I wanted to tell you about a wonderfully, locally made milking system.
Yes, we are no longer milking by hand.
The week Michael was in St. Louis it became obvious that doing all the morning chores including milking two goats all before waking up the boys, making them breakfast and then beginning school wasn’t going to work.
Our first time freshener, Brown Sugar, is difficult to milk. Very normal at this point but it would take me a half hour to milk her. She doesn’t let her milk down, probably because her HUGE more than three month old “babies” are still enjoying her milk, so I have to keep going until I “get it all”.
Now we have added Halle Berry. She is so easy to milk. Really a dream on the stanchion. She also produces a lot but can be milked much more quickly. On top of that we will soon be milking twice a day (keep in mind that my husband does have to travel with his job).
So we decided to start using the “Simple PULSE Professional Home Milking System. Wow, what a difference. So easy. So quick. Each goat takes just about five minutes to milk. WOOOOHOOO!
Here is what the set up looks like.
It consists of a vacuum pump which is a separate unit that you turn on and it creates negative pressure (vacuum) in the blue tank which houses the pulsator, vacuum regulator and the pressure gauge. Really, not a mechanical person here trying to explain how this works. I’m amazed that people are able to invent things like this.
The system is a closed system which means the milk is never exposed to elements such as dirt, animal hair, etc. That is really important because most people who milk goats keep the milk raw. We do not pasteurize our milk.
The hoses connect from the tank and the milking line directly to the lid on your gallon size glass jar. On the opposite end of that milking line are the inflations that attach to the teats. When you get them on you can see the system inside the inflation pulsing off and on and with each pulse it applies pressure to that teat just like a hand would do.
The goats don’t fuss when the machine is milking them like they might when human hands are milking them.
When we are done with one goat we simply remove the inflations and drain the line (hold it up so gravity lets all the milk flow into the jar). We do what needs to be done with the goat and then bring in the next one and start all over again.
The cleaning process is super easy. We have one bucket with hot bleach water and one bucket with warm soapy water. We switch the tubes from the jar with milk in it to the gallon jar that is empty. While the machine is still running we put the inflation end of the hose system into the soapy water. Alternating between in the water and out of the water allowing that soapy water to run through the hose system into the glass jar. I also use the soapy water to rinse off the lower section of hose (near the inflations). After the soapy water we do the exact same procedures with the bleach water.
We hang the system and let it dry until it’s next use.
I am working towards an ADGA Dairy Herd Improvement program called DHIA milk test. (Once I figure it out I’ll do a post on it.) I need to keep a weight record of the milk each goat gives in a 24 hour period so we milk each goat into their own jar. We don’t need the gallon size jar for two goats. You can purchase lids that will fit wide mouth canning jars. Milk test will be made much simpler as each goat can be milked into their own jar for weighing and sampling.
Some people have other goats that produce a ton more milk than our little Nigerian Dwarf Goats. For those people you can connect the two gallon jars so that you can actually fill two gallons before needing to switch out the jars. They also have a six-gallon pail available that can be paired with the system.
So what do I like best about this machine?
1) Fast from start to finish.
2) If you have “difficult” goats this is much less frustrating
3) Much faster learning curve. Our boys will be taught how to use the machine
4) The way they designed the system protects the pump should you accidentally over-fill a jar and water/milk gets into the tank.
5) While the goats are being milked we are free to do other chores. True multi-tasking.
Here is a link if you want to learn more about the Simple Pulse. I am not paid for what I’ve written here today. I just love the system and wanted to tell you about it.
Have a great day,
Karen
Awesome Karen! Hope this makes things easier and you guys can get all you need to done! 🙂 YAY!
I did it this morning by myself and didn’t have any problems.
Love things that help and make chores easier.
Have a great day,
Karen
Wow! I’m continuing to be amazed at how fearlessly you have launched yourselves into the world of goats and dairying… impressive!!!!! Check out the milk machine stand they made over at Goldenwood Farms in Canby. I think it’s on their fb page…. it made me think of you and a future project for your Mr. Handy… :o)
XO,B
Thank you so much for “selling” us the machine. It really does make my life easier (like today when I did morning chores by myself)
I had stopped strapping the girls into the stand in hopes that they would do better with the machine. HB does a great job. BS, well she is difficult so I think we will go back to strapping her in.
Enjoy the day.
Hugs,
Karen
I’m thinking about getting this system for my cow and goats. Still liking it after a year? Any issues?
Hi Teri, the Simple Pulse is great. Not only does it greatly increase the cleanliness of the milking process, it makes it so darn easy. We can get the other chores, feed/water/sweeping, done while the machine is milking away. Each goat milks out differently, some are quicker, some slower, and we adjusted the pressure and speed of the pulsing to work best with our goats. Clean up is really simple too. I have no reservations in recommending it to anyone. If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to ask away!
Thanks, Michael.
Here is their website: http://www.simplepulse.net/
Their site says it works on goats, sheep, and cows. I have experience only with goats.
Before we put in the sink and the mini water heater, we would carry out a 5-gallon bucket of HOT water (filled half way) and then pour half into another 5-gallon bucket with a little soap and pour in cold water until it was warm. We pour a little bleach in the hot water bucket. That process worked fine.
Our barn has cement floors. We keep the machine on a cart in the barn all the time. After we clean it, we have a large plastic covered hook in one of the beams above the machine, we hang the hose/inflations from that. I’ve never covered it but I don’t see why you couldn’t toss a towel over the inflations. The dirtiness of the outside of the machine doesn’t really matter. The hoses attach to a special lid for the milk jar as well as the big gallon jar that you run the soapy water and bleach water into. Then you just pour out the cleaning water and you are done. I don’t see why you couldn’t take the hoses off and bring them in.
You may want to contact Simple Pulse directly. I hope I helped.
Thank you, Karen, for that info. I appreciate it, and it’s very helpful. I had read that some people keep their Simple Pulse on a “cart”, but I have no idea what type (or size!) of cart. Do you have pictures? Or dimensions of your cart? Or a “link” to where to buy a good cart that will work? (As you can tell, I’m really paranoid about buying & using a milking machine. I have NO Idea what I’m doing!) I like the idea of a plastic covered hook in the barn. I think I can make that work. THANKS AGAIN for your help.
If you look at the post titled “Some Updates with the Barn” Sept 14, 2015, you will see the cart. I doubt it is three feet tall. I would check The Home Depot or Lowes. We no longer have the green box on the middle shelf. The pump is there now. The footprint of the milking machine is pretty small. You can see in the photo there is a lot of room left on the top shelf where you keep the bottles to collect the milk and the bottom shelf with the motor/pump. They have a return policy that if you just don’t like it you can return it within 30 days (you pay shipping). Take care, Karen
Wow, you have a BEAUTIFUL Barn and “set up”!! That’s wonderful. I was looking at carts in Sam’s Club today. Now that I’ve seen the pictures of your cart, I believe some of those would work for me. THANKS again for all the info you have shared. You are great!
I’m so glad I was able to help. We love using a milking machine. It is quicker and so much cleaner, and if the animals decide to start kicking, no lost milk since it is in the tubes and not a bucket. When the power goes out and we milk by hand there is always so much more hair in the strainer after we strain the milk. Take care and happy milking with whatever you decide to do.
Karen