
Hand milking vs. machine milking

Whoever suggested that
Abigail wouldn't be as able to hold back her milk if I handmilked rather
than using the machine was right. I wasn't able to test the hypothesis
until I got my milking technique down, though.
But
Friday morning, after Abigail stopped letting down milk for the machine
to suck up, I decided to just try handmilking a few squirts to see how
much I'd get. The result? A full pint for the morning, 50% more than I'd
gotten the day before.
Actually, I probably
could have stripped out a little more milk, but I figured if Lamb Chop
was used to a huge breakfast, I shouldn't take it all away immediately.
Plus, Abigail wiggled and grumbled a lot more when I began squeezing her
teats compared to when I simply let the machine gently suck out her
production. I figure everyone will be a little more used to the new
routine tomorrow, and hopefully I'll get yet more milk.
"But what about your
problematic wrists?" you may be asking. Apparently, milking half of one
goat (after the machine does the other half) is nothing compared to the
weed-grasping I've been doing lately. I didn't feel a single twinge, so
am quite comfortable squeezing again tomorrow. Such a pleasant surprise
to be able to handmilk our goat and to enjoy extra milk for our nightly
hot cocoa!
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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