Milking cows and buffaloes: clean milk and mastitis checks

Milk at the same times every day, in a clean place, with clean dry hands and the full-hand method, and get the milk cool and to the society quickly. Clean, gentle milking keeps mastitis (udder infection) away, and clean milk keeps longer (TNAU).

Milk at fixed times

• Milk at the same times every day; if you must change them, do it slowly (TNAU).
• An animal giving up to 10 litres a day is milked twice a day; one giving 12–15 litres, three times. Above 16 litres, two people milk her together (TNAU).
• Milking three times instead of twice gives 10–15% more milk (TNAU). In a Murrah study, three milkings gave 31% more milk (TNAU).
• Milk gently and quietly. A calm animal gives more milk than a scared or roughly handled one (TNAU).

Before you milk

• Clean the milking place at least half an hour before milking, and remove dung. Do not sweep, brush the animals or feed dusty fodder just before milking (TNAU, TNAU).
• Feed about an hour before milking. At milking time give only concentrate, which is less dusty (TNAU).
• The milker needs trimmed nails, clean dry hands, clean clothes and a covered head, and must not spit or talk while milking. A person with an infectious illness should not milk (TNAU, TNAU).
• Wash the udder and teats, and clip long hair on the udder. Then wipe the udder dry with a clean cloth, from the teat tip upward (TNAU).
• Use one cloth for each animal, and wash and dry it after every milking (NDDB, TNAU).
• Buffaloes are always washed before milking, but with a damp towel: never splash water on the udder (TNAU).

Let-down

• Milk comes down when the calf suckles, or when you wash and gently massage the udder and teats (TNAU).
• Let-down lasts only a few minutes. Start milking as soon as the udder is ready, and finish within about 8 minutes (NDDB). Miss it, and the routine has to start again after half an hour (TNAU).
• Buffaloes are slower. Their let-down takes about 2 minutes on average, and sometimes 10 (TNAU).
• Fear, pain, a new milker or a changed routine makes cows and buffaloes hold back their milk (TNAU). A newly bought animal may give less for some days.
• Do not give any injection to let down milk without a vet. Under section 12 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, any operation or injection to raise milk that harms the animal is an offence (PCA Act).

Full-hand milking

• Sit on the left side of the animal (TNAU).
• Full hand: hold the teat with all five fingers and press it against your palm, then release; repeat quickly and evenly. It is the fastest way, and it presses evenly, like a suckling calf (TNAU, TNAU).
• Never knuckle, that is, bend your thumb against the teat: it injures the teat (TNAU). Avoid milking with two fingers too, which presses unevenly and causes small wounds (TNAU). Strip (slide thumb and finger down the teat) only very small teats, or at the very end.
• Buffaloes too: knuckling or stripping their hard teats can stretch and damage them (TNAU).
• Keep your hands dry. Never wet your hands or the teats with water, oil, milk or saliva: teats crack and get sore, and the milk gets dirty (TNAU, TNAU).
• Milk out fully. Milk left in the udder invites mastitis and lowers the yield (TNAU). One exception: in the first 2 days after calving, complete milking can bring on milk fever in some cows (NDDB), so ask your vet how to milk a high-yielding cow then.

First squirts, mastitis and milking order

• Squirt the first few streams from each teat into a strip cup, a cup with a black top, and never onto the floor. Look for clots, flakes, blood or watery milk. Keep this first milk out of the pail (TNAU, TNAU).
• Signs of mastitis: a hard, hot, swollen, painful quarter; she kicks when you touch the udder; red teats; milk with blood, clots, flakes or yellowish water, or a bad smell; less milk (TNAU).
• Hidden mastitis shows no change except a slight drop in milk, yet it causes about 70% of mastitis losses. A California Mastitis Test (CMT) finds it: milk from each quarter is mixed with the same amount of test liquid, and a gel means hidden mastitis. NDDB advises testing every milking animal at least once a week (NDDB).
• If you see signs of mastitis, call the vet at once: care within the first 2–3 hours gives the udder the best chance (NDDB).
• Milk from a cow your vet is treating stays out of the can as long as the vet says.
• Milking order: fresh and high-yielding animals first, then low yielders; sick animals, animals with mastitis and newly bought animals last, separately (TNAU, NDDB).
• If one quarter is affected, milk the healthy quarters first and that quarter last, and wash your hands after. Milk from an affected quarter carries the infection to healthy teats on the milker's hands (TNAU).

After milking

• NDDB calls dipping or spraying the teats right after milking the most important single step against mastitis (NDDB). Use only what your vet advises.
• Keep her standing for at least 30–45 minutes after milking: give her feed (NDDB). The teat opening stays open for up to half an hour, and germs from the floor can get in if she lies down (TNAU, TNAU).
• Let the calf suckle after milking, to empty the milk left in the udder (NDDB).

Strain, cool and deliver

• Strain the milk through four layers of clean muslin or a fine nylon mesh, and wash and dry the cloth every day (TNAU).
• Keep a lid on every can, and keep the milk away from dung, feed, cats and rats (TNAU).
• Cool the milk by standing the can in cold water, with ice if you can, and take it to the society or collection centre as soon as possible (TNAU). Raw milk keeps only about 6–8 hours at room temperature (TNAU).
• At the society, your milk is measured, a sample is tested for fat, and many societies print a slip with the quantity, fat and rate (NDDB).
• Keep every slip. How fat and SNF set what you are paid is explained under milk price.

Clean vessels

• Use smooth vessels without joints, seams or dents. A pail with a dome-shaped, narrow top lets in less dirt than an open bucket (TNAU).
• Rinse every vessel right after use, then wash it with warm water and a detergent, not soap, which leaves a greasy film (TNAU).
• To kill germs with heat, start with water at 85 °C or hotter, so that the vessel stays at 77 °C or more for at least 2 minutes (TNAU).
• Let vessels drain and dry fully before the next milking: germs do not grow on a dry vessel, but multiply in water left inside (TNAU).

Milking machines

• Hand milking is the most common way in India (TNAU). NABARD's Tamil Nadu unit costs include a milking machine only for a 10-animal unit (NABARD).
• A machine milks about 1.5–2 litres a minute (TNAU). Prepare each animal as for hand milking: wipe and massage the udder for ½–1 minute, check the first milk in a strip cup, then put on the teat cups at once (TNAU).
• Buffaloes need machines set up for their teats. It is easiest to start machine milking with heifers, which have no fixed routine yet (TNAU).
• Clean the machine inside and out after every milking, as the maker directs (TNAU). Have its vacuum, pulsation, liners and air leaks checked regularly: a badly working machine damages teat ends and invites mastitis (NDDB).
• See milking machines for sale near you.

Common mistakes

• Milking at different times every day.
• Wetting the hands or teats with milk, water or oil.
• Knuckling, or milking with two fingers.
• Squirting the first milk onto the floor, or not looking at it at all.
• Letting the animal lie down straight after milking.

Frequently asked questions

How many times a day should I milk?

Twice a day for an animal giving up to 10 litres, and three times for one giving 12–15 litres, as per TNAU. Keep the same times every day.

Why does my buffalo hold back her milk?

Buffaloes let down slowly, after about 2 minutes on average and up to 10, and fear, pain or a new milker makes it worse. Wash and massage the udder, or let the calf suckle first. Do not give any injection to let down milk without a vet.

How long can raw milk be kept?

Only about 6–8 hours at room temperature after milking (TNAU). Cool it and take it to the society as soon as you can.

Next

Learn the warning signs and vaccine calendar in Cow and buffalo health: vaccine calendar and warning signs, and how the society pays for your milk in Selling milk: milk society, price and FSSAI rules. Good feeding keeps milk up: see Dairy cow feeding: fodder, concentrate, minerals and water. To grow your herd, see cows for sale and buffaloes for sale.