[plumseverywhere]

You will love it!! Used it again yesterday, this time I made sure there was extra gravity (ie the jar was much, much lower than the udder) it was even faster.  Milking was over really quickly and no pain in the wrist 

[Lesley Silvester]

You're right. I tried buzzing it near her while I was milking and she was fine so I put the cups on (the large ones because I still haven't managed to be able to swap them) and she didn't seem to mind. TBH that goat wouldn't notice if her tail was on fire once she's got her nose in a bucket of food. It's not flowing very fast though and I can't get the jar any lower than it is already so I haven't managed to get much. I think it might be better with the smaller cups. Just waiting for a reply email from the senders re how to change them.


Pom's yield has halved now and I think she's feeding the babies more.

[fiestyredhead331]

I split the kids and mums last night so its been a noisy night 

MGoM....if your milker is like mine you have 2 syringes one on each end of the tube? Can you not just pull them out and push in the smaller ones?

[Lesley Silvester]

The small syringes come complete with their own tubes and it looks as if I should simply be able to pull the tube off the top of the jar and replace it but it won't come off.


I'm not getting much out of her despite her udder being rock hard. I hope the smaller cups will work better.

[fiestyredhead331]

sorry MGoM maybe I'm not understanding you but can't you just swap the syringes round keeping the same tube?

they are really hard to take off at the jar the first couple of times but the tubing stretches in hot water

[Lesley Silvester]

Same problem, FRH. They are fitted so tightly that I can't get them off. Bearing in mind that my hands don't work too well, I asked my OH to do it and he can't either. I did wonder about hot water but wanted to wait until I'd heard back from the seller in case that would damage the seal on the jar lid.

[fiestyredhead331]

it shouldn't, my OH had to get ours off, the seal on the lid is dental cement so is pretty tough stuff. I rinse all my tubes and lids in boiling water after sterilising so won't do any harm

[Lesley Silvester]

Thanks. I'll try that.


Does the motor for yours run continuously? I know you stop holding the button down while the milk is flowing but mine sometimes takes a while before it will start again and I'm pressing the button and releasing several times. I'm not sure if that's a fault with the machine or my goat.


I think the kids are now feeding solely off Pom as they can't get any from Cloud. Her udder is rock hard, quite warm but not hot and it's impossible to get more than a small amount of milk from her even with the machine. She is a first-time milker.

[waterbuffalofarmer]

If she rfuses to let down give her a small shot of oxytocin, it works wonders.

[fiestyredhead331]

I find my pump stops or sounds deeper when the pressure is getting too much. The hand vacuum pump has a pressure gauge on it which was really useful but the battery pumps don't, might ask OH if we can put one on?
I'm finding Willow, also a first time milker giving more each day as she gets used to it all, took me weeks to even persuade her to get in the milking stand but now the kids are off her at night she's glad to offload some I think

[Lesley Silvester]

WBF, what is oxytocin and where do I get it? She starts to let down and I get up to a quarter of a pint and then it all stops.


FRH, that might be the problem. I think the pressure does build up. How long do you hold the button down?

[fiestyredhead331]

just until I get a decent flow of milk, when it slows down I press the button again. If she starts to look too red and could be sore I take them off, I don't want to strip her out anyway as she is still feeding kids.
Daisy on the other hand has the big 60ml cups and once she gets empty you lose the pressure anyway as her teats shrink back

[Lesley Silvester]

I'm using the big teat cups atm and that might be the problem. I think some udder is getting sucked in with the teat and that might be uncomfortable. I'll sort the small ones tomorrow.

[waterbuffalofarmer]

All good vets sell it in bottles, so ask your local vet. When the buffaloes are troublesome in letting down we give them a shot of oxy and it usually works.

[Dogwalker]

Talk to the vet if she thinks oxytocin would help she can give you just a syringe full.  It's a hormone usually given after kidding to help milk let down in any mammal.

If Cloud's udder is already very full and tight I'd be careful of giving something that will encourage more milk until you're sure you can draw it off.
I had oxytocin for an angora with mastitis last year it didn't help and maybe made it worse.