Home Forums Miscellaneous Topics Rural Living The First Time You Milked a Cow?

And the last time you milked a cow?

Been a while now that we pasture calve.

12. 16.

Don't remember my first time, I would have been pretty young.

My folks had a few milk cows, we milked by hand and run it thru a cream separator. Took cream and eggs to the general store on Saturday to "trade" Some of the cream was run thru a hand crank Daisy churn to make butter to slather on the homemade bread Ma baked. (and you had to have cream over corn flakes or apple pie)

My last time? About 1pm today when I pulled on a heifers teats to make sure they were open after I replaced her prolapsed uterus....

Do you mean milking a cow completely out by sitting on a one legged stool with a bucket between your knees and your head up against the flank?

I was about 10 or so.

I try to suppress memories like that.

The sky was blue the moon was high
we were alone just she and I
her hair was brown her eye's were blue
i knew just what she wanted me to do
so with all my courage I did my best
and placed my hand on her breast
she shivered she shook
I felt her heart
slowly she spread her legs apart
I knew what she wanted me to do
but I didn't know how
this was my first expirence
at milking a Cow

We had a small herd of Jersey's when I was growing up, and milked by hand. The milk was run through the cream separator, which I still have, put into cans, set out by the road, and picked up by the milk truck. I was probably 5 or 6 when I first milked a cow. My grandfather showed me how, and I can remember him sitting there on his one legged stool, which I also still have, and squirting milk to a cat that was sitting there waiting for his breakfast.

THe last time was just a few years ago, when I had a heifer that had calved, but wasn't paying attention to the calf, and the calf wasn't acting like it even wanted to nurse. We got her up, got the calf down by her udder, and milked the cow, squirting the milk in the calf's mouth. It worked too, as they were fine after that.

First was age 16, friends grandfather ran what was touted to be largest dairy farm in the county at the time, We milked 120 head, pipeline milker system, twice a day. Did a lot of washing / stripping before attaching the milker. Used to joke that i got to grab 480 nipples twice a day.

I've never milked an actual milk cow but have milked several heifers and a few cows.

Either bad mothers(or a retarded calf..) with the heifers. Bad bag/plugged tit on the older cows.


Stick em' in a squeeze and tie a leg back. They will sometimes try and kick the chit outta ya!

Never really milked a cow by hand.
Stripped them out, checked the users for milk after calving,
Or when washing before the milked a were put on.

Just never sat there with a bucket.


Thank God!

1954
1977

By hand 1959 first time - 1973 last time- Ice storm knocked out power, had to help hand milk 105 holsteins, quite a few got mastitis despite our effort.

Machine 1973 first and last, worked at a dairy for about a month.

We milked 1-5 cows “by hand” year round from late 50s to early 70s.
Milked twice a day.
I hated it with a passion.

Can't remember exactly,but it was in the 50's .Our 7th grade class was in a separate un-insulated one room building with a big pot belly stove that burned coal.

All us farm kids got put in the back, furthest from the stove because the city kids all said we stunk like cows when we got warm.
When you bury your head in a cow's flank twice a day, that smell never comes out.When I left hone at 20, I vowed never to milk another cow and I have stuck by that for 55 years now

Never did it by hand, but ebpven with a machine it was the least popular
job of the field hands I worked with. We would rather do anything, than
go milk the dam cows.

I was too young to remember the first time, but first memories were squirting cats in the face with the cow milk.
My mother could fill a five gallon pail before I could get a gallon. Pretty sure she could crack walnuts with her bare hands.
Grew up on whole milk and whole cream.
Fresh cream over a chocolate cake with pudding cooked in was pretty memorable.
Alas I never got mothers recipe.

There was a young gal down the road from us.Maybe 15 and she could milk out 2 Jersies by hand faster than us using milkers doing20 Guernseys.

Fresh whole,cream isn't too shabby over fresh baked/warm peach cobbler. There was big wold rasberry patch across the road from our place.We would go pick a bowl full in the morning and pour fresh cream over them Made a dandy breakfast

We usually had 3-6 milk cows and my parents sold the milk and cream. I started milking cows by hand when I was about 8 or 9. Did it until I was about 15 or so and gladly took on other chores like feeding to get out of milking. I always swore I'd never milk a cow again and haven't. I'd stop drinking milk if it meant having to milk a cow to get it.