Process
Milking takes place twice daily at 06:00 and 15:00. The
afternoon milking is slightly earlier to enable the farm visitors
to observe the milking process. A 1950s milking system is used
which is part automated but still labour intensive.
In the 21st century milking parlour everything is done at the
touch of a button and cows enter an automated milking
machine. Each cow's feed is automatically released into a
trough in front of them. At Kittochside, the cows are fed from
bucket into the stone troughs in the stall.
The cows are washed prior to milking in the modern by automated
warm water hoses but here we wash with a cloth and disinfectant
manually. In the modern parlour, the milking machine which
detects when the milk flow stops and removes itself automatically
from the cow. At Kittochside the cows are watched the to
assess when the milk flow has stopped, the milking machine is
emptied and then used for the next cow.
In the modern unit the machine is emptied automatcially by means
of a pipeline to the tank and at Kittochside it is
carried from the bucket to the tank. At Kittochside
milking is a great deal more labour intensive as it takes
2.5hrs to milk 13 cows however the modern dairy parlour could milk
180-240 cows in that time!
Selling the milk
The milk produced is sold direct to First Milk where it is
sold as liquid milk or processed into cheese. The Ayrshire cow
produces approximately a third less in comparison to a modern cow
but the quality butterfat and protein is higher. At their peak in
the summer months 210 litres of milk can be produced. The top cow,
Kittochside Nora-Louise, can produce 35 litres of milk per day at
6.2% butterfat, which is exceptional for an Ayrshire.