GodBleSS DaiRy eNTeRpRiSes: The Dairy Parlor

By request, here is a post about THE DAIRY PARLOR.

You may think that you can eat ice cream at a dairy parlor, but you can’t. A dairy parlor, also known as a milking parlor, is where you milk a cow.

I don’t live on a dairy farm. The only time I milk is when I show at the Sooner State Dairy Show and the OKC and Tulsa State Fairs. It is a very important job. Even if I am not showing a cow that’s in production that week, I help milk because I like to help my friends.

The trip to the dairy parlor may be a rough experience. Cows who are ready to be milked are uncomfortable. The worst time is right after they’ve been shown because they are shown with a completely full udder. Sometimes, they don’t want to wait their turn to get in to get relief, so sometimes, they will run you over if you get in the way. I’ve had my own share of lumps from that for sure.

There are several things you will need when you milk out a cow:
pan of feed
anti-bacterial spray
clean paper towels
water hose with spray nozzle
shovel
and of course, a cow

First you place the feed pan in the parlor stall. Then you lead her in the rear gate, put her head to the feed pan, and exit through and latch the front gate. Allowing her to eat makes her comfortable while she gets milked out.

Then you spray anti-bacterial spray on her teats and wipe them off with clean paper towels. You must thoroughly clean and dry her to keep contaminants from getting into the milk.

A Holstein with the teat cups attached to her udder.

Next, you switch on the suction and place one teat cup on each teat. If you make a good connection, you can see the steady pulse of milk being pulled up through the clear plastic hoses. You should keep an eye on the four streams of milk and get to work cleaning up your area.

The parlor at the Tulsa State Fair has one whole plate glass wall. Outside the glass are small bleechers where people can sit and watch real live cows being milked. It’s a good place for them to sit and eat their ice cream that they bought at the dairy bar just around the corner. This is the only milking experience that some people will ever have in their lives.

If your cow poops, you need to scoop it up with the flat blade shovel and dispose of it in the designated area immediately. The area should be sprayed down and rinsed with water. All paper towels need to be put in the trash. All items that you brought in should be taken out with you. You should leave the milking parlor in better shape than it was when you arrived.

When your cow starts producing less milk (if one or more streams starts to taper off), massage the udder (rub and gently squish each quarter), and if that doesn’t work, you know that she is finished and ready to go.

Turn off the suction, remove the teat cups, and return them to their hook. If you’re the only one in the milking parlor, you go to the control room and turn off the switches to the pumps. Then you spray her teats really well with anti-bacterial spray and you can let her air dry as you lead her out of the front gate of the stall and walk her back to her bedding. Once back at her stall, she will continue to eat and produce more milk for the next trip to the dairy parlor.