When I grew up we had a cow that we had to milk twice a day who looked something like this. When I was old enough, I took over the morning shift. I would wake up around 0600, fill the wash bucket with warm water and a bit of iodine as a disinfectant. I would then take it and the milk bucket down the hill to the barn. I have found memories of cold winter mornings, my breath like smoke, walking through the crisp air to the barn where the warm cow awaited me patiently.
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| Jersey Cow |
First I would put a scoop of grain and some hay into her stall and then let her into it. She would stand and eat while I milked her. I would grab the buckets, sit on one legged milking stool, and wash her udder with the warm water. Then switch buckets and rhythmically squeeze out the milk by locking my thumb and first finger together at the base of the teat and rippling the remaining fingers down. The milk would be all warm and steaming in the cold air. I would gradually come fully awake resting my head on her warm flank, steam rising from the milk bucket. It would take around 15 minutes to get about 1.5 gallons of milk.
A fun part of the process was the barn cats. There would usually be 2 - 3 cats waiting their turn. They would line up waiting for me to squirt milk at them like so:
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| Cats getting milk from cows |
For most of the cats, I was able to squirt directly into their open mouths. I do remember one cat who just could not figure it out and would never open its mouth so it would get milk all over its face and then use it paws to clean itself.
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