MILKING FOR PROFIT

Manawatu Times, Volume LV, Issue 7200, 24 April 1930, Page 9

MILKING FOR PROFIT

Value of Kindness Good milkers aro kora and not made. How true this is can readily be seen if one spends a short time in watching milkers at their work and noting the behaviour and milk flow of the cows. The ordinary milker who milks a cow as part of his duties, and is anxious to get the job done, seldom takes sufficient account of .the animal and her likes and dislikes. Nor does such a one realise how closely the secretipn of milk is bound up with the nervous system of tho cow. The cow is first of all a mother, and must go through the trying and difficult period of gestation before milk .is secreted. The birth of tho calf acts, as it were, as a release of the milk manufacturing organs of the dam and enables them to perform their natural functions. Cows naturally give milk to nourish their offspring, and this great fact of maternity .should always be kept in mind by the dairyman. By judicious feeding an intelligent feeding man has been able greatly to increase the amount of milk secreted and to take advantage of that nervous condition which is largely at the back of the cow’s ability to produce. It remains for the milker to see that in the process of securing tho milk secreted by 1 the cow, the efforts of the feeder and breeder ar not wasted. It does not follow, if the calf rams his muzzle into the udder of his mother to get enough milk for a meal, that milk is secreted in proportion to the pounding or kicking the milker is able to give the cow at each milking. Far from it; although some milkers liavo yet to appreciate this fact. If this wore the case it would be a simple mat* ter to rig up a device, that would be a constant reminder to tho cow that her nervous system and milk plant were expected to keep on working as long as the milked cared to keep on pulling teats. But this is not the case, as is evidenced by the fact that cows frequently “hold up” their mi'lk when excited or ill-treated. Kicking and expostulation only add to tho delay, and mere argument is vain. Long experience has shown careful milkers that kindness, quietness and a willingness to humour the cow arc the best remedies that can be applied. Some cows never milk satisfactorily for the reason that they havo never been properly accustomed to the chango from the calf to the human being, and if it happens that the calf has been taken away at tho time of the iirst freshening, the unsatisfactory behaviour of the cow may bo due to too much haste or fuss when first milking her as a heifer. Care should be taken not to startle or scare her, and when first milked she should not fear manipulation of her udder or teats. There is an enormous difference in milkers, and some persons leave a considerable quantity of both fat and milk in tho udder., Investigations have been conducted winch show that some milkers leave as much as 9d. worth of fat in the udder at each milking. In another herd it was found that 16.9 per cent, of the fat was lost‘by failure to milk out thoroughly. Some milkers ; may bo able to- get 20 piir cent more milk than others, who may .dry the cow up within a few months. A chango of milkers or a change of surroundings may easily affect the milk flow,* and evon the presence of strangers or a dog about the shed at milking time has been known to excite tho ■ animals enough to cause them to hold up their milk.

As noted above, care should be taken to get all the strippings. •-•Tho . first drawn milk is very poor in'‘fat, often containing as little as 1 per cent, of fat, while the last drawn may show as much as 10 per cent, or more. ■ The Whole hand should be used in milking, eloping first the part of the hand next to the udder, then the milk is forced past the sphincter muscle by closing the remainder of the hand. The teat should be pressed well against the cushion of the thumb rather than against the hollow of the band. If a cow has very short teats it may be necessary to use only the thumb and the first two fingers until there is room for mtore, and in stripping one should press well up iDto the udder in order to draw all the milk out of the milk cistern.

Too much pressure or pulling nlay injure the udder, and this can easily shorten the cow’s period of usefulness. The teats should be dry during milking; wetting them with the first drawn milk is an. abomination to the cause of clean milk. This first drawn milk may not be as pure as that in the udder proper because of bacteria which may work into the .teats while the cow is lying down, but it causes the teats to become sore in cold weather and is much better to the cat. A little vaseline rubbed on the hands is sanitary and good for tho teats as well.