It's obviously really hard to think of everything all at once, and since I've been doing the milking for a while, there are things I don't think to mention, so I really appreciate people coming up with their own questions and curiosity. I will attempt to address some things now that hadn't occured to me before! How much does the can hold? As I mentioned before, we run two cans at a time, and they are actually different sizes. One holds about 4 gallons and the other about 5. Either one is usually sufficient, but sometimes we have to pay attention. When I said Kristin could overflow the can by herself, I was talking about the big one, so we have to make sure we are using that one for her. She has settled down a bit now, but could probably still overfill the small one. The biggest culprit is the fact that the milk is so foamy at this point, and that takes up more room. So if the smaller can is full and the foam is starting to creep up the vacuum hose, it doesn't really have 4 gallons of milk in it, probably more like 3 1/2. How long does it take to milk a cow? Just milking one cow, around 5 minutes. The whole dip, clean, strip process is supposed to take 90 seconds for the best milk letdown, and once you have the claw on, it works pretty quickly. Because we don't really have to stand there while the actual milking is happening, it's generally a leapfrogging kind of thing, where you prep one cow and get her hooked up, then while she is milking you get the next one on. By that time the first one is done, dip the third, empty the can, prep and hook up, go back to the second to unhook, dip fourth, empty can, repeat until all cows are milked. How many cows do you milk? Right now we are milking 14 cows in the morning and 6 at night. The reason for the number difference is that some only get milked once per day, either because they are nearing the end of their lactation or because their calves are still nursing during the day. How long does the whole process take? The morning milking takes around 4 hours, the evening significantly less. In the morning we are milking a lot more cows, so the actual milking takes quite a bit longer. In addition, the barn gets completely cleaned out and redressed after the morning milking, which we only do once a day. The evening milking comes at the end of the day; just a few cows, pretty relaxed atmosphere, usually takes 2 hours, or even less if you have a two person team. (Ross and I have it down to a science and can do afternoon milking in about an hour and fifteen minutes.) What happens if something breaks or the electricity goes out? We do have a bunch of spare parts, an extra can/claw, and plenty of can-do attitude. Dont forget, TWCF apprentices Just Make It WorkThere are always help and tools available if something goes wrong, but more importantly we pay attention to our equipment while we're using it. Hose looks like it's getting worn out? Replace it now before something drastic happens. Have you noticed a valve getting a little sticky? Bring it up before it's a problem. Preventative maintenance is the most effective way of solving a problem.
Of course, we have no control over some things. The power did go out when we had that storm a couple of weeks ago. We actually have a generator for the barn that we can run off of the tractor in emergencies, so it wasn't even an issue for milking. We are prepared! And yes, we all know how to milk by hand, so if it comes down to it, we can have a good old milking party. The cows must be milked. It would be extremely detrimental to their health to leave them unmilked, and we would do everything in our power to make sure that didn't happen. Farmers are pretty much on call all the time. If something happened in the middle of the night, I would be ringing both of Andrew's phones and banging on bedroom doors to find the help I needed, and I would get it. It's been a little cooler for us lately, but poor little Jan had a rough first day outside. When Ross went to bring the cows in for afternoon milking, he found Jan sitting up in the corner of the pasture unable to get up. Apparently he had been sitting there in the sun all day, not nursing or anything, and got pretty bad heat stroke.
I was in the cheese room while all this was happening, so I heard most of what happened from Ross and Andrew. It really helps to have a curiosity about things, because I would have missed several learning opportunities by now if I hadn't said, "Hey, what's everyone fussing about? I wanna know." When you're learning on the job or any sort of environment like this, it pays to ask as many questions as you can. And life in general, really. The more you know. After Andrew went up and carried the calf down, he found his temperature was 106. A normal temperature for a cow is 101, and Andrew said brain damage occurs at 108, so it was really important to cool him off as quickly as possible. Andrew ended up running the hose over him with cold water, as well as tube feeding him some liquids to get him rehydrated. Of course, the danger then becomes cooling him too quickly and sending his system into shock, but apart from some shivering and dazedness, he seemed to recover fairly well. Once his temperature was back down, he went in to his mama, and they will rest inside together tonight. He was back on his feet and looking pretty good when I checked in on him about an hour later, so hopefully he bounces right back. Young'uns are pretty resilient, right? So, we have all of our sparkling clean equipment, all the cows have filed into the barn and taken their proper places and are happily munching away at their food. We bring our cart down to the end of the line, and we are ready to begin. The steps of actually milking are these: Prep Dip- This is the iodine dip I talked about before. It is simply a quick dip for each teat, to begin to cleanse the area and it also starts the process of the cow "letting down" her milk. (Letting down is a biological process where the milk is released from the milk ducts.) Wash- We use our warm, soapy towels to thoroughly clean any dirt or foreign objects from the teats. Strip- Simply stripping the first few squirts of milk from each teat. This dislodges the waxy plug that forms after milking to seal up the milk channel, and also discards any bacteria that might be lingering in said channel. The yucky-looking picture above is of the strip cup revealing mastitic mucous from one of the cows, which is another thing stripping accomplishes. Milk- The reason for it all, and the most simple part of the process. The claw attaches to the udder by suction, and by the same suction milks her out. You simply need to keep an eye on it and take it off when she's done. Post Dip- Another dip with the clean dipper to stave off the bacteria until the milk channel can close up. It seems like a complicated process at first, but once you do it a few times you find the rythm and it feels much more natural. Below you can see the claw milking away, and an example of what it looks like when you have only three working quarters (looking at you, Joy.) The whole setup of the pump is fairly simple, as shown in this picture. You can see the can, which we know has two hoses attached. One goes up and connects to that white vacuum line by a spigot, and the other to the claw. The rubber gasket inside the lid allows a seal to be created, and the vacuum pump creates suction inside the can. This suction extends through to the claw, and the fancy regulator thing inside pulses, mimicking the pulse of suction created by a nursing calf. The milk then flows out, and follows the suction back to the can. (Yes, if the can gets too full the milk will start going up the vacuum line. No, it's not fun and everything has to be taken apart and cleaned immediately.) It's really important not to overmilk them, as this can cause issues like bruising and mastitis. Once you have completed the milking ritual, after pretty much each cow, the heavy milk can gets lugged back to the milk room. It is sometimes possible to fit two cows into one can, but you have to be really careful with that because of the whole overflowing-milk-into-the-vacuum-line thing. Also, a really full can is super heavy. (I must note that it's also possible for one outstanding cow to overflow the can by herself, as Kristin did when she first had her calf. She produces a lot of milk.)
The milk then gets poured through the filter into the bulk tank, where it quickly cools down. Or sometimes right into a jar, and drunk for breakfast because you were too lazy to get up early and fix yourself something to eat. Meet Jan (pronunciation: "yon") He was born this morning during milking and is doing great! Apologies for not warning everyone that I wouldn't be posting for a bit. I had a few days off and while getting ready for them time kind of got away from me. But I have returned, slightly more sunburnt and a good deal more rested. We will now resume our regularly scheduled programme.
(How is it possible to be even more sunburnt, you ask? Well, it turns out going to the beach on a sunny day exposes you even more than farming.) The kittens are slowly getting braver about the enormous cows When you're just trying to check the fence, but a flock of piglets follows you around the whole time. You know the feeling? The hay barn addition is starting to look building-shaped! "Please Farmer Lincoln
Inflate The Tires Thanks You Cyan" One of the projects we worked on this morning was setting up a fence so that the layer chicks can go outside. Unfortunately, that didn't go very well, as we were having trouble getting the fence to hold a charge. It's really important for the fence to be set up properly, not just to keep them in, but to keep predators out. Eventually, it was lunchtime, so we decided to teak a break and come back to it.
After lunch we split up to do chores and work on the fence, but while I was collecting eggs a storm blew in. It was quick and fierce and beautiful. A lightning storm isn't the best time to be working on electrical projects, so that was abandoned for tomorrow. I was nervous enough just making my way back with the eggs, which involves crossing a couple of fences. No worries though, I made it back fine. Everyone ended up straggling back to the barn and we watched the last of the rain fall and the sun come back. We recently switched yoghurt making to Sunday, so that's what I did today. People bought yoghurt like crazy last week, so Benjamin told me to make a lot. So I did. 194 jars I made. When he got back from the market, Benjamin informed me that this was a new record. (The incubator really only holds 192 jars properly, so I guess there's a reason for that. My reckless abandon for physical limitations allows me to achieve so much!)
It's going to be another hot week, so come and get your cool, refreshing yoghurt! I was going up to shut the gate in the pasture after milking the other day, when I noticed a trail of blood. I was greeted by quite an unhappy sight when I discovered the source of the trail. Penelope apparently got in a tussle, and lost badly. Her left horn was already weak from a similar incident a couple weeks ago, and got fairly crushed. There are a lot of blood vessels in the horn, and it can be dangerous to the cow if they get hurt and the bleeding doesn't stop, so I brought her back into the barn for some patching up. She was obviously in pain, and it's difficult, because you can't really communicate what you're trying to do or that you're trying to help. The key is patience, with the understanding that they have no idea what's happening. Andrew is well-experienced, and we soon got her bandaged up and resting in the barn. I debated whether or not I should post about this, since it's not the most pleasant of things to see, but it did happen and it had to be dealt with, and this blog is dealing with my whole farm experience, not only the nice things.
In other news, I have now been here 3 1/2 months, which marks the halfway point in my time here. In some ways it seems like hardly any time has passed, which is strange because sometimes the days seem to last forever. Sometimes I am quite lonely, being so far from everyone I know and somewhat isolated by circumstances. However, I am extremely glad to have this opportunity, and this immersive way of learning is exactly the best way for me to absorb information. Here's to finishing out the season as well as we've started! A key part of maintaining a sanitary and efficient dairy is proper equipment and setup. Milk quality begins with healthy, properly fed and cared for cows, and it continues with a clean facility and milking environment. Everything in the milk room is cleaned rigorously after each milking. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Every milking starts here (after making sure your boots aren't covered in pig manure!), with assembling and checking all your equipment. If the milk tank was emptied and cleaned earlier that day, it gets sprayed with a disinfectant and rinsed, to make sure no bad bacteria has made its way in there. If not, we simply add the fresh milk to what's left from the previous milking. The tank gets completely emptied and scrubbed a minimum of three times per week. Our bulk tank holds 80 gallons, and the outer wall houses a cooling jacket that quickly takes the milk temperature down and holds it between 33 and 40 degrees. The quicker you cool milk after it leaves the animal, the better. The milk cans must be assembled; each has a lid with a rubber gasket, a "claw" and a hose to connect to the vacuum line. We use two cans at a time, which is as much as one person can handle by themselves with the setup we have. Next comes a bucket of warm, soapy water and clean towels for washing the udders, and another bucket for holding the used towels. Two teat dippers are filled with iodine, which disinfects the teats and ensures no bacteria enters the udder through the milk channel. They are colour-coded because you dip both before and after milking; one is used only for the pre-dip, and the other for the post-dip. A strip cup is a small cup with a screen top, into which goes the first few squirts of milk. It gives you a quick look at the milk, checking to see whether it's clean, and most importantly, it is the easiest way to check for mastitis in the udder. (Mastitic milk will have ropy or goopy strands in it that will not pass through the screen.) Lastly, we grab a couple of inflation plugs, because a few of our cows only have three working quarters instead of four (hence "quarters") and the plug is needed to maintain suction in the claw. And in the end, you're all set up with your cart looking like this: We tend to set up the cart the same every time, for the sake of efficiency. That way your hands always know where your tools are supposed to be and you can fall into a good routine.
The last part of setup is making sure the barn is in order and portioning out the grain. Give everything a once-over and make sure there are no gates or doors open that a curious cow will want to investigate. Every cow gets their portion of grain in the feed trough in front of their stanchion, and then you're ready to begin. |
AboutLydia's adventures in farming and cheesemaking ArchivesCategories |