# Perry milking machine and blood from teat



## mustrum (Mar 4, 2010)

We have been milking our first fresheners with a Perry milker, and everything has been going fine until tonight. We noticed after milking the Alpine/Nubian crosses that there was some blood in the bucket...we went to them as they were still on the stand, and neither of them seemed out of the ordinary, no redness, swelling, heat or any outward sign of a problem.

However, on the right teat we noticed blood while stripping out. Nothing was out of the ordinary in the pre-milking streams we expressed...

Now we have been VERY conscious of the vacuum pressure we are using, and keep it between 10 and 15...there has never been a problem before, and they don't seem to be in any real discomfort when being milked...

Is this a common problem or occurrence? 

We really don't think it is mastitis, as nothing showed up on the CMT prior to milking 2 days ago when we checked last.

What pressure would be best? Do we need to lower it as low as we can? but if we do that, there is always at least a cup left to express...

Should we go ahead and treat for mastitis?

We plan on hand milking this doe for the next few days....we will also continue massage as we do for all of them after each milking twice daily...

Any suggestions or directions would be very much appreciated...


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

It's normal, and I would say that with that cross they are coming to the milkroom with more and more milk and tight udders each day, I know mine is. So yes capilaries will burst and cause blood, pink milk etc... IF it was a problem with your inflations or your vacume than it would be all your does having problems. I milk as close to 12 as I can get, over 12 not under 12  My new machine sits like a stone where I set it, where my old machine pulsed between 12 and 14. If you milk at a lower setting it takes longer to milk, which is worse. 

Maybe Ray will chime in with an answer......how do you know your guage is correct?

Never treat for mastitis just because, not only do you not want them to be on antibiotics, you can introduce bacteria into the udder with infusions. V


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## mustrum (Mar 4, 2010)

Again, many thanks, Vicki...you are very much appreciated here ...and you are right, we don't know if the gauge is accurate, just took the guys' word for it...will need to somehow get that tested, i guess...

so we just milk that side out by hand for a couple days to give it time to heal?


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Hand milking is much harder on teats than machine milking....my milking machine doesn't leave finger impressions in the does teats like my hands do  Just milk them last so it doesn't taint the milk you drink or sell....I use this bloody milk, seen in one of our does right now, 2 of them a few days ago, to feed kids. With CAE negative tests, and then it's pasteurized anyway the kids don't mind that their milk is pink  I hope someone sees this, but if they don't, do ask another question, I would like to know if there is another way of guaging pressure besides just our guages. V


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## mustrum (Mar 4, 2010)

Milked with milker this morning, no blood or bleeding...looks like it was just a burst blood vessel...had to be a pretty small one to clear up this quick...


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## Rambar Ranch (Oct 25, 2007)

As Vicki said try to never milk a goat on 15 lbs of pressure. 15 lbs is the ideal pressure for a cow but not a goat. We always keep ours at 13 lbs for the goats. The lower the pressure the longer it takes but to much pressure can cause to much damage to the teat. Same goes for your pulsations on your pulsator. 50/50 is ideal we have ours at 60/40. They do sell gauges to test your vacuum that you can use. I've seen them for sale in the a/c sections of suppliers. Most gauges stay pretty accurate. I have an old Surge S-22 which is about over 50 years old and it looks like the original gauge and it stays pretty good. I can usually tell pretty close on pressure and pulsations by listening and feel of the liner pulsations.


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## Goat Town (Nov 20, 2010)

Steve Shore in the article he wrote about building a vacuum pump from an automotive A/C compressor describes how to build a weight driven vacuum regulator. Adding a vacuum balance tank inline (if you don't already have one) will even out those vacuum fluctuations due to pulsation. You can make a simple tank out of a portable air tank. Just remove it's old fittings and replace with a Tee. On one side connect the vacuum line from your milker and connect the other to the inlet side of your vacuum pump.

If you ever look at large systems, they rely on multiple vacuum guages: one at the pump, one on the end of the line, and often one at each stall cock. They also use regulators at each stall cock as well.

Vacuum fluctuations at the teat end as well as too much vacuum can caused teat problems and generally make the does uncomfortable. You'll know it when they stamp their feet or try to kick off the inflations. For the average milking I run at 12 in./hg (never more than 12.5 in./hg) That's when the milker is actually attached to teats and milking. When it's not working, it idles at 11.5 in/hg. I'm looking into a different regulator to make that a rock solid 12 regardless of whether milking or not. I do, however, make little adjustments to vacuum depending on which doe I'm milking. I also adjust pulsation rate depending on the doe I'm milking, but that's based on how she lets down her milk. Some does let down their milk slower than others and can benefit not only from different vacuum level, but also different pulsation rates. I make these adjustments only after long observation of machine milking a particular doe as I've milked some of my does through five lactations.


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