, they are black...I love it.  I like to be able to pop a lid onto it quickly as we have alot of gnats and flies around the barn.


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## Island Creek Farm (Aug 23, 2011)

Boy, this depends on SO much!  I started with a 4qt bucket from Tractor supply....my Alpines outgrew it's capacity rather quickly, so I used some 6qt flatback buckets, which got outgrown too!  The height of the 6 qt is perfect....so I went on a LONG search to find two gallon (8qt) stainless buckets that were no more than 8 3/4 inch tall.  Found some on ebay finally, however now I have dried off two and am back to the 6 qt ones...lol


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## aggieterpkatie (Aug 23, 2011)

I personally use a 6 qt stainless bucket I got from Hamby.  The height is fine, though it either *just* fits under her teats or I have to slightly tip it to get it under her. No problems though.  I like that it's tall because if she lifts a foot because of flies, chances are she won't lift it high enough to get in the bucket.


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## freemotion (Aug 23, 2011)

Don't forget you probably have a set of stainless steel pots and pans with lids right in your cupboards, in various sizes, to experiment with!


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## nmred (Aug 23, 2011)

OK. I may be starting something here, but I really don't see a need to use a stainless steel bucket.  I use a plastic ice cream bucket. It's one of the big, 5 quart ones.  It is just the right height, holds enough for my nubians (though just barely at their peak  and is "free!"  Can't beat that!  I use two, one for each girl, and write their names on the lids with permanent marker.  Makes it so easy to weigh/measure and keep track of who is giving what.  The cover is easy to put on and doesn't leak.  I've been using the same ones for over a year now, and they work great.  Why spend money when you don't need to?


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## kstaven (Aug 24, 2011)

The problem with plastic for many is that they get micro scratches  that harbor bacteria and you can't use sterilizing solutions in them without degrading the plastic. Toxin transfer is also an issue for some folks once you get outside the realm of HDPE.


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