Hi,
I'm new here, so I hope I'm posting this question in the right place...
Okay, here is the story,
I have a first freshener doe that had triplets 2 weeks ago.
She was a very bad mama (rejected the 2 bucklings), so we sold 3 kids as bottle babies.
I started milking her the day the kids sold, and she gives about 6 cups a day (milking morning and night).
I have problems with my wrists, and as a result I lose circulation quickly with repetitive motion and am in pain easily, so to get milking done took about 40 minutes each time.
Because of this, my husband ordered a milking machine to make it easier and faster for me;
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200817246804
Last night was the 1st time i used it, and it was amazing! Super fast and Daisy didn't seem to mind at all, but then we saw pink milk and tiny blood clots in it!
The same was true this morning and tonight, though it wasn't as bad tonight.
I googled it a bit last night, and saw some results say that this often happens when a mom is getting in her 1st flush of real milk after the colostrum, time wise, that sounds correct, as last night she was 13 days fresh.
These results said it should clear up within 3 days, but I wanted to double check and ask what everyone thinks, is this normal?
None of my other does have done this, so it is kinda scary...
Thanks! Taryn
p.s. Yes, we are dumping the pink milk.
Replies
Hi Taryn-
I'm not familiar with the milker you purchased, and the fact that it's a vacuum that you don't control by hand makes me a little uneasy. I have a Henry Milker that I use on one of my does. I purchased it because I started out milking three does by hand, and at first it was SO hard on my hands and I wasn't sure I'd be able to keep it up. Now, I milk two of my does by hand, but one of them just responds better to the milker. Mine has a gauge that measures the pressure. The directions say not to go over 10 inHg. It also states in the directions that it's good to milk at different pressures, so I get it going at 10, but let it drop for a while, then get it to 10 again, let it drop... I also massage her udder while milking at low pressure. I finish milking by hand. It works well for me.
I've been using it to milk this doe for 4 months now (morning only), and never had any problems, though I feel sure that hand milking is more gentle on the does, and a better option if it can be done. I wouldn't feel badly, though, if it's just not possible for you. Owning these little goats, and all of the things we do with them and for them, is such a learning experience! By what you've described, it sounds like you're getting the hang of it and figuring things out well.
Is there any way to measure the amount of pressure you're getting with the suction on the machine you have? Maybe the first time you used it, you had too much pressure? Can you vary the amount of pressure? If not, it might not be the right machine for you, though I hate to say that. I would only want one that I was sure I could measure and control the pressure.
Best wishes, Taryn!
Most of the milkers like this one, or like Maggidans don't release suction, they cause a steady stream of milk to come out. I have heard that, in the long term, it can damage the muscle in the teat that holds the milk in. You might want to do more research on that as I'm not certain how true it is.
We have an electric milking machine and this spring when we started milking we had several that ended up with pink milk because the suction on the machine was too high and damaging them internally. We turned the suction down and all was good.
Mastitis will also cause a hot, hard udder, either just lumps in the udder, or the whole side. If you don't have that then you're probably okay in terms of that.
The milk is no longer pink, but there are still a couple teeny tiny blood clots in the bottom of the jar after her milkings today. The 1st night we used the pump my husband told me you are not supposed to release the suction on it, and I told him that just sounded totally wrong to me, as i would imagine it to be extremely uncomfortable. But, Daisy didn't seem to feel a thing (and she is not a very friendly goat, so I was surprised).
After that 1st time using the pump I just kept breaking the suction every few seconds, though not as often as you said.
Today I read all the info that came with the pump, and it had very unclear directions, but it sounded like they were saying that you should get the suction started, then turn off the pump and just massage the udder and the milk would just flow into the syringes. So I tried that tonight, and it seemed to work...
But if it could be hurting her, maybe I will go back to hand milking...
As for your other question, yes, I am sure the blood is not external. Her teats look great and healthy, I clean them well before and after milking and apply udder balm to keep them from getting dry, so i would notice if they had blood on them.
My biggest fear is that it could be a mild case of mastitis? Does it sound anything like that?
I appreciate the advice! It just makes me sick with worry when any of my animals aren't feeling top notch. :(
I would not say that blood in milk is normal. Actually, I have only seen it once in ten years and freshening about 18 does a year in the last few years. The doe that had blood in her milk was one I had just purchased, and she came from a farm where they let their young boys milk, and they were very rough with the does. It took weeks for her to stop bleeding internally.
Are you sure Daisy's teats are not damaged? If you're using a hand milker and blood winds up in the milk, it could be coming from the outside of the teats. I am not familiar with the milker that you purchased, but it is far from a real milking machine, which has soft inflations inside hard shells. Syringes are hard plastic with sharp edges and could easily damage teats. A real milking machine will do around 40-60 pulses per minute. Are you releasing the suction that often? If not, that could damage the teats or udder.
I don't have an answer to your question, but you may want to move the question to the health section. You may get more of a response! Good luck with your question. I would add though, that you are not alone with your hands going numb. Its pretty normal until the muscles in your hands get stronger. But since you said you have wrist problems the milking machine was probably the best way to go. I don't personally have a machine, but I have seen on here from others, that you still have to finish stripping her out at the very end. Just a tidbit if you didn't know that! Good luck hope she's okay :0)