Anyone milk one or two cows for the family? Our cow is almost due and we want to milk her but cant decide what kind of bucket milker to get, hoping someone may have some insight, there's a lot of options with huge amounts of difference in price.

Yes, long time ago. A jersey. Bucket milker? More like bucket.........and I milked her.

If you would advertise that you are looking for a used milking machine with all the small dairies that have discontinued milking cows, I bet there are many around. You will need to buy all the inflations and other hoses, plus you need to have a vaccuum supply. In the old days many tractors had a valve on that you could put a hose on and the vaccuum would run the machine. If you are going to use a vaccuum pump twice a day it would be nice to have one that is a bit more quiet thenmost are. Another way is to milk by hand what you want for your needs and have some calves around to finish the job and grow. The other benefit of having the calves finish is that the saliva in the calves mouth is a very good natural anti bacterial growth liquid and will help lower udder infections.

Bryce

Good info Bryce.

Same here hayday. Eric

30 years on a dairy farm
Likng the cow does nothing for a calf.
It is colostrum

Pretty to look at,,,,,,.......

I’m surprised anyone makes a single cow milking machine anymore, the vacuum pump would be the biggest expense.

Homesteaders and fairs drive a small market. Full kits cost between 400 and 2500 dollars

2 hands and a strong squeeze!

I don't think it would be very cost effective to buy the pump and equipment for one cow.you would be better off milking her by hand in my opinion .

Looks like US average milk price for a gallon is right around 4 bucks the cow would be dead by the time you recouped the money for the machine

I've pulled a few utters, again what's your question??

small goat farmers still want the old ones.

still manufacured for puchase

i would never buy a single animal to milk
.......
(flat barns suck.com )

You're both correct, this makes about as much financial sense as an out of state elk tag.

I’m not sure if raw milk is available or legal to sell in your area, but here it’s about triple the average price of milk given. The guy we buy from sells out every single week. You could probably justify the cost that way if legal

Sure did. Mom would have a number of very clean ice cream pales and I milked into those. Put the lid back on when full and set in the fridge to let the cream rise.
After a time run the cream off the top and make ice cream with it. Use the rest as is.

Osky

I traded my Neighbor a weanling Angus bull for two Jersey Heifers ready to breed, I bred the heifers to my beef bull with plans to flip them in the spring. My wife decided they were her "Jersey girls" and named the Heifers, now the "Jersey girls" are my wifes pride and joy and I hear reports of how they are doing, what they did today, how they look, etc from my wife. Of course my wife is overly excited for me to milk her Jerseys so she can make Butter and Cheese.

I probably could of made $2,000 on flipping these bred heifers, instead I need to spend $2,000 on a milking machine, prepare a parlor, train and then milk one or both Jersey girls so that we don't have to buy $9 worth of dairy products per week.

Is selling your excess legal? I keep threatening to buy a dairy cow cause we spend a bunch on dairy every week. The guy we buy from currently milks 200+ and makes a run from central GA to south GA every week selling. We are his last stop and like I said, he never has any to take back home. He sells beef and pork too. Lots of people around here wanting better quality food than you can buy at a grocery store

We are going to need an update in about a year . After the fun wears off. Should have bred them 6 months apart so they aren't both dry at same time. Well second thought you might need the break.

Try googling Shenandoah homestead supply. Might not be the cheapest option but he specializes in this sort of stuff.