Anyone still milking by hand?

[Queen Mum]

I've been hand milking since I was a teenager. Takes me just a few minutes to milk out a dairy goat. Takes me a little longer to milk a cow. I like it. I came from a small farm in the US where we didn't have machines. Our cows were hand milked. The milk was hand cranked to separate it and butter was hand churned. Cheese was made the old fashioned way. Food was canned in jars. The fields were tilled by hand.

I remember when I was a teenager I went to a big dairy farm in Denmark and the farmer asked me if I knew how to milk cows. I said, "Yaw!" I went out to the barn and he handed me this 'thing' with all these dodads hanging down. I knew what it was but didn't know how to use it. I got kicked repeatedly trying to put it on. He said, "I thought you said you could milk cows." I got a pail and showed him. He took me to the 'other part' of the barn with the "problem cows". I stripped his 8 problem cows in NO time. No kicking, no dirty milk. That was my job for the rest of the summer. He said his cows liked my soft touch. LOL! It was the first time in forever anyone ever said my hands were ladylike. (I have big square hands.) I never did tell him that I had only hand milked a cow one time but I had watched my Papa do it HUNDREDS of times. I knew all of his tricks and I was a great observer of animals.

 

[johnsons-r-us]

I don't even have my goats yet...that's why I'm here to learn, BUT I fully intend to milk them by hand. And teach my daughters and hubby to do it because afterall, I can't be home 100% of the time.

 

[Little One]

I don't even have my goats yet...that's why I'm here to learn, BUT I fully intend to milk them by hand. And teach my daughters and hubby to do it because afterall, I can't be home 100% of the time.

I can't wait to get my first goat! I'm here to get more information before I jump in, also. And I will be milking her by hand.

 

[77Herford]

I hand milk some of our goats but mostly I have the machine to all the work.

 

[Cornish Heritage]

I milk our cow every day. She is a sweetheart - only have to milk her once a day. She is a Jersey /Holstein cross. We have the new herd of Milking Devons that we want to start milking & once we get that up & running we will probably get a portable machine maker but time will tell.

We make a lot of ice cream with the cream she produces. I have made butter in the past but Lady's milk doesn't seem to make very good butter so haven't done it in a while. Hope to get back to it with the Milking Devons as I love homemade butter.

Liz

 

[PotterWatch]

I've only had animals for milk for a few years, but it's all been done by hand. We used to have mini-manchas and I milked those for a couple years. Then we sold those and I was milking a Holstein. The Holstein had a calf and we switched to a Jersey for milk and let the Holstein raise calves for sale. The Jersey is not a great cow to milk and I just stopped milking her a couple weeks ago. I now have to buy milk until we get dairy goats again. Can't wait!

I made cheese from the goat milk but never butter. The cow milk was regularly made into butter, cheese, and yogurt.

 

[SmallFarmGirl]

I don't have any cows, But I have goats and I milk one by hand right now. I hop to have 2 milkers in the future!!!

 

[peteyfoozer]

We have a Jersey cow, but I use a belly milker cuz its so much easier, faster, and cleaner. I make butter every couple of days as she gives me 3 gallons plus 1/2 gal of heavy cream every morning, milking OAD. Also make our own mozzarella, ricotta, sour cream, buttermilk, cream cheese and other stuff. Hard cheeses I haven't nailed yet. A few turned out ok, but I'm not satisfied yet. Need a better cheese press for one thing. I can't imagine ever not having a cow again. I have Nubians also, but mostly use their milk for making soap. :bun

 

[Beekissed]

Could you post a pic of your belly milker and the approx. cost of such an apparatus. For us aging and on the go working moms, an individual milker that can accomplish in a few minutes what would take me quite a few more minutes would be a big plus to have and use.

 

[peteyfoozer]

I've seen them go for anywhere from $450 and up for the whole she-bang. There is a belt that goes around your cow and the bucket just hooks onto it by the handle. The nice thing is that when the inflations hang down, it cuts the vacuum off to it, so you can milk 1-4 teats at once. My 2 yr old heifer I had to do her hind quarters separately from her fronts as they were so close together. I can do all 4 now that she has 'matured' a little more. I have also seen them sold on ebay in parts. It's not too hard to put them together. We bought vacuum hose at the home store. Having a Jersey, I use the silicone inflations, which I got through Hamby Dairy. There are kids for rebuilding the pulsators and all that jazz. I really like mine. It's pretty heavy, so I have a wagon I pull it out to the barn and back with. I am going to get some parts next spring so I can adapt it to milk the goats also.