We've been milking our smaller herd for nearly a month now. We're still farming and still milking cows, so the change may not seem that significant. But many small things make the difference seem quite big!
I now am back at my house before the kids get off the bus. Before the sale, they got off at the farm, got all comfortable at Grandma's house, and it took nothing less than a child-sized shoehorn and minor threats of never seeing a television in the "ON" position ever again(!!) to get them back out! In the barn, it is only about half an hour gained; but counting time gained in the after-barn-life, it's actually more like an hour! More time to get homework done, prepare a decent dinner, and not march my children through their nighttime routines like enlisted soldiers at basic training.
The milking flow is the next thing that topically wouldn't appear to be a big deal; but feels really different. I'm sure it wouldn't be nearly as significant if we milked in a parlor. The cows would still go in, get milked and go out, it would simply take less time. Obviously, it takes less time in our tie stall also. But at our farm, we bring the milkers to the cows, not the other way around.
There are a few different ways I know to milk cows in a tie stall. We usually have two people on hand to milk cows. One way to get things done is to each take three milkers (we have six) and milk all of the cows on whichever side you are on. Since the prep and post-milking supplies are kept on a cart in the middle of the barn, it is best to try to keep the sides paced about the same so the supplies are within easy access for both people. It's not always possible; but there's option one.
The other method, and how we usually do it, is to work together and milk both sides of the barn simultaneously. Start with the first three cows on either side, one person applies pre-dip, then each takes a cow and cleans her up and checks her milk. Then start putting milkers on and as the first set are finishing up, you start getting the next group of cows ready. The process feels like a waterfall: your actions tumble after the actions of the person you are milking with and you flow down the length of the barn until all of the cows are milked.
Regardless of which option sounds the most efficient to you, try subtracting 25 cows from one side of a barn that usually holds 64 and see how you flow!
Everything has changed. Since one side is nearly empty, one person would really have an easy gig if you choose the each-take-a-side option! Instead of criss-crossing from cow-to-cow across the barn; you are milking the length of it the first half, back to criss-cross for about 10 minutes in the beginning of the second half, back to the long stretch for a bit, and finish with a flashback of the criss-cross for the last eight cows.
It takes about an hour to milk them all now (it was about an hour-and-a-half before). You are getting into it, and then you are done!
So milking is a little wacky right now. What happens when life gets wacky? You develop ways to deal with it. Instead of taking one towel to clean one cow, you might stuff three in your pocket and skip the extended trip to the cart to get more.
If you are post-dipping a cow after she has been milked, you might hang on to the dip instead of immediately returning it to the cart, and go to the next cow, take her milker off and dip her and THEN return the dip to the cart. This one is a bit of a trick for me. I am less than graceful with the whole milking contraption, and often get tangled up in hooks and hoses. But if you can manage to avoid tripping over all the stuff you are carrying or getting a hook wrapped around your leg or stuck in the hole in your jeans, this little step streamlines the process a bit... at least until some genius comes along and figures out a wireless milking process! Oh wait, to some extent they have... I believe it is called a "parlor".
Wacky milking; but in the end, it challenges your brain to find ways to do it better. THAT is why, no matter what you are facing, change is good!
We only had 5 milkers and, as the less experienced one, I only had to run 2 while my Dad ran 3. There was a bit of standing around and I would get in the habit of chatting with the hired man until Dad would yell at me that some cow had been done 5 minutes ago... It's a nice pace with 3.
ReplyDeleteSteve Duntley