[greenbeast]

I've dreamt of having my own milk for years and now the jersey heifer i got for christmas 2 years ago has had her first calf and i'm milking every evening. Not getting a great deal at the moment (mastitis in one quarter and getting 300-400ml total from the other three)
Lovely having your own milk in the fridge!

[macgro7]

Congratulations! Milk looks fabulous!

What did you cross her with I'd you don't mind me asking? The calf is beautiful!

[greenbeast]

Well she was meant to go away overwinter to see a Galloway bull, however one of our last pair of rose veal calves got a bit keen before his time was up, so it's actually a Jersey X Guernsey, shame it's a bull calf!

[Rosemary]

You milking by hand or machine?

[greenbeast]

Hand, i have access to a machine potentially but i'm a short distance from power and i'd need to swap the goat cluster for cow, then there's all the cleaning. So for now, i'm going with hand. My technique needs improving  but is not horrendous, starts going well but i guess she just starts to hold back.

[Steph Hen]

Amazing! Good for you 

[greenbeast]

Amazing! Good for you 

Thanks, it's great having your own milk in the fridge, we get good local, unhomogenised guernsey milk to the doorstep anyway, so we're already a bit spoiled, but i would probably drink more if the monthly bill wasn't getting a bit crazy (13pt/week!!). So milking here means i get more milk (i know it'll cost more in reality, it's all psychology!), plus i'm back to drinking raw which i haven't had for over 5 years.

[greenbeast]

You milking by hand or machine?

What are your thoughts on machine milking one cow?

[SallyintNorth]

You milking by hand or machine?

What are your thoughts on machine milking one cow?

I am of the opinion we can’t do it here, because it’s essential to be 100% rigorous in cleaning the equipment each day, and using chemicals too, and we are unlikely to be able to manage that (being a community with a team managing the milking.). But I am probably going to have the conversation with the others again, because Hillie our Jersey is producing 11-13L a day (once a day milking) and it takes a long time by hand!  .

[greenbeast]

Well it's just me here, so i have control over all aspects. The cleaning is one thing that is putting me off but someone else is saying it's only a little more than i'm already cleaning and the machine draws the liquid through itself

[SallyintNorth]

Well it's just me here, so i have control over all aspects. The cleaning is one thing that is putting me off but someone else is saying it's only a little more than i'm already cleaning and the machine draws the liquid through itself

Up until now I’ve always said I preferred the hand milking option for one milk cow.  I experienced both ways when WWOOFing, and at that time felt the time was about the same for one cow, but hand milking you can do anywhere, you’re up close and personal with your cow, you Zen out with the rhythmic swish-swoosh of the jets into the pail against the background of nature’s sounds... it’s every bit as idyllic as it sounds!  Whereas a milking machine is noisy and man-made, drowns out other sounds, needs to be near a source of power and running water, and then all the chemicals... :/. But, now Hillie is being so very productive (and her last year’s calf is gone and we didn’t get her in calf again last year, so we’re milking the lot for the summer this year), although it sounds idyllic, I’m keeping her stood in one spot for the best part of an hour every day, if we’re not early in the morning the flies bug her, if we do it too late in the evening it’s the midges... So my feelings are a bit mixed at the mo.

And if you’re on your own, it’s going to be much easier to find a relief milker to use a machine if you want a few days away....

[greenbeast]

Got hold of a bucket milker from family, refurbished the vacuum pump (ancient and seized) and got it working today.
Milked her one side at a time with a goat cluster which i'll continue to do until i can afford liners for my cow cluster