How long does milking take on your farm?

whelan2

and at what time do you milk them? 2 hours here at the minute in the morning from switch on to off. In the evening only takes 45 minutes now as only milking 50-1 group-, do 2 groups in the morning. In the summer it takes about 2.5 hours in the morning and 1.5 hours in the evening, start around 6.15 in the morning and 4,30 in the evening

mahoney_j

Cups on 7 am and 4.45 give or take and gone out of yard by 6 majority of days .in November /December start time 8 am .milking takes a little over an hour including wash up at peak .hate working late

WheatenBriar

whelan2 wrote: »

and at what time do you milk them? 2 hours here at the minute in the morning from switch on to off. In the evening only takes 45 minutes now as only milking 50-1 group-, do 2 groups in the morning. In the summer it takes about 2.5 hours in the morning and 1.5 hours in the evening, start around 6.15 in the morning and 4,30 in the evening

Thats an awful long time for the machine to be on in the morning,how much of it is switching between the two groups?

About 70 mins here in the morning, that or an hour in the evening at the moment

whelan2

Milk on my own in morning. Have to get scrapers across, beds done, eldest lad out to school. Power wash down. Do calves etc. I am not idle during the time

Timmaay

4 1/2 rows at the min, aim to be in and out in under an hr the mornings and 45mins the evening. Cups on at 5 to 5.15 in the pm, but getting lazier and lazier in the mornings, 8.15 is early enough, 9 the weekends if I've been out the night before and don't have a milker in. Mid Jan I could well be down to 2 rows.

Greengrass1

30 minutes will be the extent of my milking by the weekend.
Can put 60 an hr through my 6 unit so reckon not far off 2 hrs to milk next yr and anything from 10- 30 minutes to get cows from paddock to yard

WheatenBriar

whelan2 wrote: »

Milk on my own in morning. Have to get scrapers across, beds done, eldest lad out to school. Power wash down. Do calves etc. I am not idle during the time

Ah,so if it was milking alone,it would be quicker,ie calves etc at the end?
I leave the cows stand for 15 mins or so at the end before returning them to the cubicles I think it allows teats to close The mats get a wipe/lime in that time and any milk to the calves etc
Everyone has different routines that work for them

Dawggone

It will be about 5mins shorter tomorrow as a beauty kicked me this morning...
She won't be kicking anyone from tomorrow morning.

whelan2

Dawggone wrote: »

It will be about 5mins shorter tomorrow as a beauty kicked me this morning...
She won't be kicking anyone from tomorrow morning.

Got pushed in to a wall this morning by 2 cows fighting. Fookers

frazzledhome

Interesting feature in the Irish Dairyfarmer magazine. Latest edition does times and design of a 16 unit no acr a 16 with acr a 24 with all toys a double up and a large rotary

kowtow

frazzledhome wrote: »

Interesting feature in the Irish Dairyfarmer magazine. Latest edition does times and design of a 16 unit no acr a 16 with acr a 24 with all toys a double up and a large rotary

I think they are all on youtube as well?

Milked out

Bout an hour milking at the moment with 6 rows 15 mins to wash up then. Will leave calves till wash up mostly. Normally turn em out and scrape and lime cubicles as they head down. Leave gates closed on the stand closed till I get down. Hoping I'll be able to do 98 or 7 rows an hour out in may at peak. Might be able to go faster if they are heading out to paddock again straight after milking. No drafting, dumpline or acrs just basic machine and feeders. Feeders sped up cow flow something serious for me. Hope to put in drafting at some stage next year to make it easier to take out cows bulling and to allow me to bring all fresh/treated cows around to be milked last and save running around with buckets. Have no space to keep a group separate in shed so would be next best thing I guess

darragh_haven

kowtow wrote: »

I think they are all on youtube as well?

Yes. All on YouTube. Watched a few of them. 16 unit with acrs was a bad design

jaymla627

whelan2 wrote: »

Got pushed in to a wall this morning by 2 cows fighting. Fookers

Cows messing here to knocking lumps out of each other the last few days it's like they get bored around this time of year and are looking for something to do

MFdaveIreland

3.5 hrs morning and a good 3 hrs in the evening.

visatorro

still milking ten rows. I find by the time I get them in, cubicles scraped down, milked. wash up done. it's two hours in the morning. hour and a half in evening. depending on the humour might have a cuppa before feeding calves or tackling the yard

Timmaay

MFdaveIreland wrote: »

3.5 hrs morning and a good 3 hrs in the evening.

Many rows?

frazzledhome

Down to 10 rows here after dry off this am. Were on 22 up to 2 wks ago, pure phuckin murder.

All cows going through one parlour for winter will be back to 12 in each for grazing season

Timmaay

frazzledhome wrote: »

Down to 10 rows here after dry off this am. Were on 22 up to 2 wks ago, pure phuckin murder.

All cows going through one parlour for winter will be back to 12 in each for grazing season

Roughly how many milkings a week did ya do yourself when it was the 22rows? I'll happily stick with my 14unit here moving forward, but if opportunity arises to expand heavily 1st thing I'll be doing is retiring from the milking and let someone else do all the rows ha.

whelan2

milked 360 cows in an 8 unit double up parlour on placement in England. TORTURE

WheatenBriar

Timmaay wrote: »

Roughly how many milkings a week did ya do yourself when it was the 22rows? I'll happily stick with my 14unit here moving forward, but if opportunity arises to expand heavily 1st thing I'll be doing is retiring from the milking and let someone else do all the rows ha.

I'd say you might be on to something there
Only one in five in my immediate area milk their own cows,the other four have a contract milker
I wouldn't like to be trying to pay that this year

frazzledhome

WheatenBriar wrote: »

I'd say you might be on to something there
Only one in five in my immediate area milk their own cows,the other four have a contract milker
I wouldn't like to be trying to pay that this year

Depends on what they're doing with their time while paying milker.

frazzledhome

Timmaay wrote: »

Roughly how many milkings a week did ya do yourself when it was the 22rows? I'll happily stick with my 14unit here moving forward, but if opportunity arises to expand heavily 1st thing I'll be doing is retiring from the milking and let someone else do all the rows ha.

7 I'd say. Would milk most days from start of calving till November. At silage times etc I'd only do mornings

kevthegaff

frazzledhome wrote: »

7 I'd say. Would milk most days from start of calving till November. At silage times etc I'd only do mornings

Do you wash down in the middle?

kevthegaff

Down to 6 rows now, 10 rows 3 weeks ago. Summer 2 hrs morning 1/1/2 evenings, except bringing them in. 12 unit bog basic, hardship with concrete throughs, looking at getting a 20 unit in nxt 2 years then ill start motoring on!!

kowtow

About 90 minutes more or less.

Big efficiency drive next year, going to start using both sides of the parlour and drive it down below 5 minutes / cow.

frazzledhome

kevthegaff wrote: »

Do you wash down in the middle?

??

kevthegaff

frazzledhome wrote: »

??

I mean would the parlour be dirty after 11 rows, do u power wash and go again?

bogman_bass

kowtow wrote: »

About 90 minutes more or less.

Big efficiency drive next year, going to start using both sides of the parlour and drive it down below 5 minutes / cow.

Below 5 minutes per cow? are you going to half milk them?

Deepsouthwest

kevthegaff wrote: »

I mean would the parlour be dirty after 11 rows, do u power wash and go again?

I wash between most rows, not a major wash, but follow the last cow out with the vol washer and shut the front gate as the nxt row is walking in

Timmaay

WheatenBriar wrote: »

I'd say you might be on to something there
Only one in five in my immediate area milk their own cows,the other four have a contract milker
I wouldn't like to be trying to pay that this year

Id say I know afew of them ha. My main reason is simple as is I don't like milking ha, at least not twice a day almost every day of the year ha. The cost wouldn't bother me at all, not as if I'll be twiddling my thumbs for them 4/5hrs that I won't spend milking!

Actually thinking about some of the lads I know who have full time milkers and in winter milk, I'd say they will be the 1st to come under serious pressure if this crap milk price continues, they'd probably be better off compact spring calving and just hire labour during the spring.

frazzledhome

Deepsouthwest wrote: »

I wash between most rows, not a major wash, but follow the last cow out with the vol washer and shut the front gate as the nxt row is walking in

Ditto. I always avoid washing the stand if cows are after milking waiting for one to finish. Tests open and spray from hose possible Scc

whelan2

Do ye have a channel were the cows stand in parlour? We have a channel with a grid over it and cows 9 times out of 10 crap in it, then blow it down with power hose at the end, very handy for mastitis milk etc and dumping buckets of milk etc, it goes into tank in collecting yard

trixi2011

frazzledhome wrote: »

Ditto. I always avoid washing the stand if cows are after milking waiting for one to finish. Tests open and spray from hose possible Scc

Wash the side the cups are on . Would you wait on one cow to milk out ?

trixi2011

Down to13 rows milking here at the moment milking taking about 3 hours including wash up cows on oad. Start at 5 finnished at 8 . During the year takes 2.5/3 hours in the morning and 2/2.5 hour in the evening. Cups on 4.45 am and 2.30 pm

Milked out

trixi2011 wrote: »

Wash the side the cups are on . Would you wait on one cow to milk out ?

I find if u keep em moving and bring in the backing gate once or twice they tend not to dung too much in parlour during milking. Have no channel to wash into here and tank is behind the stands so if there is a bad run I give it a whip of the scraper before letting in next row. Depending on time of year with dung consistency the scraper is better than the hose here.

trixi2011

Milked out wrote: »

I find if u keep em moving and bring in the backing gate once or twice they tend not to dung too much in parlour during milking. Have no channel to wash into here and tank is behind the stands so if there is a bad run I give it a whip of the scraper before letting in next row. Depending on time of year with dung consistency the scraper is better than the hose here.

Wouldnt be washing every row but would wash when needed. When working in a smaller parlour used use a short scraper from the pit was a handy job alright , parlour here would be a bit long for scraping between rows

Deepsouthwest

whelan2 wrote: »

Do ye have a channel were the cows stand in parlour? We have a channel with a grid over it and cows 9 times out of 10 crap in it, then blow it down with power hose at the end, very handy for mastitis milk etc and dumping buckets of milk etc, it goes into tank in collecting yard

Yes,have two channels under the troughs and another along the front of the parkour, great job.