Goat hand milking machine, anybody?

[babsbag]

Well my first experience with the EZ was a total failure. Now to be fair that goat needed to be milked a few days ago and I didn't do it. She lost her kid when she delivered 10 days early so I wasn't prepared to have a doe that needed milking right now. She was very engorged and I couldn't get her teats in the cup and then when I did finally cram the tip in and pump it up I could tell that it hurt. I got no milk out at all. Not sure if that was from pain or from not getting it on far enough.

I have some does that have little teats that I will try this on again, but for large teated does this is a no go.

It would be easy to take the teat cup off and dip it in a teat dip or bleach solution between each doe.

 

[dwbonfire]

Well my first experience with the EZ was a total failure. Now to be fair that goat needed to be milked a few days ago and I didn't do it. She lost her kid when she delivered 10 days early so I wasn't prepared to have a doe that needed milking right now. She was very engorged and I couldn't get her teats in the cup and then when I did finally cram the tip in and pump it up I could tell that it hurt. I got no milk out at all. Not sure if that was from pain or from not getting it on far enough.

I have some does that have little teats that I will try this on again, but for large teated does this is a no go.

It would be easy to take the teat cup off and dip it in a teat dip or bleach solution between each doe.

I have Nubian does, and to me they have large teats, but I have definitely seen bigger. I just worry about spending the money in the EZ and if it doesn't work for me because they won't refund. Cheapest I have found it for is $187

 

[OneFineAcre]

So this is Clara Belle. She has good milk stand manners. Sometimes you have to lift the leg.
We use the one cup for Nigerians because it works up under them best. We just fill the cup and empty into a quart jar.

The little arms that go around the part that screws into the container are broke on ours.

I would go ahead an order an extra one of these. Both of the little arms are broke off on ours.
If I was getting one, I would also order an extra handle we've broken that before.

And get a pack of these little red gaskets. They fail. If you start to pump it up but no suction develops then this gasket has a tear in it.

The teat cup and the other piece separate and they are easy to wash. It would not be difficult to wash between does if you wanted to.

I will say this. It does not work exactly the same for every animal for some reason. The picture of Clara Belle is the norm and it works well for her. But, for some goats you have to manipulate the angle. So, for Clara Belle it isn't exactly straight up and down, but pretty close. Some does you have to angle it up more towards the front of the goat. Some goats you have to angle it completely opposite towards the rear end. We have one doe who you put it on and pump it up and nothing happens for about 60 plus seconds. And then all of a sudden, it starts to flow..
We've been using it for a while so we have figured out our does.

 

[OneFineAcre]

I haven't used them but have been researching them this week so funny you should post. I have a real machine but it is in my old barn and a pain for only a few goats so I was looking at another option. I am building a dairy so obviously this is only a stop gap right now.

I like the inflations on the EZ milker, and I like no tubing to clean. But some of the complaints about it was that the handle on the pump breaks, as does the piece that holds the bottle to the pump; also the bottles aren't dishwasher safe. These were older reviews so not sure if those are still valid.

I don't want to clean tubing. While you can run water through it I would rather run a brush of something through it to feel like it is really clean. Milk builds up a milk stone after a while and no way to remove it unless you can scrub, but I guess new tubing would be cheap enough.

My biggest hesitation about any of them is the constant suction that it puts on the teats. There used to be many posts online about that being bad for the goat but I am not convinced one way or the other and I have seen no real proof of that.

There are other milkers. There is a Henry Milker and a Maggie Dans milker but they are all similar.

I think I am borrowing an EZ milker this week. My friend isn't sure the teat cups are big enough for a standard goat. I'll let you know.

The handle on the pump does break and the piece that holds the bottle to the pump. We've had to replace our handle twice and the other piece is broke now. But, you can replace just those parts.
And, you can't wash the bottles in the dishwasher.
I can understand the parts breaking, we use ours a lot. Better to order extras to save on the shipping.
But, not being able to wash the bottles in the dishwasher, that is a pain.

 

[OneFineAcre]

Well my first experience with the EZ was a total failure. Now to be fair that goat needed to be milked a few days ago and I didn't do it. She lost her kid when she delivered 10 days early so I wasn't prepared to have a doe that needed milking right now. She was very engorged and I couldn't get her teats in the cup and then when I did finally cram the tip in and pump it up I could tell that it hurt. I got no milk out at all. Not sure if that was from pain or from not getting it on far enough.

I have some does that have little teats that I will try this on again, but for large teated does this is a no go.

It would be easy to take the teat cup off and dip it in a teat dip or bleach solution between each doe.

If she was engorged, that is probably why you had the problem.
When you pump it up it should draw the teat all the way down in the cup so that the opening is flush on the udder.

You can get different sized teat cups.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I'd love to hear from someone who may have used a Trinity Milker. It's similar to the Dansha (which is what I use in a pinch) but with some upgrades. When I bought my Dansha it was set up to milk two teats at a time, but try getting both teat cups attached to the doe was a real PIA....whew...ya need three hands and I'm one short! So I altered mine to milk one teat at a time. Like I said, I don't use it often, but DH does when I'm out of town or otherwise unable to milk.

The Trinity seems to make that whole process much easier.

I haven't seen any place to buy one of these so I think what I'm going to do is to alter my Dansha to operate like this one. It'll take putting some shut off valves on the tubing and maybe, if necessary, re-doing a lid to accept three lines. But, before I do that I'm going to hook back up the extra line for the second teat that came with the original Dansha and see if that'll work.

I generally hand milk but have noticed that my hands just aren't as strong and nimble as they used to be. I keep thinking I should spring for a Perry Milker, but I haven't quite reached that point yet.

 

[Mini Horses]

I use the Henry Milker, when I'm milking. I have had very good results and the does are generally fine with it all. Now, this does keep constant pressure but has a gauge and it's easy to fluctuate. As the bottle fills, the pressure does go down some. One doe has little left and I rarely milk that couple squirts out. Others are FF this year and not sure when/how that will work.
The first milker was for one teat, then I bought a set for both at one time, not used yet as main milk doe was drying up & others have just freshened. There is no bottle to have under the doe, very nice. My Saanen gives so much that I need two 1/2 gallon mason jars to contain milk in order that I don't have to open any jars during milking. I have a basket on the side of my milk stand that will hold both. Plus, with this system you can get under the shorter does. A tube brush comes with the set up BUT I found a longer one at Hoegger (18") and can use at each end to get entire tube. Fast and easy, really. Then hang them to dry with jar lid on one end and teat cup on other. I had them make my lines longer than the "norm" as my full sized does were taller and I wanted to sit jars in the little stainless steel basket. No charge, just sent note as soon as order placed. Shipment very fast...like 3 days and it was here.

Generally I will just have two sets ready for use and switch the pump from one to another for 2nd doe. Like I said, Ivory fills hers nicely....most milking 2 qt size not enough, thus 1/2 gal used. Inside I pour one to fill one of the large jars, balance into a qt size. Easy and throw jars into dishwasher.

FEM the 2 teat system does have a valve in the lines to allow one side to be shut off and you actually start one side, then the other. Look on line, can buy valve as a part from HM. I always try to keep things that are more fragile...gaskets, tubes, on hand. I've even gone & bought a brake line evacuator pump from auto supply once. Worked great....same deal, just had all the other stuff already. Now keep it as an ER backup for the THREE HM pumps I have.

The ole hands just don't flex like they used to! Little arthritis in the fingers is what creates issues....and the length of a teat. Those little gals have some tiny ones.

 

[sadieml]

I tried to look-up a reference I gave to a cheap and easy hand-milker from a $1 spray bottle, and it's gone. Not only that, but searching nets me no good results. I'll keep looking, 'cause I really wanted to give that a try, but I haven't found it, yet. I've been sick (2nd flu this season-1 Nov, 1 now) and not on computer. Funny, my kids get sick, their hands attach themselves to the keyboard. Me? I just want drink and rest.

 

[babsbag]

When you pump it up it should draw the teat all the way down in the cup so that the opening is flush on the udder.

Well if that is the case I was WAY WAY WAY off in getting it all in. I will try again. And I will look for larger cups.

 

[sadieml]

I found a link to that cheap & easy pump I was looking for. Basically, it's a 35cc syringe, 1/4 inch tubing (like for an aquarium), and a spray bottle. Super easy, super cheap, may or may not work, depends on the doe, I guess. Some are easier to milk than others. Personally, even though I was a lactation consultant for new moms, I was never able to supply bottles for my babies. Fortunately, I was a full-time Mommy and didn't have to rely on formula, because I tried about half a dozen different pumps (hand, battery & electric) and no-go. Never figured out why, I had gallons of milk, enough for triplets. Anyway, that's just to say you never can be too sure, but this pump is certainly cheap and easy enough to try, even for someone as poor as I am. Here's a link at e-how, let us know how it works!