[tizaala]

http://youtu.be/SMDpUBuSSlQ
 
http://youtu.be/vP1c6zlfVn0

Have a look at this , and some of the other ideas ,
basically all you need is an interceptor bottle ,some tubing and a vacuum pump to make a small machine , you don't really need the pulser , that's just a refinement , once the flow has started  the vacuum does the job . It's just a case of lowering the pressure in the interceptor bottle. Even a washing machine pump might work.

[omnipeasant]

I haven't read everybodies posts yet so please forgive meif I am repeating.

My sister's husband had Ehler's Danlos syndrome, so I have some unfdersatnding, but I also understand that you don't want to give up milking. I don't think you have to do that. I have never been sble to comfortably hand milk goats or cows but I have just decided to keep goats again and I am planning to use a machine.

  Keep positive and do some research on the kind of nachine you would like, then work out how you are going to get one. I have faith in you.

[countrywoman]

I completely understand the reluctance to give up hand milking, there is something calm, quiet and satisfying about the rhythm and the communion with the goat.  I had to accept that I couldn't continue hand milking after trying to cope with 2 in full milk after kidding.  I tried the Henry Milker (find it on Google) which worked okay on the easy-peasy goat who just lets the milk down and eats her food but wasn't a success with the tetchy one.  She needed to be massaged throughout the process and needed a lot of stripping out at the end but she does have thin-skinned, long, sensitive udders whereas the other's are compact and hardy.  And this is not a cheap option - Henry Milker costs about £125 from America which is a lot for a kilner jar, tube, catheter syringe and £30 vacuum pump which comes from Eastbourne in the first place!
 
When that didn't work, I bought a new machine from Goat Nutrition after searching ebay etc with no luck.  My husband was so hooked on goat milk and goat cheese he decided the nearly £1000 was worth it although I shudder to think what that makes the milk cost per pint...
 
The girls got used to the noise sooner than I did - I still miss the quiet joy of hand milking, but not the pain!  My easy girl is milked out in a couple of minutes, the difficult one still needs the last cup full hand milked but that is no problem.
 
One point I hadn't taken into consideration when I bought the machine was that lifting the churn (which is huge for 2 goats even though I bought the single-goat milker) and emptying it requires some effort (I have auto-immune disease causing joint/muscle/tendon problems) and I have had to get myself organised with props to assist because I usually milk alone.  If possible try to find someone with a machine so you can watch/practice before you buy would be my advice.  Now that I'm used to it, it makes continuing milking possible which I know would not have been the case without it.
 
Good luck, I hope you can find the best solution to your dilemma.

[SallyintNorth]

I don't know if this is worth posting or not - but here goes.

I do see a lot of people, milking goats and cattle, feeling obliged to take all the milk and then use it.  That is a lot of work and a lot of strain on sore hands and joints.  It is also a massive commitment and tie.

I do it the other way about.  I take the milk I want for the house (or pet lambs or whatever else may need some - but not other calves, read on) and then I let the calves take the remainder.  When her own calf and its foster-sibling are weaned, the cow gets another pair, when they are weaned, she gets a third pair.  Then she rests before she has her next calf.  If I don't need any milk one day, I simply let the calves straight on her.  If I want to be away for a day or two, even a week, she just gets left out with the calves.

Granted, you need a very maternal cow or goat to keep fostering like this, and I don't know if you get goats that will do it.  Jerseys are often used as foster mothers because of their propensity to love any calf and feed it - once it smells of her milk (takes between 7 and 12 days usually, during which time the calf suckles after I milk and while the cow is still tied up) Hillie thinks it's hers and loves it.

I started this right from her very first calf - she calved, I milked her straight away; the very next day we got a foster calf to run with her own calf.  So she's never known it any different.

Here she is with her current pair (2nd pair of 2nd lactation):

[Carl f k]

Saw a homemade miller on Internet using a water squirting bottle like the ones y spray kichen cleaner from.. Would one of those still hurt to use with poorly hands??

[Lesley Silvester]

Sally, what a lovely picture.  She's a beautiful cow.
 
I have heard of goats feeding kids are not their own but I don't think it happens often.  At the moment my girl gives us enough milk to keep our household and that of the friend who helps milk going but the yield is decreasing as the weather gets cooler.  I plan to alternate between her and my youngster when she is old enough to kid, which will give us a bit more than we need in the summer but enough in the winter.  I don't have space to bring other kids in to take the extra.
 
Bodies are such a nuisance when they start wearing out, especially as they seem to do it before we're finished with them.   

[Bionic]

Bodies are such a nuisance when they start wearing out, especially as they seem to do it before we're finished with them.   

Oh how I agree and mine seems to be wearing out so suddenly.  I keep hoping that its just a blip and all will be well again but if I am realisitic I fear that I am stuck with it 
Sally

[Mel Rice]

Two friends of mine only started his smallholdig at the age of 84 and 67 so 
(But they are a little mad)

[feldar]

Sally i adore Jerseys! what a cracking picture  one day i hope to own one. OH bangs on about beef cattle but i want that face to greet me in the morning with those wonderful eyes

[SallyintNorth]

Sally i adore Jerseys! what a cracking picture  one day i hope to own one. OH bangs on about beef cattle but i want that face to greet me in the morning with those wonderful eyes

We're commercial beef farmers but I have to tell you, BH thinks the world of Hillie and her first-born (who will calve herself in a few months.)  Originally he said, "Two's plenty", hence said first-born is called Plenty, but now he just shrugs when I ask him when I've to stop breeding Jerseys.  They do a great job here, rearing additional calves without having to have the footprint of another cow on the land.  They do a better job than milk powder and bucket, and with less health risks to a young calf.  If we have a suckler cow struggling with her own calf, we've a foster mum ready willing and able to step in.  And of course, they're great with children, so all the grandnephews and -neices, and cousins' offspring, are able to get to know livestock safely through my Jerseys, geeps and pigs 

[lachlanandmarcus]

Sally i adore Jerseys! what a cracking picture  one day i hope to own one. OH bangs on about beef cattle but i want that face to greet me in the morning with those wonderful eyes

Tell him Jerseys can also make very good beef - the supermarkets just dont like the yellow fat but thats their loss!

[clydesdaleclopper]

Countrywoman I would love a machine but there is no way I could afford it.


Sally - we do actually use all of the milk - she is only milked once a day and I have 2 small boys so they drink a lot of milk.


I have tried one of the manual ones which you pump with your hand (many thanks to Skirza) but that just cases problems with different joints.


Oh to have a body that worked without any hassle. I suppose at least as I get older and start to stiffen up it might help a little bit.


At what age do you think a child could milk? My eldest has just turned 5 so I expect he is far too young but he wants to try and if he was doing it I'd be there too getting my cuddles even if I didn't get any child free time.

[jinglejoys]

I have a machine but only have one goat milking at the moment and she's only giving 4pnts so it hardley seems worth the effort (Why on earth don't they make smaller containers like in the States!?) The Jars with all the tubes didn't work especially with a wriggly goat so I got the udderly ez and that's great.No tubes to get caught up in and it just goes straight in the jar so when its full I quickly unscrew it,pour it into a covered jug and go back to milking.It only takes a few squeezes to start the milk flowing and then you relax,watch it flow and squeeze again a couple of times when necessary.

[Carl f k]

Would this b any good

[jaykay]

Where does the milk go?