# Teats and inflations



## JDog1222 (Aug 19, 2010)

Do shorter teats work better with inflations? If the bore size is too small for the teat will it cause it not to milk out correctly? How do you know what size to get for your cow? I don't think I've been around enough, ahem, cow teats, to be able to tell what size would be considered large medium and small. :teehee:

Thanks


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

You should size inflations to the cow. One way - is the teat the same size as your thumb or bigger/smaller? Then try inflations on your finger. 

I'd not want to hand milk a cow with short teats. I know people do, but it would be hard for me to do it.


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

Well, I milk all sizes on the same inflations. 
The only trouble I have had is getting the rubber over really thick teats.
Once they are on though, the machine works fine as long as it seals on there.

Its not the LENGTH of the teats that matters to the machine, just the diameter. 
Even so, the claws are very versatile.


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## Ronney (Nov 26, 2004)

gone-a-milkin said:


> Well, I milk all sizes on the same inflations.
> The only trouble I have had is getting the rubber over really thick teats.
> Once they are on though, the machine works fine as long as it seals on there.
> 
> ...


Obviously some of us milk more than one cow and as teats come in all lengths and diameters it's going to be impossible to accommodate that. Find a medium size inflation and I think you will find it will work well.

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## JDog1222 (Aug 19, 2010)

NOW DON'T LAUGH, I HAVEN'T MILKED ALL THAT MANY COWS!


OK, I did a YouTube of me milking the cow. I think Iâm just working too hard trying to get all the milk out so I donât get mastitis again in the rear teat. She has a hard spot about the size of the palm of my hand now, but she is still giving quite a bit of milk from that quarter. Thanks for all the help! This am she gave about 8qts., a little over. I milked late last night so this would be about right. I donât think she is holding back anymore since I have taken the calf off of her. He was starting to cut her teats. 

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi0i--Nrw6w[/ame]


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

I think you are doing great. It was a good video. It is normal for the quarter and teat to flatten as the milk flows out. I'd leave the inflations on and massage the quarter a bit while it's milking. It's okay that the air sucks around the teat a bit, but when it sucks too much- the inflation rides up and down and up and down, that can injure the milk canal and the end of the teat. Usually not. Mostly, when my cow had a quarter that didn't milk out or I was concerned about it-I'd strip it out on the floor. If there were more than 3 full squirts - I'd put the inflation back on. I got so that I could tell by the weight of the quarter if she was finished or not.

It looks like your inflations are the right size - they aren't falling off and she isn't kicking from them hurting, so I'd keep using those. It might help if the claw was off the floor. I am not sure how you would accomplish that. The weight of my claw helped get the milk out of the cow. I am not sure if that works with your system. I love the silicon inflations so you can see the milk flowing through. I always used the black rubber ones. I think you can almost always squeeze just a bit more milk out of the cow. I usually went by the flatness of the quarter rather than the action at the teat end. When the quarter is fairly flat, she's done. But you kind of have to get to know how your cow feels for that to work. Some of the older cows' quarters don't flatten down well - especially in the back. Fortunately, you can always put the inflation back on if it's needed.

You're doing a great job!


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

Jill, I think that your machine is working fine.

Pear has a slightly heavier LR quarter, probably just becasue you lose a little from that damaged RR.

When the quarters flatten out and the inflations ride up and start squawking, those quarters are done.
just take them off when that happens.

Yes, a small amount of milk will travel down into quarters again. It is very little though. 
That is okay. Dont worry about getting every single drop. 
You could stand there all day milking it out as fast as she makes it.
Just concentrate on getting the quarters all to flatten out visibly.

In the video, when you put the machine back on that RR you only got about 4 more good squirts out of there. 
That is not necessary. Dont fool around doing that to each quarter. A few ounces left in the cow is okay. 

Just focus on getting that LR milked out since it seems heaviest. You can put a little traction on there and massage it a bit, just like you are doing. 
That wont hurt her.


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## JDog1222 (Aug 19, 2010)

Thanks for all the help everyone. I usually didnât worry about the extra milk left after I pulled the shells off my other cows. This one however, I want to make sure itâs all out for fear of another mastitis issue. Will that hard spot always be there now or will it go away once the bag degenerates and regenerates before her next calf?

Callieslamb, I would like to get the claw off the ground but I canât think of any way to accomplish that. I was thinking of maybe shortening the hose and setting the tank farther away, maybe tieing it to something so that it pulls the claw forward. I have even tried putting the belt from my Surge system around the cow and holding it up. I guess that worked but I was a little worried about the milk getting backed up since it would have to run up hill so close to the claw. I guess Iâll try that again tonight. The Surge tugged on the back inflations quite well, BUT, it was a little TOO high for the front ones! :hair I guess we donât get to have a cake and eat it two. The Surge is better for the back ones, and the DeLaval is better for the front ones! 

I just keep doing what I'm doing and hopefully it will be good enough!


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## JDog1222 (Aug 19, 2010)

OK, well, when I pull off the shells, I like to strip the teats after I&#8217;m done with the machine. Also, I think the cow needs some udder balm to keep the skin nice and moist. I use the balm while I strip the rest of the milk out of the teats, makes it real nice and easy, SLICK, for stripping out that one injured/deformed teat. My question is&#8230;&#8230;.should I dip after the balm, or before, or both?


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## Tad (Apr 2, 2003)

It looks to me like those inflations are very long it may just be the angle. WHen the quarters empty out they will creap up and big teats but they are just done, they won't cut off milk flow. I wouldn't hold the claw off the ground, thats kind of defeating the purpose, it is hard to get them to milk out when the claw is on the ground because there is no weight in the inflation holding it up and putting less weight on the inflation would be evn worse I think. We use Surge mini-orbits with SS shells, the stub that the air hose conects too comes out at a 90 deg angle to the shell. When we have a slow quarter on a cow we hang a patz barn cleaner link on that stub to add more down force. As far as the dip I would balm the whole teat and towel off the end and dip or dip than go back after 20 min when the canal has closed and then put balm on. I don't think the dip would stick with the balm on.


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## JDog1222 (Aug 19, 2010)

OMGosh, that's an idea! Do you think I can just cut some of the bottom off the front two inflations and go back to using the surge, since it works better on the back ones? I could also try cutting all four shorter and seeing if this claw works better that way. But if I do that, then these inflations will no longer work with the surge. I think they would be too short for the back ones then. Maybe I'll shorten two for the surge and see how that goes first. I STILL am thinking that system is better for a one cow operation. DH is going to KILL me if I go back to using the Surge after getting the new one! O BOY, O BOY, O BOY!


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

JDog1222 said:


> Callieslamb, I would like to get the claw off the ground but I canât think of any way to accomplish that. I was thinking of maybe shortening the hose and setting the tank farther away, maybe tieing it to something so that it pulls the claw forward. I have even tried putting the belt from my Surge system around the cow and holding it up. I guess that worked but I was a little worried about the milk getting backed up since it would have to run up hill so close to the claw. I guess Iâll try that again tonight. The Surge tugged on the back inflations quite well, BUT, it was a little TOO high for the front ones! :hair I guess we donât get to have a cake and eat it two. The Surge is better for the back ones, and the DeLaval is better for the front ones! .......


It's never easy. I think you are fine. As long as she's milking out you are both fine.


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## springvalley (Jun 23, 2009)

Well Jill, I told you Pear milked slower on that rear teat when you picked her up. And yes your teat cups are long, mine never drug the ground when I milked her. And I do have the heavier SS claw with shorter teat cups on them. Pear was never been prone for having mastitis, even with her larger teats. I wouldn`t recomend laying the claw on the floor. your going to pick up all kinds of nastys.


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## JDog1222 (Aug 19, 2010)

Yes, I know the rear ones take longer, that&#8217;s no problem. I was just asking, is it ok to kinda squeeze and push on the udder to get more to come out better? In the goat world they told me that&#8217;s a no no, NO milking up high on the bag, just the teat! I am just chalking it up to the use of the infusion tips as a permanent milking device that gave her the mastitis, not that she has always had a problem with it. Now I&#8217;m just going to machine so it doesn&#8217;t happen again. All the shells I have are all the same size. I have SS I can put on there but my claw is still mostly plastic. The only way I can shorten the inflations would be to cut some of the hose off at the bottom. I think I&#8217;ll just go back to using the Surge system before I buy a new claw. I don&#8217;t think I&#8217;ll be putting any more money into this new system. I didn&#8217;t know it would be better to have more weight, I thought less weight would be better. I know if it were me I&#8217;d want less weight! LOL


What's everyone think, I should cut the ends off my $80 silicone inflations and add the SS surge shells? GULP...........


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## commonsense (Jun 1, 2008)

If you are talking about using a regular surge milking pail that hangs below the cow, I wouldn't cut anything off of the length of the inflations. More weight is helpful to get the cow to milk out fully. I use a surge milker and as it fills, it adds weight. Most of my cows milk out quickly and fully within 5 minutes, but a couple need a bit more. For those cows, I add a slight amount of pressure at the bottom of the inflation to keep the milk flowing. I watched your video and there didn't seem to be much "down" pressure on the inflations. 
Also, I have a couple of cows who don't milk out at the same rate in each quarter. For those girls, I remove the inflations from the empty quarters and let the slow quarter milk out. I don't know about anyone else, but I get all antsy if an inflation is left too long on an empty quarter!


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## JDog1222 (Aug 19, 2010)

Commonsense. I have tried that with the Surge. If I push down the inflation, it cuts the milk flow off, with the surge. Here is my Surge YouTube. For the one front teat I had to push the whole tank kinda to the side. 
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4o-x5C-arY4[/ame]
I think if I just make the FRONT two inflations shorter it wouldn't cut off the milk flow. 
How long are everyones shells? I see a bunch of rings towards the bottom of my inflation are these marks to help you cut them? Are they meant to be cut?


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## commonsense (Jun 1, 2008)

That's why I push down where the inflation meets the milk pail. If the bend is too extreme in the inflation, the milk will stop flowing. I just watched your surge milker video, and I have to say, not all cows are a great fit for the surge milker. I have one cow who has a lower udder than the rest, and I end up with a tilted bucket like yours was in the video, just so the milk will flow. Kinda relieved that she's dry at the moment...

Do you make sure that your milker is centered under the cow? If you are only having trouble with tube kinking/milk flow stoppage on one side, centering the milker can sometimes help a bit. 

I noticed that your shells appeared to be long. I use the SS shells with my surge, and they hang differently, they drape down, where yours seem to stick out a little bit (if that makes sense!!). I was thinking that was because of the shell length. 

I use the same inflations, and cringe at the thought of cutting them because they are so expensive. I milk several different shapes and sizes of cows, and for the majority of them, the equal length is just fine. I can't set up the milker to fit each cow exactly, which is why I have a couple of cows who require more interaction during milking. It sounded like, from some previous topics, you don't intend to milk this cow once your other cow freshens? The inflations should last longer than that, and once they are cut, that's it. 

Last year, I had a very difficult time finding replacement inflations, and the set I was using on my milker was a bit beat up. Two inflations lost about an inch from the length--it made the milker unbalanced.


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## JDog1222 (Aug 19, 2010)

Yes, that&#8217;s what I&#8217;m talking about, where the inflations meet the milk pail. Aren&#8217;t your fingers that the inflations connect to on the lid cut at an angle so that if you push down on the inflation it will cut off the milk flow/suction. This cows front right teat pushes down on the inflation and it cuts off the flow to the tank. I think what I&#8217;ll do is put one of the black inflations I have on that teat and cut it shorter, the inflation not the teat, lol. I think that would work. If I put the milk can in the center that quarter (FR) won&#8217;t milk out. That is, if I use the see threw inflations. If I cut one of the black ones maybe then it could sit in the center. I have to offset the tank now to make it farther away from that quarter, so it wont kink off the flow. I can also take some of the other inflations and cut them shorter so I can get the claw off the ground, if I choose to keep the DeLaval system. I&#8217;m sure she is letting all her milk down now. She gave 8.5 quarts last night and 11.5 this am. We only lost about 0.5-1gal. per day on production due to the mastitis. I think I got to it in good time and kept her milked out enough not to let the bacteria proliferate, still a hard spot in there but not too bad. I&#8217;ll keep working on this and trying to get the system quarks worked out. No, I do not plan to be milking this cow after my heifer comes fresh. I got her to hand milk but it didn&#8217;t work because of the cut teat and having to use the infusion thing. I&#8217;m just going to milk her by machine this winter and HOPEFULLY my heifer will be able to hand milk. Saying prayers! 
Here is the DeLaval YouTube. I personally like the SURGE system better, for cleanup mostly. I&#8217;m now looking for a new Surge milk can, one that does NOT have the seam in the center. Hey, at least now I&#8217;ll know for sure and I won&#8217;t cuss at my Surge so much anymore! LOL


[FONT=&quot][ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ8K5JHvuPQ[/ame][/FONT]


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## commonsense (Jun 1, 2008)

I watched your surge video again, and thought about your cow while milking mine today. If you had a little more clearance between the milk pail and the floor, you could let the belt out a hole, and that would make the inflation less likely to kink and stop the flow of milk from that quarter. 

To get more clearance, you can have the cow stand on a board or build up that part of the floor with bricks or something that will be stable under a cow's weight. I have that as part of my stanchion floor. I shaped the floor so that the cow's feet are higher up relative to the middle of the floor where the pail hangs. It helps to have that extra few inches to play with. 

Also, when I milk my cows with longer teats, I slow the inflation rate a bit, to allow the milk to fill the longer teat. Short-teated cows can handle a more rapid rate without any trouble. I look for one inflation cycle per second and vary it a little for trickier cows. I have a brown swiss with long teats and the slower rate really helps her release her milk more quickly.


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## JDog1222 (Aug 19, 2010)

OK, don't laugh but I have two silicon goat milking inflations that are shorter. I think tonight I am gonna put them on the two front teats of the cow and leave the two long cow ones on the back two teats and use the Surge system. Ya think it will work?


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