How-To - How to Milk a Cow By Hand

How-To - How to Milk a Cow By Hand


How to Milk a Cow By Hand

The udder should be washed. I take a warm pail of water, an old wash rag and an old towel with me to the barn to rinse and dry the udder. This keeps any mud or manure from falling into your bucket.

Take your milk bucket and set it under the teat to be milked. Best to start off with one teat, once you are good at it you can handle two at a time.

Pinch the top of the teat (closest to the bag) with your thumb and fore-finger (pointing finger). Close the next finger, then the next, then the next (one at a time) over the teat as if you were trying to work water out of a hose.

Release your pinch at the top of the teat (and your other fingers too) and allow milk to enter the teat. Pinch the top of the teat (closest to the bag) with your thumb and fore-finger and repeat the previous movements.

It make take a few times but pretty soon you will be developing a rhythm. Every cow fills her teat back up at a different rate (depending upon how full the udder is) so you'll need to figure this how fast to go as you go along.