Milking Practices
Milking questions test clean technique, let-down, completeness and udder health. The examiner wants ordered steps and the reason for each one.
Before milking
- Wash hands, wear clean clothes; clean the udder with lukewarm water and dry with an individual cloth.
- Discard the first two or three streams into a strip cup: this detects mastitis early and removes bacteria.
- Provide clean, dry bedding and calm handling; no shouting or beating, because adrenaline blocks oxytocin and milk let-down.
During milking
- Use full-hand milking: grasp the teat with the whole hand and squeeze; do not pull, or strip with thumb and forefinger.
- Do not wet the hands with milk or water; wet milking spreads bacteria and cracks teats.
- Finish within 5–7 minutes; incomplete milking leaves milk in the udder and invites mastitis.
- Never use oxytocin injections to force milk down; it is illegal misuse and harms the animal.
- Order: healthy animals first, mastitis cases last; milk from treated cows stays out of the bulk.
Machine milking
Check vacuum and pulsation, clean the teat cups, attach within one minute of stimulation, and dip teats after removal.
Teat dipping
Post-milking dip with iodophor for 5–10 seconds; keep cows standing for 30 minutes so the teat canal closes.
Worked example
A milker says the cow gives less milk when strangers are around. Reasoning: milk let-down is a neuro-hormonal reflex; stress releases adrenaline, which constricts the teat sphincter and blocks oxytocin. The fix is routine - same milker, same time, same sounds - not more force. Forcing the animal risks incomplete milking and mastitis.
Traps
- Wet-hand or thumb-strip milking.
- Skipping fore-stripping, so mastitis is found late.
- Milking a freshly calved cow and discarding colostrum.
- Using oxytocin as a routine practice.