METHOD OF MILKING

Milking is an art, requires skill, and experience. The process of milking should be
conducted quietly, quickly, gently, cleanly and completely without any pain, annoyance
or inconvenience to the animal.

Characteristic of good milking

a. Milking at regular interval
b. Milking fast within stipulated period.
c. Milking completely.
d. Use of sanitary measures.

Advantages
a. High milk yield.
b. Quality milk production.
c. Less occurrence of mastitis.
d. More profit per cow.

Method
1. Hand milking
i. Full hand milking known as fisting:
ii. Stripping
iii. Knuckling.
2. Machine milking

Full hand milking

Full hand milking simulates natural sucking of a calf. Cows with large twats and
buffaloes are milked full hand method. It is done by
a. Grasping the teats with whole hand and steadly pressing it equally on all sides
against the palm with the fingers.
b. Maintaining a quick succession of alternate compression and relaxation in which
the alternate streams of milk from two teats sound like a continuous stream.
c. Full hand milking removes milk quicker than stripping because of no loss of time
in changing the position of the hand.

Stripping: Generally stripping method is adopted in small cows with smaller teats.
a. Stripping is accomplished by firmly seizing the teats at its base between front of
the thumb and forefinger.
b. Drawing them down the entire length of the teat while pressing simultaneously to
cause the milk to flow in a steam.
c. Repetition of this action by quickly taking the hand to the base of the teat again.
d. Use of both the hand in holding different teats and working alternatively.
e. Milking of the two nearest first followed by the two farthest teats.
Advantages
The last drown milk at the close of milking called stripping is richer in fat than
fore milk.

Disadvantages
a. Application of unequal pressure more than necessary on teats.
b. More frictional effect on teats by sliding the finger and thumb up and down.
c. Production of undue irritation of skin resulting in sores.
d. Necessity of undesirable lubrication of the teats frequently with milk, oil, water or
grease.
e. More pain to animal in stripping operation in event of chapped, cracked, sore or
teat affected with cowpox.
f. Loss of richest part of milk due to inefficient milking.

Knuckling: in this method, teats are holding diagonally and milking in full hand method
of milking.

Types of milkers: There are two types of milkers

1. Wet hand milkers: who use oil, water milk or ghee to moisten and soften the teats,
which is a pernicious habit. They usually draw and stretch the teat. As such, calf
is a wet milker since it has no choice of system.
2. Dry hand milkers: who draw the milk with dry hand without use of any
moistening material. Desirability of cleanliness demands milking with dry hands.

Milking side: left side is usually taken for milking more preferably as it is:
 Customary to reach all large domesticated animals by their left side.
 Most convenient to milker.
 Applicable to most men being right handed.
 Right hand being stronger.
 Easy and more convenient in use to draw milk from hind teats.
 Difficult for left hand to reach hind teats due to their position between
hind legs.
Pre-milking preparation
1. Provide the stall platform or stall length byre, sufficient bedding, proper
ventilation, light and drainage.
2. Wash the flank with water with the help of stiff brush.
3. Wash the udder and teats before each milking as the procedure not only removes
dirt but also initiates milk ejection reflex.
4. Wipe dry with clean dry clothes.
5. Milker must wash hands and arm with clean water before each milking and
should be neat, tidy and free from communicable diseases.
6. Use round bottom milking vessel/pail with dome shaped top and fitted with filter
cloth.
7. Use only clean milking pail well rinsed in clean water.
 8. Do not wear dirty greasy old clothes saturated with filth and dirt likely to be
rubbed against animal's flank during milking and thereby introduce large number
of bacteria into milking utensils.
9. Do not develop the habit of washing dirty fingers and nails with first few drops of
milk to moisten the hands before milking.
10. Insist upon dry full hand method and final stripping to remove all milk from
udder.
11. Always discard the first few streams of milk from each quarter to remove the
bacteria having gained access in the passage of the teats between each milking as
the first drawn milk contain as high as 1,400,000 microorganisms per cubic inch.
12. Do not drag milk out of teats rather squeeze it.
13. Do not draw the teats during milking beyond their natural length.
14. Milk quickly, quietly, thoroughly and gently without any annoyance or discomfort
to the animal.
15. Clip the hair from the udder flank tail and belly to reduce raw bacterial count by
45 to 75 per cent.
16. Avoid change of milker, as it would cause variation in milk yield due to
individual variation in milkmen.
17. Treat the animal with kindness.
18. Always observe regular hours of milking.
19. Strain milk through a clean cloth and cover it.
20. Cool the milk as quickly as possible.
Milking interval:
1. As nearly as possible milking cows at 12 hours intervals is desirable.
2. Milking interval should be evenly spaced particularly with cows at the height of
their lactation, which should be 12 hourly instead of 14 and 10-hour interval.
3. Three times milking should be only for every high milking cows which is
necessitated to reduce milk load in the udder and lessen tendency to become
pendulous.
4. If equal interval of milking is not possible for twice daily milking, continue 3
times milking until yield is down to about one-half of the recorded peak.
5. The change from thrice to twice daily milking can be made without any drastic
reduction in yield when a cow's daily yield has fallen to two-third of a peak yield.
6. With a normal period of 10 to 14 hour interval, the butter fat level is higher at
morning milking than at the evening milking which may be up to 1 percent.
7. Milk yield is increased by u p to 15 per cent with thrice daily milking but despite
slightly lower butter fat percentage an overall greater weight of fat is obtained.
Effect of milking method on yield:
1. Irregularity on milking hours disturbs the animal's yield.
2. It exerts harmful influence on the work of the cow during entire period of
lactation,
3. It finally results in closing the milking period than it would have been closed.
4. The difference of even one hour in milking virtually makes a difference of as
much as 10 % in milk yield.
5. Repeated irregularity of this kind of unequal milking interval tends to diminish
the flow of milk permanently.
 6. Failure to milk in time leads to unduly distension of udder with milk, leads to
inflammation of udder, loss of one or two quarter and proves fatal in few cases.
7. Careless milking technique can result in udder damage, decreased production and
decreased profitability.
8. Loss of 5 to percent in milk production may occur due to non-adherence to
principle of stopping milk lactating pregnant cows 30 days before calving.
9. Regular use of hormone to induce let down and mil cow in the event of death of
her calf adversely effects the milk production during next lactation.
Machine milking:
Approximately 55 % of total labour time in dairy herd operation involved in
milking machine milking reduced it to an appreciable degree. Nearly 160 cows are
milked per hour with machine milking per hour with 10 to 12 cows are milked per with
hand milking.
Types of milking plants:
The most commercial milking operation consists of 4 distinct types of plants.
1. The bucket type of plant with tapped overhead fixed vacuum line installed.
2. Pipeline milking, which involves pipeline into which milk is delivered direct from
the teat cups without intervening buckets.
3. Fixed milking parlor or movable milking bail for use with yarded cows or cows
pasture.
4. Rotary system in which cows or circulate on a revolving platform past an operator
in standing position.
The milk machine performs two basic functions.
1. It open the streak canal through the use of a partial vacuum and allow the milk to
flow out of the teat cistern through a line to a receiving container.
2. It massages the teat, which prevents congestion of blood and lymph in the teat.
Machine milking Vs. Hand milking
Machine milking Hand milking
1. It is a modern technique of milking Conventional art of milking operation in
high milk yielder. practice.
2. It is economical, easy, labour and More labour, skill and efficiency required
time saving
3. Milk production is more hygienic Lack practical hygienic operation.
with optimum standard of
cleanliness.
4. Milking is more regular. Irregular.
5. It ensures quick efficient and Comparatively much less.
complete milking of cows.
6. Cows are milked with same Occurrence of individual variations.
pressure and same milker.
7. It eliminates likelihood of spread of More infections spread on account of
infection from one cow to another manual milking.
to an appreciable degree.
8. It works with same efficiency both Practically equal efficient not operative.
for hard or slow and soft milkers.
9. It offers production of more and Yield and quality milk both affected.
 quality milk by protecting udder
from damage and disease.
10. It is the need of modern Not a necessity to natural process of calf
management for large and sucking.
organized dairies of high yielding
cows.
11. It stimulates natural process of calf Not so closes to natural process of calf
suckling its mother's milk by sucking.
combined action of pressure of its
tongue against teats and suckling
action of mouth.