Three Timers Milking Parlour.

Three Timers

Milking Parlour.

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When this new purpose built milking parlour was built in 1936-37 is was to not only produce high quality milk, but to produce as much as possible by milking three times a day. This was the schedule that was used. Milking was started at 4:00 a.m. 12:00 noon and at 8:00 p.m. This resulted the the cowmen having to rotate four or five shifts. After milking and the cows and turning them out to pasture, they would wash down the parlour. wash and sterilze all the equipment and flush out and use steam to clean all the pipe work from the parlour to the dairy.

Before they left to go home they would go up into the loft above the parlour and refill the hoppers with cattle suppliment such as linseed cake or similar type consentrate. The system ran very effectively for two years, until the war in 1939 and blackout restrictions made it impossible, and they had to result in returning to milking twice a day.

Due to labour reductions and a scaling down of the herd, this parlour was closed down and milking continued with the old bucket and churn method from the two older cowsheds.

Finally in the end the equipment and pipework was taken out and it became a barn for rearing capon chicken, but this venture did not prove successful as the birds had to have their upper mandibile cut to kerb the fighting in such close quarters. Then the risk of fowl pest raised its ugly head, and that put and end to that venture.