I'm thinking of purchasing an Udderly EZ Milker. My dwarf has tiny teats, and I have weakness in my hands, so it is a real struggle for both of us at milking time. Do any of you have experience with this equipment? It is not cheap, and you can't return it if it doesn't work.
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On the Totally Natural Goats Yahoo! Groups website, there was a direction sheet posted in the files section to make a milker using a spray bottle top, tubing, syringe, etc. The document was named "Combine Simple Items to Make a Milker for Under $10!" and was labeled "Printed with permission from Hughlene Dunn, Dunn Milking Farm, OK."
I'm sorry, I don't remember who posted it, just that it was there. If you want, I'll investigate further.
The only problem with using these milkers on a regular basis is that it will eventually damage the teats. There is a valve of sorts in the teat that these milkers cause to remain open after a time, allowing milk to leak and infection to get in. Pulsating milkers do not cause this problem. These milkers are really for short periods when needed, not long-term use, but as long as you can handle the resulting issues in time (a few years) then it's fine, but they do lower the number of productive years for the doe.
You can actually tell the bag is pretty empty as it gets so soft. But like Rachel says then you turn to the hand milking basically to strip it out. Then it just stops and your done.
On the smaller milkers, you stop getting much flow, and the bag feels more empty. That's when I switch sides and then hand milk to finish them off if I need to. Sometimes, when I get to that spot, there isn't really anything coming out anymore.
I have the Ez Milker and it does work nicely. I do one side at a time. I have had the surgeries on my hands and it can be rough to hand milk. The only problem I have had with it is if she suddenly decides to lay down or sit down and milk gets into the suction part of it well it can be difficult to dry it out and get going again. It does milk them out quickly and they dont really seem to mind it.
When you get the milker, it will have a couple different syringe cups. You mentioned your doe has small teats, so if they seem too large, it would be easy to go to the feed store and get an even smaller size. Not sure if you'd need to adjust the pressure, but Henry might be helpful with that. He's answered any Q I've had about my machine.
Thanks for the suggestion. I went to the Henry Milker website and ordered it. It is guaranteed or you can get a refund - unlike the Udderly EZ milker - and it's cheaper. Hope it works. My little gal just does not like being milked - at least by me!
Rachel Whetzel said:
I don't have any experience with the EZ milker, but from what I can tell, it's similar to the Henry Milker. Not sure which is more, but the Henry is nice! I like mine a lot. Still have to finish off your does by hand, (for both machines.) but the bulk of your milking the machine does.
When my doe had a c-section this past spring, they had an EZ milker at the U of I vet hospital that they used on her (because she was laying down), and I was really surprised at how well it worked. I didn't use it myself so I don't know how much strength it took to use it, but it got the milk out.
Replies
On the Totally Natural Goats Yahoo! Groups website, there was a direction sheet posted in the files section to make a milker using a spray bottle top, tubing, syringe, etc. The document was named "Combine Simple Items to Make a Milker for Under $10!" and was labeled "Printed with permission from Hughlene Dunn, Dunn Milking Farm, OK."
I'm sorry, I don't remember who posted it, just that it was there. If you want, I'll investigate further.
Glenna
With the machines, how do you know when to switch from machine to hands?
Rachel Whetzel said:
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