Converting a Surge Milker

I searched and searched for some good information on converting an old surge cow milker into a goat milking machine. I have not been able to find much info so I'm going to share what I learned on my own. First we adverstised on a free local site that we were looking for old cow milking equipment. You can also find them for a decent price on eBay or other such auction sites. Lucky for us we were contacted right away by someone who lives less than 8 miles away. We went to see what they had. They had several old surge buckets and a pipeline with a vacuum pump. None of this equipment had been used in many many years, like at least 20 years. So we took the best looking surge bucket with pulsator for $50. We weren't interested in the barn set up with the pipeline but the guy said he had a portable vacuum pump that borrowed to a neighbor but that it wasn't being used anymore and he could get it back. So he did and it was a sad looking rusted out old thing from the 1940s. It appeared to work so we took it home for $100. But let me say this is not what I pictured when I was told "portable".


Now we had to get new hoses and inflations. I don't know if it was the best deal but I got a conversion kit from Hamby Dairy online for $150. It doesn't seem like I got much for my $150 but this stuff is expensive. I got two clear shells, inflations, milk hoses, air hoses, shut off valves, and the claws. I searched the internet endlessly trying to figure out what a claw was and what its purpose was. I never found anything but from using it the best I can figure out is that it has something to do with pushing the milk through the hose and preventing it from going back into the inflation. I also am glad I went with the clear inflations and hoses. It really helps to be able to see how much milk is going through. Although the goats tell me when they are almost done, it must get uncomfortable because they start kicking it off. I also had to buy a vacuum gauge just to make sure there wasn't too much suction.

Now we had everything we needed and had to figure out how it works. Mike cleaned everything all up and even painted the vacuum pump. It looks like brand new now. He also built me a very nice milk stand, saving us a ton of money on an actual stanchion. When we hooked everything up we had suction but the pulsator was not working. After some failed attempts to "fix" it on our own, we finally took it to someone who knew what they were doing. Its a local dairy supply for cows but they knew how to get us going. They were very helpful with information and didn't charge us a penny. Now my milk machine runs like a dream!


From the information I gathered the suction needs to be between 10-12 for goats and the pulsator at about 90 beats per minute. All in all we spent $300 and got an old but fully operational milking system. Everything seems to be going smoothly now and it saves my hands a lot of work. I took some pictures to share of the operation. I'm by no means an expert but if anyone has any questions I'll be happy to try and answer them.

Spring Is Here....maybe?

Spring seems to be late to arrive this year, just when we think its come we get a cold spell. The chickens have moved back to their summer shed and although they haven't been outside yet they at least have windows and a screen door for sunlight and fresh air. We had them in the heated barn all winter with no windows or outside access. We used an automatic light timer and I loved it so much we bought one for their summer shed as well. We just program it to turn the lights on at 5am and turn them off at 7pm. Right now it is still light out at 7pm but the chickens can go to bed with the sun this way. We now have 51 laying hens and 2 roosters. The roosters get a long fine and have never seemed to have a problem with each other. When we accidentally got a rooster with our last batch of pullets, we were afraid one of them would end up the stew pot but since they're getting along we'll just let Glenn and O'Reilly share the girls. Of the 51 layers we're getting 30-40 eggs per day. I think I may have to look into joining the farmers market this summer to get rid of all my eggs unless I find some new customers soon. So far we've just been donating our extra eggs.

Last fall we lost our Boer Billy Bud right in the middle of breeding season so Sunny finished up breeding our the rest of our Boer herd. We're getting a lot of interesting kids this year as a Toggenburg/Boer cross. We're still looking for a new replacement for Bud. Sunny is as naughty as ever. We had to put a special latch on the outside of the barn door because he always flips the handle open. The other day Mike forgot to latch it and Sunny let the entire barn out for an excursion around the yard.

Hunny & Bunny had their purebred babies. Bunny had a male (yet to be named) and a female (Gertie) and Hunny had a male (Junior- b/c he's as naughty as his father). Gertie is such a sweetheart, I'd like to keep her but wouldn't want to breed her to Sunny again so we'll probably have to sell her.

I finally had success making goat cheese that tastes good. I just made regular soft goat cheese but this is the first time it has not had the slightest bit of goaty flavor. I'm so excited because I wasn't sure it was possible to make goat milk products without the off flavor. I stirred in some spices for a great all purpose dip and I even used it as a mayo substitute in egg salad. It is so rewarding to consume food you produced and created yourself, you know what is in it and the ingredient list is simple to pronounce. I spent the money on a pastuerizer and other equipment and I think it makes all the difference to have the necessary high quality tools. I also tried making yogurt for the first time and it tasted good but was a bit runny, I think the temp wasn't exactly right. I also made sourdough starter and will be trying my hand at sour dough bread from scratch soon.

I have everything ordered for my garden this year. We are expanding as much as we can in the limited sunny space that we have. Much of our yard is pretty shady. With all the canning I plan to do again we are going to need the extra space. I just hope we have a good summer for everything to grow. I'm trying grapes and blueberries this year. I don't know that I'll get much of a harvest for a couple years but hopefully I'll them off to a good start this year.

I'm hoping to keep this blog updated more throughout the summer. I welcome any comments and would like to know what your interested in reading more about.

Update in Pictures

Meet Sunny! He's a one horned, curly headed little Toggenburg billy born in February, about the same time as Hunny & Bunny's babies. I've never seen such a curly mop on a Toggenburg but he sure is a cute little guy! I waited a while to take pictures because he was full of burrs when we got him and I clipped them out leaving him some bald spots and looking kind of scrubby. I also had to shave his beard since that was full of burrs. Shaving the beard off a billy goat, what a disgrace to him! Poor guy :( He's working on growing it back though. Here are some more pictures of the Toggs. We had a photo shoot and they all wanted to check out the camera! Bunny especially liked to pose for pictures.






We recently had a set of boer triplets born, completely by surprise! She had lost a set of triplets last spring and Mike thought she didn't get bred again and was just really fat! Well having three babies sure slimmed her down! Thankfully the weather was nice and the little ones did just fine without any help from us.


Our new little chicks are doing great, all are healthy and growing fast. I think we got a rooster in the mix though. I ordered all pullets but I guess they make mistakes sometimes. Its not for sure until we hear him start trying to crow but his comb is growing and turning pink already and he's only 5 weeks old. None of the others have combs like this yet. His name is O'Reilly. Doesn't he just look like a rooster?


The other chickens are still outside but will be moving into the warm barn soon. I've been letting them out in the other pasture since there isn't much left of their pasture.



We just got an old surge milker from a neighbor. It needs some cleaning and new hose and special goat inflations but it will be much easier than milking by hand. This neighbor is also suppose to be finding us a portable vacuum pump and hopefully we will have everything we need.


I'm all done canning for the year and I just love the looks of a full pantry. I have green beans, pickles, salsa, pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce, spiced apples, plums, peaches, applesauce, pears, apples, strawberry jam, apple jelly, mint jelly, and plum jelly. In dry storage I have pumpkins, spaghetti squash, pinto beans, sweet potatoes and white potatoes. The best part of all of it is that I know where it all came from and what's in it.

More New Chicks

Mike convinced me to get more little chicks again since we can't keep up with egg customers. We got black australorps, red stars, buff orpingtons, and brown leghorns. Here are some pics of the little ones and some new pics of the olders ones. I also added a new pic of Hunny and Bunny with their babies, Buttercup, Taffy and Gouda. We are going to be getting a new boyfriend for Hunny & Bunny. He is a purebred Toggenburg and his name is Sunny. He should be here by the end of the month.

First Blue & Green Egg!

Today we found our first Americana eggs. One large blue one and a smaller green one. We're sure the large blue one has a double yolk, since we've found that to be the case with large eggs from young pullets. I've been waiting weeks for them to start laying, egg production in general is down because of the August heat. We finally had it cool off a little yesterday. The chickens have been getting lots of garden scraps, especially tomatoes. It hasn't been a good tomato year, they get bad quickly this year.

I've been busy canning whatever I have plenty of. Unfortunately my pickling cucumbers didn't grow well. I only have one plant that produces one pickle every couple days. I tried to find some at a farmer's market and they want $3/lb. For that much I can just buy pickles in the store. The ones I have been getting from my garden I've just been putting in the large jar of store pickles. Technically not how your supposed to do it but I never have enough to do a batch of my own and so far this new method seems to be working. So far I have canned peaches, green beans, strawberry jam, apple jelly and mint jelly. Next on the list is salsa, apples and pears.

We're Still Here

Wow its been a long time since we've written anything! Things are going great, we've sold most of our goat kids and ewe lambs. Our little blind goat has been growing well on HunnyBunny milk. Unfortunately its almost time to say goodbye to him and I'm pretending I don't know what's going to happen to him. Milk production has been down with the hot weather. Bunny has a knee that is a little swollen and not getting better on her own so I think we will start giving her antibiotics and let her milk dry up. Another month and it will be time to breed them again and no one wants to drink the milk when they are around Bud. I'll keep milking Hunny for a while yet though. I tried making some cheese, it turned out good but I have a hard time aging it. I have cheese wax but dipping it is difficult without the proper equipment and painting it on just didn't give it a good enough coat and it got moldy. The chickens loved it though!

We found a tiny little egg 3 days ago and suspect it was one of the young buff pullets. They are 4 months old now so we're expecting eggs soon. We haven't seen another little one yet but we're pretty sure it was her. We're still waiting for that first blue/green egg!

Its green bean season. I've been canning this year and I was a little scared of my pressure canner at first but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It has a pressure gage so I'm not too worried about blowing anything up. I've canned strawberry jam, mint jelly and green beans. So far so good! I'm anxious to open a can of green beans and see how they taste but after all the hard work I did to seal up those jars I just hate to open one so soon!

Bitter Milk Mystery Solved

Well sort of. I know the culprit is Bunny. I've always combined their milk but out of curiousity to see if there was a taste difference I kept them separate. Hunny's milk is sweet and delicious without even the slightest hint of "goatyness". Bunny's milk isn't necessarily "goaty" but it has a bitter taste to it. Now I'm not sure if its because she likes to eat a certain kind of weed Hunny doesn't eat or if its her bitter attitude at milking time. Late last summer her milk tasted fine. Right now it doesn't matter because I give all of Bunny's milk to Porkers since he doesn't mind the flavor and we keep all of Hunny's milk. She is making over 1/2 gallon on a once a day milking so we are getting plenty from her. I just hate that I have to go to all the work of milking Bunny and I give it all away to Porkers. He's doing great on HunnyBunny milk though!