Milking Equipment

[Maizefarmer]

Anyone looking for milking clusters (what you put onto a cows udder when milking) - I've got hold of 6 x DeLaval MC31 clusters and a vacuum pump to go - I picked these up in Belgium. They are used, but serviced with new liners, tubing and seals are new - genuine DeLaval. Condition - excellent. Pump is good for 8 clusters max.

These are "top shelf" professional clusters with auto-shutoff and variable pulse - will last a lifetime, loads better quality and more reliable than any of the Eastern made options retailed in Thailand - and a heap less stressful on the cow.

Price - hoping MOD's will see this posting as an effort to help other expats - so let me just say, less than what a new set of Eastern made clusters would cost you.

Interested? - post tech questions on the forum - but to discuss purchase/pricing please do so only through PM

Yes - happy to split.

[bina]

just thought of a really dumb question, but are there differences in teats and udders in milk cows in thailand, like is there a preference for udder height etc?

goats have differences (we prefer high hung udders, to avoid getting caught in bramble when foraging, as opposed to european goats even of same/similar breeds ), different milk machines dont always work on certain kinds of teats, and for hand milking a certain kind of teat is better then others...

bina

[Maizefarmer]

Yup, same same cows .... genetics come into play with cows, just like they do with humans (and goats) - theres a whole bunch of characteristics which include udder size, height, teat position ect ... are genetic characteristics which say, and give an indication of "performance" i.e. this is a good milker, or this is going to be a bad milker.

Along with the above, interestingly, the legs and feet/hoof placement and standing position are very important genetic traits and indicators for selecting dairy cows.

... and then machinary comes into play. Clusters not designed properly lead to mastitis and other infections, incorrect pulse frequency and pressure affect milk "let down" - if you don;t get it right the cow learns to make a negative association with the milking experience, stress goes up, and milk doesn;t come down - well, it doesn;t come down as well as it should. It might only be a little, say around around 0,2 - 0,5 litre per milking impact, but when you multiply that by over 200 cows 2 x per day, 30 x per month, youre suddenly looking at several tons of milk per month and figures that start to run into hundreds of 1000's of Baht.

They are little factors individualy, but collectively they add to have a significant impact.

But back to genetics: the big problem in Thailand I see made time and time again: folk go out looking for the "best" cow - on paper.

NSA - No Such Animal - it doesn;t exist. You got to get to grips with the conditions/circumstances on the farm i.e. what forage can you grow, how much an you grow for each animal (per unit area land), whats the water source, what are the costs involved in cultivation and watering - THEN, only then do you say to yourself, "right, now lets go look for a cow with the genetics to fit in with these circumstances best".

[captbob]

Hi, i am looking for one for my goat here in Laos If you check on Alibaba.com you maybe find one 1000.oo us ,the probleme is to pay it, not to import in thailand i dont trust the chineese payment, anayway in malaisia i am prety shure they have some, lots a milk biseness therre Bob Vientiane

[Maizefarmer]

Bob - there are several sources in Thailand - are you interested?

[bina]

for home use there are portable milk machines for goats but frankly i managed to milk twice daily a group of about 5 goats , about two/three minutes per goat, while she was eating her grain/pellets, but it was milking for home use so didnt do all the procedures that u would do for selling the milk. i washed hands between goats, massaged their udders, always milked the problem goats/sick goats/udder infections last; they all had great letdown with me, and less letdown with others , since i was the main milker...

bina

[captbob]

Bob - there are several sources in Thailand - are you interested?

Yes Sir it will very interesting i got only 18 goats but next years will be more. Thanks Maizefarmer