Susie and Brett milking in the parlor
During the weekends, in addition to Brett and Susie, Katie, Rob Laibe, and Jake Flagg also milk the cows.
Jake taking a siesta before the 2 p.m. milking
Katie and Laibe milking
With all these different people milking, Double D's needed a written milking protocol so that every cow gets milked the same way, every time, every day. Here is how we milk our cows at Double D Dairy:
Step 1) Keep the cows calm and eating! A happy cow is a productive cow. Being mean to our cows is like shooting ourselves in the foot. Milking is a relaxing time for our cows and they enjoy coming into the parlor and getting treated like queens.
#76 smelling her stall before she decides to walk in
Step 2) Dip the cow's teats with pre-dip solution. The pre-dip we use has a low level of hydrogen peroxide in it. The dip must remain on the teat for 30 seconds for it to work. This kills the bacteria that are on the cow's teat and keeps the milk coming out as clean as possible.
Rick dipping a cow's teats and letting the dip set
Step 3) After waiting 30 seconds, we wipe the teats off with a clean disposable paper towel until the teat is completely clean and dry. We then wait another 90 seconds before attaching the milking unit. This extra time allows the cow to completely let her milk down into her teats.
A milker unit attached to a cow. The bottom hose is the milk hose. The top hose is the pulsation hose. This is responsible for rhythmically shutting the vacuum off to the teat to give the teat a chance to fill with milk again.
Dorkie being milked. Dorkie gives 90 pounds, or about 10 gallons, of milk a day!
Milk going from the hose to the glass pipeline above. The glass pipeline then goes to the milk house and to the milk tank where it is immediately cooled to 37 degrees Fahrenheit.
Happy cows= a full milk tank!
Step 4) When the cow is done milking, we carefully take the milker unit off and put the unit on the next cow. We then post-dip the cow's teats. This dip contains iodine, which keeps bacteria from getting through the cow's teat into her udder.
Photo courtesy of GEA Farm Technologies
Once the cow is dipped, she is free to go outside and do as she pleases until it is time to milk again. A cow's daily activities include...
eating silage... 
eating hay...
relaxing in the barn....
and enjoying their pasture!
with all the different people milking how do you keep track of the cows who are drugged?
ReplyDeleteThat's a great question.
DeleteWhen a cow requires treatment with a medication that has a milk withold, we are very careful to ensure everyone is aware of the treated cow. There is a calendar in the parlor that we write treatment information on, including the cow's ID, when the cow was treated, what she was treated with, and how long her milk is to be held out of the milk supply. We also paint the side of the cow with livestock spray paint. We use blue to indicate a cow has been dried off and is no longer being milked and we use red to indicate a cow's milk must be withheld from the milk tank. In addition to clearly identifying any treated cows, everyone is also trained on how to handle waste milk in order to keep it out of the food supply.
Thanks for your question!