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This was Beulah Petunia when I first met her.
She was living with a few other cows in Ohio.
If you missed it, you can read all about it in A Gift in Ohio.
Here she is contemplating whether she really wants to move to West Virginia with a nincompoop.
There was an adorable baby there. They said she was a Jersey, but I think she looked like a Brown Swiss. But what do I know.
She was cute, either way. They wanted a bunch o’ money for her, and BP was a bargain and a twofer. (They baby’s mother was another cow that they had, not BP.)
This was how they were milking BP, by the way.
Portable milking machine. They demonstrated milking BP. They had her milked out in two minutes flat. It was amazing. Anyone out there ever used one of these things? I wonder about them now and then, though they are very expensive (so not really an option right this minute). I wonder if I would miss hand milking if I had one of those things. I like milking. Eventually, I’ll have to go to twice a day milking if Glory Bee stops nursing at some point, though, and that’s time-consuming, so sometimes I ponder the future possibility of a milking machine to help out.
The reason I posted these pictures, though, really, was to show off this big boy for those of you who may have missed this post and have wondered about Glory Bee’s daddy:
Say hello to Papa! This Brown Swiss bull was BP’s boyfriend in Ohio. They had been living together for several months when we took her. He was very friendly and seemed quite tame. I’m not big on going around bulls, but we were all walking around there with him and he was very gentlemanly. Looking back on these pictures makes me wonder where Glory Bee got her coloring because she doesn’t look much like mommy OR daddy to me.
Wish I’d gotten a better photo of him. The light was all wrong the way I took them. He was a gorgeous animal.
Posted by Suzanne McMinn on November 19, 2010
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And yes, I’ve used one of those milking machines. Back in much younger days in Wisconsin, I dated a farmer and often helped with milking and chores. Got to milk in a barn with the cool automatic milk lines too that take the milk directly from the udder cups through the pneumatic lines to the bulk tank. But those kinds of dairy farmers with large herds need all the help they can get! As I’d imagine you’d like as well!!!
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One advantage to the milker is that, if need be, someone else can milk MinnieCow, although that rarely happens. Our milk hose is clear so we can see when no more milk is coming. I feel each quarter to be sure everything feels OK.
Clean up is quick and easy. We have a tiny hot water heater in the barn so that helps not having to take the pail and hose over to the house, but we did not always have it, and we got along fine that way too.
A milker is consistant,never in a hurry or a bad mood,and protects the milk from dirt or spilling. In our 30 yrs of milking we have not seen teat or udder damage from the milker. Our oldest cow lived to be 18 years old and still had a nice udder.The cows never seemed to be bothered by the sound or feel of the milker.
We got our first milker when we had more than one cow to milk and we were both teaching school.It did speed things up.Now we just have MinnieCow but I still use my milker.I think as I get older, hand milking might get harder so I am glad that I have this option.
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Go Raiders!! Have fun!
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The heifer above looks to be way more Brown Swiss than Jersey. The broad head, light hair in the ears, the larger body, white band around the muzzle, she looks a lot like the bull. Baby Brown Swiss are born almost white in color most of the time, they often have a darker undercoat that sheds out into a tone of their adult color. Brown Swiss can range from the dark chocolate above to a grey, almost white color, with some having the coppery cast to their coat. They are not suppose to have any white markings other than the muzzle band, ear hair or small spots on the underside of the belly. They are never to have any white hair in their tail or white spots, if they do their papers are stamped OCS (off color spot). It is an undesirable trait. My theory is that back in the day there was some Jersey blood introduced in the Brown Swiss breed to either dairy them up in looks or to kick up milk production. That’s where the undesirable white coloring slipped in. Because other than the white spots and the distinctive faun colored calves the Jersey and Brown Swiss breeds share a lot of coloring types. Brown Swiss were originally a dual purpose breed, one you could milk or butcher for meat. The breed was then bred into a dairy type. They are still a large boned, sturdy breed of cattle. Oh and opinionated too.
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It isn’t hard, I take about 2 gallons of water to the barn in the bucket I am bringing the milk back to the house in. When I clean the machine I have 2 pans (large enough to dip the claw cow attachments into without kinking the lines). One is for the bleach water (about 6 tbls or caps from the bleach bottle) dip the claw into the cold water first for just long enough to get the water to slosh because that way the claw will be clear and not get over cloudy from the constant hot water. Then dip into the hot water for a few sloshes. That cleans the milk out of it. Now put it back into the cold water for a few sloshes. That is done, take the lid off the milk bucket and pour out the dirty water, clean the lid by sloshing it into the hot then the cold water pans. Pour our the hot water you are done with it. Pour the leftover cold water into the bucket and slosh it around VERY GOOD. Pour out the water and you are finished. Except for the deep cleaning you have to do on the claw, bucket, and hoses once a week. That is another lesson. You see the milking with a machine is WONDERFUL, but do you have time for the constant cleaning and if you decide you do TAKE CARE OF YOU. You still need electricity and I know that in WV it freezes just like Oregon. The heat lamp is a great savings when you don’t find a frozen machine to have to worry with. One more thing, you will have to change the oil in the Vacuum Pump every 3 months. It isn’t hard, however the oil is $14.00 per gallon from Mobil, It is called Mobil Vacuum Pump Oil. If you buy it from a milking supply house or repair shop or Grainger it is upwards to 14.00 per quart. I bought the first I bought from DeLaval and it was about $64.00 for 2 1/2 gallons. Also the parts for the machine, just the spare parts for the claw (the kit from DeLaval) was over $125.00. I hope this will help you decide what you want to do.