Al Baker(pumpman)
Member
I have two Jersey cows I hand milk for our own families dairy needs. Even though I feed them the same feed day after day, sometimes the milk is thin and goes through the strainer really fast. Other times it will make a real head of foam in the milk pail and seems thicker when going into the jars. The taste never changes,or the cream level in the jars stays the same. I do notice the color seems a little more golden when thicker, more white when thin. I have milked other family cows over the years and seen the same deal. I feed real nice second cutting square hay while in the stanchion for half the day, and nice first cutting, plus the second cutting while in their loafing pen. I have asked a few dairy farmers from my area about this but none really understand what I am saying. When you send milk up a hose each time you never see any difference. Could it be a moon cycle? Barometric pressure? Any guy who hand milked much will understand what I am seeing. Anyone know what causes this?