milking a cow for the first time

Monica, of At Wits End Homestead in Victor, Montana (a bit south of Missoula, Montana) teaches Jocelyn Campbell, of http://www.jocelynsevents.com how to milk a cow for the first time.

Monica says "Closing the milk at the top and then squeeeze."  "Close, squire, close, squirt."  Otherwise the milk in the teat goes back up into the udder. 

Jocelyn then lines up to the dairy cow and manages to get milk on the first squeeze!

Monica points out how milking a cow is actually more comfortable for the cow than being milked by a calf.

Monica then shows the full speed dairy cow milking technique.



http://www.youtube.com/paulwheaton12#p/u/0/YDe4D-v731s

How very timeous!  We are thinking of getting a Jersey cow this spring and I've never milked a cow/goat/sheep/donkey etc.  Brilliant video - thanks.

Isn't it great!? I learned how to milk a goat last year. It was interesting. Once i knew it, something else was there... It's like fitness exercise, you can really gain muscles in your hand.

I think cows are usually far easier to milk than goats, mostly because of the length of the teat.  I had experience milking goats, and the first time I milked our cow I was like "holy wow, this is easy."  Even my cow's back teats, which are small for cow teats, are larger than the goats I've milked.  I've been milking twice a day for two weeks now and I get more than two gallons in twenty minutes, then it's usually another five or ten to really dry her out and get the last half gallon out.  I had strong hands to start with, but they're stronger now! 

Anonymous wrote:I think cows are usually far easier to milk than goats, mostly because of the length of the teat.  I had experience milking goats, and the first time I milked our cow I was like "holy wow, this is easy."  Even my cow's back teats, which are small for cow teats, are larger than the goats I've milked.  I've been milking twice a day for two weeks now and I get more than two gallons in twenty minutes, then it's usually another five or ten to really dry her out and get the last half gallon out.  I had strong hands to start with, but they're stronger now! 

You just never got hold of a really good goat! My goats are super easy because they've been bred for larger, longer teat size, great let down and the milk just flows into the pail. They're much easier than any cow I tried, but again, maybe I never had occasion to milk a really great cow.

Yep, goats are easier to milk than cows...standard goats, that is. Probably not if milking the Nigerian midget kind.

I remember learning to milk, Dad milked in the morning, and I milked in the evening.
One of the more disappointing times in my life was about 5 years back, I had bought a jersey heifer and raised her from just weened calf to having her first calf, the calf was three days old, the day I was to start miking I went out to the barn and Ruby was laying down, and did not even look towards me to greet me, I sent over to her and she was dead. I had to buy some milk replacer and bottle feed her for the next three days, where I then found a very nice yong lady who wanted to bottle feed a calf for a 4h project.

I thought about keeping the calf (cupie as she was born on valentines day) but I just did not have it in me at that time to start all over again.
Rubie would have been such a wonderful milk cow, she loved me and I her.

Cupie was a Scottish Highlander Jersey cross.

i know this is an older thread but oh well... lol

i have dairy goats and workin on gettin a cow or two. but basically milkin is the same all around.

milk in a spot thats not the regular animal area

try to milk in a timely fashion so you can get it cold fast as possible (for taste and sanitary reasons)

make sure your bucket is super duper clean, as with all containers milk will come in contact with.

you may want to invest in a strip cup. its basically a cup with a very fine mesh top. you milk the first 3-5 squirts of each teat into this, checking each time. this way if the milk is pink (blood in the milk) or chunks (mastitis, etc) or other issues then they will pop up here first usually.
http://www.caprinesupply.com/products/milking/daily-milking-products/strip-cup.html

if you are worried about keeping up on mastitis you may want to invest in something like these mastitis tests http://www.caprinesupply.com/products/milking/daily-milking-products/california-mastitis-test-cmt.html

for filtering the milk you will need a filter bowl and filters. such as these links..
http://www.caprinesupply.com/products/milking/stainless-steel-4-quart-strainer.html
http://hoeggerfarmyard.com/xcart/Milky-Strainer.html

here is a video of filtering milk. my video, lol i'm gettin alot more milk now from my goats (:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtHyj6sBLRQ

and my youtube channel (: i have several videos of milking the goats. as well as videos of all my other critters.
http://www.youtube.com/user/girlwalkswithgoats/videos?flow=grid&view=0

soon have videos up for making cheese (you probably wont even have to go to the store for anything to make it!) and butter (: